Developer Fund

[chad78]

Just a note here guys. The goal / purpose / method of the fund needs to be able to be explained in 2 sentences or less - otherwise, people will not give. I'm not saying you have to detailedily explain every detail in those 2 sentences - but the basic gist of it needs to be able to be able to be stated succintly, or people won't understand it - won't trust it - and therefore, won't give.

"This money rewards those people who develop software for the Pandora." is the first sentence. The second one needs to be - HOW.

 

[Tobriand]

Why not build in comments into the actual OS?
If the contributions are voluntary it seems to me a little wrong to build something into the OS. Don't get me wrong, I'll be contributing and would welcome something along these lines if it is good, but if the contribution is voluntary then this needs to be a bit of code that is downloaded voluntarily too.
Also, if different apps end up being downloaded from different sites they will not register.
Some people will think of it as a bit 'big brother'.

What I'm suggesting is not that within the OS of the unit, you can submit comments directly to the dev fund managers. Rather, I'm suggesting that you are able to add some metadata in the form of comments to any program installed on your Pandora. This means you're much more likely to remember to comment in the first place, even if it's only to remind yourself that a game is awesome. At that stage, there's no big brother possibilities.

Those possibilities arise slightly later when you come to the question of getting the comments onto the website. Personally, I don't think I'd have a problem with being asked whether I'd like to sychonize comments with the archive (i.e. I get everyone else's, and the archive gets mine, with mine prioritised on my particular Pandora), but I can see that automatically synchronizing all comments might have privacy issues.

Maybe you should be able to mark comments as "public" when writing them, and only those would be synchronised?

I think it's important, though, that some method should be present in the actual unit (even if it's turned off by default), simply because otherwise, the chances of it actually being used are, I think, slim. I do think that any data reporting, though, must involve the user being asked whether they'd like to send it, with no penalties for not doing so. Voluntary is the key word here, I think .

 

[peca]

Tobriand: good idea.

 

[TaG]

@Tobriand: That's sounding better. I think the app should be disabled by default and if switched on the comments should be uploaded as public by default, with option to change.

When you say "get their comments" do you mean downloaded to Pandora? If so I don't want it stored on my Pandora taking up any space. My thought is along the lines of a poll/vote where you can only see the public responses of others on the website if you share your responses publicly, maybe by a pop-up view of the website. Whether thats feasible I don't know - any body have any knowledge on this?

When synchronizing, I presume there would have to be a flag to show submitted, otherwise it would keep re-submitting, and if you could change the metadata it could be good comment one day, bad the next. The big brother bit would potentially be present if when syncing it sent all data because it would show everything each user had installed.

I agree, Voluntary is the key word.

 

[Tobriand]

Well, I was thinking storing others' comments on Pandora too, on the assumption that they're probably less than 1kb each, and you're probably not going to have more than 40 programs, so say 10 comments (maybe it only keeps yours plus the most recent?) = about the size of a small snes game. If they actually *are* 1kb each; they might well be less.

In any event, less than a meg on a card upwards of 2gb is fairly pointless to quibble over. But I don't see why catching others' comments couldn't be optional.

On another note, an addition to this system might let you set a "space priority" level to a program. So, for instance, when you download new programs, if you're low on space, Pandora can make an estimate as to what you'd be best deleting. Obviously it wouldn't go ahead and delete it, but I suspect I'm not the only one who has discovered that there was a rarely used app taking up 200mb that I'd simply forgotten was on the card (or, for that matter, was that big).

 

[TaG]

Ok, I was looking at it from the linux perspective that many small programs each do one thing well and when you take 10+ small apps you have the equivalent of one bigger app. I'm thinking things like Outlook and WMP, the linux functionality comes from many smaller apps, libraries etc. So I guess I was thinking 100 apps that could end up with 2000+ responses. I guess I have an aversion to storing lots of little files that you don't know if its safe to clear en-masse.

Maybe storing the comments should also be optional.

On another tack, why would you want to store them: if the whole thing is possible it ought to then be possible to have a link to that apps comments page which you could view on Firefox.

