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Introduction

Elementary OS is my main operating system. I have my laptop, that is not powerful enough and I use mostly for communication when I am not home. And at home, I have my "desktop" (which is actually a HUGE laptop) with Elementary OS, which is my favorite, and main, Linux distribution at the moment.

The system has just received an update on their AppCenter, and I think this is a perfect time to explain their "monetization" model, and how they plan to revolutionize donations for open source projects with their refreshingly new take on how developers "ask for money".

What is elementary

Elementary OS is a Ubuntu-based Linux distribution. Specifically, the Elementary OS version 5 (AKA Juno) is built on top of Ubuntu 18.04, the latest stable and long term supported one. That means, behind the scenes, it works like the very well known Ubuntu distribution, but it has modifications made by the team to fit their vision for what a great operating system should be. Those changes come in the form of security, privacy improvements, and most importantly, design.

The design of Elementary OS clearly takes elements from Apple's operating system, but it is not a blatant and cheap copy, instead, they take those elements from macOS, and build their vision on top of it. Which, to me, is a genius idea. Ubuntu is one of the most modern desktop systems, and, for my taste, macOS is one of the most beautiful ones. So they took both, and added their own sauce, to make Elementary OS unique, but in line with what they consider to be "the best in each field". That is exactly why this is my main and favorite operating system at the moment.

What is the AppCenter

The AppCenter is, as the name suggests, the center that contains the apps curated by Elementary OS team, for users to download with simplicity. It has only open source apps, and everything is free. Kinda.

Some apps show a price tag for themselves, that is actually the donation suggested price for the app. When the developer submits his app to the AppCenter, he says how much does he want to "charge" for his app.

But, that is just a design choice to slightly push people to contribute to the developers. If you take a closer look, you can pay a "custom amount of zero" for any app on the center.

And, logically, you can also pay any amount of money you want to a "free" app.

So, in practice, the price is not actually the price for the app, but actually, it is a suggested donation.

Behavioral design

The ingenuity of the platform comes from their respect and care for design, mainly user experience.

Software design is separated into two main fronts:

User interface;
User experience.

The user interface is what the user sees and how things look like. The user interface, by itself, does not care if something does not work properly, as long as it looks good. And it is not because user interface people do not care, but actually, because this is their job!

On the other side, there is the user experience, the user experience does not care about how something looks, as long as it works properly. And again, that is its job and it is fine.

The philosophy behind the design of Elementary is very influenced by what they think is a great "experience" to make users behave and do what they are intended to do(in a good way).

And the clearest example of that "behavioral design" is the "prices" in the app store. All apps there are free and open source, but some have a design that tries to incline the user to donate to use it.

On the web

The AppCenter from Elementary OS, is, of course, native to Elementary OS. But users that do not have the system installed can check what apps can be downloaded, after they install, on the web AppCenter.

The online AppCenter does not allow you to download those programs from the web. But if you are using their operating system, you can launch the center from the web, directly to the app you are viewing.

This is another example of a great user experience, because it tackles two fronts. First, it gives the developers a "home page" for their apps, so they can advertise the AppCenter page and Elementary OS users can land there and read more about the app to see what is the suggested donation amount. Second, it introduces new users to the operating system, so, if a user accidentally lands on a page of an app that he likes, he would be immediately exposed to Elementary and possibly become a new user.

Paid (if you want) model

By now, it is clear the model of revenue Elementary OS have for their developers. Free apps, with a design intended to make users inclined to donate.

Traditionally, developers used to ask for money in a way that might not be so friendly. We could say that the "user experience" of asking for donations was not well thought before. Traditionally, open source projects build entire pages dedicated to showing you why you should donate, with good images, charts, and details of why they need your money and how that contributes to the project.

Elementary OS takes a more modern and "casual" approach to donations. And that is very clever because people are used to spending money on apps and software. On your phone, chances are, you have a paid app or subscription. And the recipe that big companies have been using for charging was to make the payment as casual as possible, so you don't think about it. And that is the complete opposite of how traditional open source donations were made.

And there is where I think the Elementary team, possibly, hit a jackpot. They have turned the donations in something casual. They do not give a page for each app to request for donations, they do not spend much time explaining why they need your money. When you want to download something, and the developer asks for a donation, they do that in the most casual way possible.

They even "hide" that it is a donation, so you think it is paid, but it is actually free! Because, apparently, people are more inclined to give money if they think it is mandatory, while in reality, it is not.

I can't guarantee that this will work out on the long term, but I feel satisfied that they are taking a different approach because developers rely on donations to keep their servers, and even some staff running. It is refreshing to see a different donation model that could cause a revolution on the open source community. They deserve my donation for this alone.

The donation business model

By taking a more "professional" approach on donations, they hope to increase the cash flow for their developers. And they have their cut on that, which is fair if their revolutionary model brings more donations to developers. It is fair that the inventors of that model receive their share.

On their page dedicated to onboard new developers to Elementary OS, they make the terms clear. They take a 30% cut off of the donations, with a minimum of 50 cents to them. I must admit that amount is a bit above the industry standard, from my quick research, but not much off too.

Also, publishing your app with them comes with the advantage that you have no fees. Publishing on other stores, for example, comes with an annual cost, and no guarantees of revenue. With Elementary OS, they only make money if you do too, else, you pay nothing, not even the hosting of your app.

Needless to say, if a developer chooses to publish their software on Elementary OS on the AppCenter, they have to accept that, even if they desire to receive a specific amount as a donation, the end user still can get their program for free. It is on the terms, every app there is free and open source, but have the "risk" of receiving donations, as the user experience inclines to user to do so.

Updates

Yesterday (January 28) the App center have received an update, nothing big, just minor changes and a few improvements for new publishers. But still, another step on their roadmap to realize their vision of how open source software should look and behave like, with focus on donations.

Talking about donations, if you want, you can get Elementary OS from their website.

The download section makes it a bit more clear, than the AppCenter, that the donation is optional. But it is worth giving it a try. It is a great system, with very frequent updates, a great sense of design (that matters to me) and a refreshing view of "open source monetization", which I believe will be a much more common term as their user base grows.