Wusikstation Open Source kvr buyout

[Glassback]

I've come to the sad conclusion that the least bad option is for WilliamK to sell Wusik.com lock, stock and barrel to a software company.

Such as Image Line for example?

7 identical posts and other posts suggesting Image Line.
You don't work for Image Line by any chance do you?
I wonder how many times I can mention Image Line before Image Line notice I'm saying Image Line too many Image Line times.

[stefancrs]

Just out of curiousity, why pay 12.000usd for this? There are alternative things to spend 12.000 on, really. But if you guys think spending them on WS is the best way to use that money, I understand that you want to do that. I just want to know why WS is the best alternative for such a big purchase.

[Glassback]

Um, sorry to do this guys, but I've seen this house I wanna buy.
It's a snip at only £12,500 - could you all see your way clear to helping me buy it?
I plan on renting it out, possibly, and so you can all take a percentage of the rent.
Just send me the money and I'll send you a copy of the deeds.
Please help me - my life's a mess and I really need to buy this house.
Somebody?
Anybody?
Please?

*tick*

Ok then, you're all mugs and I'm out of here.

*tick*

*I didn't mean it about the being mugs bit - you're all fluffy bunnies really. So now can I have the money please?
Only thing is, I now need an extra £2,000 and if I don't get it, nobody gets anything and we all lose.
For those who've already sent me the money, I'm afraid you won't now be getting your share of the rent.
But if you send me a further £500 each, I might think about it.

*tick*

Thought about it and you can all just f**k off cos you don't understand me.

*tick*

Oh, OK then. Send me another £250 and I'll actually go and see the estate agent this time. I mean it. I really really will.

*tick*

Nobody sent me any money so all my customers are stupid asses who can go to hell and back.

*tick*

I love you all. Please send me money. I can't guarantee you'll get anything in return as I'm prone to change my mind from one minute to the next.
But I need your money and you're all very very nice people so please send me... erm... £100 immediately so that I can decide what to do with it.
I mean so I can put the deposit down.

*tick*

Not enough money yet! In fact none. Why not?? Opportunity of a lifetime - don't you want to help me out? Come on people, I'm on the dole here. Please send me the money you can't afford!

*tick*

....

[Caleb]

Glassback - that was hilarious as a read.
I giggled muchly (no offence William).

Caleb

[Glooper]

Wow, fair enuff.. For the sake of the soundset developers, we've got to think of how we can maintain the longevity of Wusikstation functionality in whatever way... Maybe someone would be willing to pick up the mantle in developing it in the OSS domain, but whoever it is should be good at maintainence and commenting.

It might be a nice idea to port some of the functionality to LinuxSampler which is slated for a windows implementation.

Agreed... a project like this would need a strong leader to enforce documentation, conventions, componentisation(?) of the product... so that the developers involved are kept under tight control! Until such a project leader is found I would be very wary of the projects success...

I certainly wouldn't put any money into such a project. TBH I've never been a great fan of Wusikstation,... Though I would be willing to do a bit of coding. my C/C++ is a bit rusty having programmed in Java for a while... but i'm sure I'd be a like a duck to water... or a pig in shit .. or something.

ben

[M'Snah]

Just out of curiousity, why pay 12.000usd for this? There are alternative things to spend 12.000 on, really. But if you guys think spending them on WS is the best way to use that money, I understand that you want to do that. I just want to know why WS is the best alternative for such a big purchase.

Some of us never owned a soft synth company before. Seems like a fun experience, even if it's only $12k.

[griels]

I certainly wouldn't put any money into such a project. TBH I've never been a great fan of Wusikstation,...

Me either, on both counts, although the filter has a certain charm IMO. What's needed is an escape route for people who depend on Wusik functionality... I like the idea of using Crystal as a new target. Maybe the Extreme Sample Converter author could implement a full-featured conversion between the two formats- it already supports WusikSND.

I would be pretty concerned about all sorts of legalities and legistics regarding the transfer and ownership of the company anyway. How enforcable are any contracts entered into, what with William living in South America (last time I heard)? And yes, would the sale involve the undertaking of any other financial commitments (debts etc).

[CypherOne]

Wusikstation, I liked it so much I bought the company. Just kidding. I rarely use the synth and would never ever part with cash for the promise of something in the future, maybe perhaps just maybe.

[Hunter]

Just out of curiousity, why pay 12.000usd for this? There are alternative things to spend 12.000 on, really. But if you guys think spending them on WS is the best way to use that money, I understand that you want to do that. I just want to know why WS is the best alternative for such a big purchase.

Some of us never owned a soft synth company before. Seems like a fun experience, even if it's only $12k.

the word fun is a very short word and doesn't last long

go to musikmesse and look at the bags under the devs' eyes, the balding heads, the chain smoking, the nervous tics....

[M'Snah]

I didn't say dev, all I said was owning a soft synth company. I'm not going to code C++ all day long... But I could imagine creating profitable alliances and managing it all... Not for a living though. I currently have perfect employment conditions....

[useruseruser]

A company like that one needs a strong leader.
How about me?

Then I'll ruin that company completely!

[porpoise]

HI

The thing that makes this so ludicrous is that William would have a similar product out within months - think EVE, Wusikstation was only a refinement of that - as will his next project (possibly) be a refinement of Wusikstation.

Personally I feel it is such a shame that William could not deal with 'His' issues in a private way, perhaps there are ulterior motives but I would like to think not.

I do find the idea of buying a piece of code from a presumably defunkt developer (or soon to be?) bordering on commercial suicide - there is just so much quality software out there that IS being actively supported in a business like and stable fashion that this whole thing is as silly as the actions by William that caused it!

If any one or group is really that keen to buy or procure software then there are PLENTY of good developers out there that can be commissoned to develop for you, and at least the program will not have been sold to death.

In fact if you want to make a serious enquirie about getting a top coder then PM me as I know just the person - that was not a joke either.

Flipper.

[gambaytheunspoken]

When you buy a company, you buy everything, debt, cash in bank, hardware, desks, employee(s) tables, building(s), software, intellectual property, etc. Essentially if the KVR community were to purchase this company they would be purchasing, it seems to me, merely the code for William's product. From what he has divulged, it appears as if the company is bankrupt. How did he arrive at that 12,000$ valuation figure? Sure he can set his price, but if he wants to get out of the business, which by his own admission is no longer feasible, he should be looking at no more than 10% of his valuation. If this has already been factured in, would anyone believe his company is/was worth 120,000$ Before you folks get carried away by good intentions, treat this as a serious business transaction and make sure you get value for your money, no matter how little it is.
Ciao!

[deastman]

Its a shame that no one felt inclined to show Waldorf the same measure of compassion...

Lunacy... utter lunacy...

[wrench45us]

it's not necessarily true that when one buys one buys a whole company. The place I'm working for has acquired whole companies as well as just buying a product -- drawings, source software and such. It all depends. Everything's negotiable these days.

on the whole about 1 in 4 acquistions seems to work out for us. Buying just source software w/o acquiring the service of the talent that wrote it tends to be a lousy business decision. Even well written software isn't straightforward to understand and maintain. I suspect any code written by a one man operation cuts a lot of corners as far as documentation goes.

I may get blasted but I would suggest Eve and Wusik users look into rgc audio's Dimension product as a possible alternative.