To me it's not a deal breaker either way though, just preference.

 

[jakshep2]

Will this improve the quality of the developed software?

 

[Kyo]

well it might be a motivator to write good software for some, but I doubt that it will do anything. It's really more about the developers

 

[sold]

A community driven fund could work, but I think each area should be clearly defined. E.g. donations/bounties/closed beta/competitions. Also there should be a section for commercial projects where people can buy software.

Donations
The donation system for example could be linked to each devs paypal account individually, with a link to their website if they have one.

Bounties
The bounty section would have a list of wanted software/drivers/whatever, and there would be a set amount for each. The community could contribute to the bounty and then upon completion, there is nothing stopping people from donating to the devs.

Closed Betas
Closed betas could work well for devs that need some funding. I don't think forcing people to pay for betas is a good thing, as some devs may abuse the system and perpetually remain in beta stage to get more people to donate. But some projects may need some funding and there are honest people out there. I think that craig & co. could establish some rules when it comes to closed betas to make the system fair.

Competitions
Competitions could be made more lucrative for devs by allowing the community to donate to a competition fund. There would be an initial set amount for prizes, but the community could boost that based on the amount of interest the entrants generate. This could also be a good starting point for the winning devs to fund their future projects with. Or they can just go and enjoy their winnings.

Commercial Stuff
Commercial software could be in a section like the existing gp2x downloads area, but it could function as an online store.

There could even be a section for musicians/animators/modelers/etc. who may have something to offer projects that need them, and that could be linked to the donation system as well.

Just a though.

 

[Tobriand]

I ought to point out that as per http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=40354 bounties are generally not a good idea; they don't really act as an incentive, and the may (for some) act as a disincentive.

One of the early things set up for the GP2x was a development bounty system. Whilst many of the pieces of software on the list turned up sooner or later, I don't believe I have ever seen anyone release a piece of software knowing that it would qualify for them. Or if they did, certainly not mentioning it!

 

[flammablepiss]

I would be happy to give an extra £10, Hell i'v already payed 200 for it, whats another tenner to me ?
Besides if it is for the good of the console why not ?

Just think of it as a tip for all their hard work !

 

[Poobik The Hare]

When ordering your Pandora you will be given the option to donate $20/£10 to the Pandora development fund.

Discuss...

funny, i always thought programmers did the emu stuff etc on the basis of the kudos they get, not for the money they might get.

but as a method of attracting them to work on Pandora to raise it's profile and sales, then it's wrong.
those behind Pandora need to supply the funds, after all..... it is they who will benefit from the hardware sales, while the end user may or may not get something worth having.

and paying to beta test? seriously?

a tip, if you want to guarantee great sales of Pandora, focus your money on getting a big name emulator upto scratch, be it SNES, Gameboy or Megadrive.

 

[Jaylink]

Hi ^^

I think its a good idea to pay a bitt extra for the Dev Funds.
I think you can use that money for a few coding contests in the future.
Then great stuff is comming and great coders are really interested.

Greetzzz

 

[God Ginrai]

Hi ^^

I think its a good idea to pay a bitt extra for the Dev Funds.
I think you can use that money for a few coding contests in the future.
Then great stuff is comming and great coders are really interested.

Greetzzz

How many pages back did you find this topic? Just wondering.

-God Ginrai

 

[Chip]

How many pages back did you find this topic? Just wondering.

I think it is more likely that Jaylink found this post either from the dev update sticky or through searching - both of which are encouraged. As this topic has not been settled (as far as I am aware), this is a perfectly valid necropost.

 

[God Ginrai]

How many pages back did you find this topic? Just wondering.

I think it is more likely that Jaylink found this post either from the dev update sticky or through searching - both of which are encouraged. As this topic has not been settled (as far as I am aware), this is a perfectly valid necropost.


Well, this wasn't quite a necropost, IMHO. I was honestly curious about how many pages back this was.

-God Ginrai

 

[Jaylink]

i found this in the blog on the openpandora site.