>Should my work back then be continuously rewarded if that company still uses that design, unchanged, and still generates revenue from it?
I believe so but for a different reason. I think a model where you are paid very little but remain the owner of your code, a hit and miss where you gradually accumulating income over many years, could work wonderfully if you also remain partially responsible for maintenance. The revenue shared should go up for every hour of effort but be a fixed part of earnings a bit like stock options but with various safeguards build in. If the company goes bankrupt at 1% of the [say] 30 year period they should pay 99% of the agreed upon salary as if a normal job.
Over the 30 years one could agree to pay many times that amount.
I've previously called it a priest hood where each monk maintains a specific module or library. The less work they do the better the results.
I believe so but for a different reason. I think a model where you are paid very little but remain the owner of your code, a hit and miss where you gradually accumulating income over many years, could work wonderfully if you also remain partially responsible for maintenance. The revenue shared should go up for every hour of effort but be a fixed part of earnings a bit like stock options but with various safeguards build in. If the company goes bankrupt at 1% of the [say] 30 year period they should pay 99% of the agreed upon salary as if a normal job.
Over the 30 years one could agree to pay many times that amount.
I've previously called it a priest hood where each monk maintains a specific module or library. The less work they do the better the results.