Software as a service is the solution the market has arrived at for making money from software when piracy is mostly trivial and commonplace. A rentier pricing model means an entreprenur need not negotiate the value of their product up-front; they can continuously adjust price to match demand. Recurring revenue is easier to budget around than inconsistent lump-sum sales.
Finally, an API over a library means the maintainer of said API has an opportunity to harvest data about usage. Perhaps they use this to motivate new features, or perhaps they can monetize this data on the side.
I seriously doubt these decisions have any connection to technical requirements; it's all business.
Finally, an API over a library means the maintainer of said API has an opportunity to harvest data about usage. Perhaps they use this to motivate new features, or perhaps they can monetize this data on the side.
I seriously doubt these decisions have any connection to technical requirements; it's all business.