Developer Fund


MagicPants said:
It is if you're getting something in return. You could say something like "If you use this beta software please donate to the development fund". But to require a "donation" makes it a purchase.
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Not if Craig was so happy to receive your donation that he gave you a "gift" in return. It's all how you word it. ;)

Let's not make an issue where there is none. No one is going to sue Craigix and Co. because they made a restricted-to-donators area. :p
 
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MagicPants said:
Kyosys said:
a donation isn't commercial use
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It is if you're getting something in return. You could say something like "If you use this beta software please donate to the development fund". But to require a "donation" makes it a purchase.


That's not accurate. When you donate $30 to PBS and they send you a tote bag in appreciation, you haven't purchased a $30 tote bag. You've donated money to a NFP organization and they've given you a free gift in appreciation. It might seem the same as a purchase and it probably falls under the definition of "loophole" by anybody's standards, but it is legally established as a different type of transaction. There would be no problem with distributing non-commercial-only software in this way.

I'm not really sure why so many people are so adamantly opposed to this idea. It is a very common system for encouraging donations. Software devs do it, podcasts do it, and charities do it. It's fair, it's legal and it works.



Don't forget, it's still not a mandatory system. If a programmer prefers to give out beta software to all at the same time, that's still their prerogative. This is just another option for people to support developers who wish to be supported in this manner.
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A few comments.

1) I have no problem with the idea of a general development fund to drum up dev interest. As I said, I'd be fine with $40 tagged onto the base price up front if it means better and more software than purely generated through the generosity of devs on their own.

2) I do have a problem with "special access" as a reward for "voluntary donations." Its the principle of it. If nothing else, just call it what it is: paid access to activities that are not available to the general public.

3) If an individual dev wants to hold pre release versions of their software to just people that donate to their website, that's one thing. Setting up a general fund with the predetermined framework to "encourage" devs to restrict pre release access to just the "donators" is another.

4) If you want to "reward" people that "donate" with a "gift" why don't you just make it so the people that donate money are the only ones that get to vote which projects the fund gets directed towards. I'd be much more inclined to put money into a general fund if the reward was voting power over the projects that get funded. Much more so than a silly badge that gets added to my forum name.

5) GPL, CC, etc. aside, setting up an organized fund, by a hardware corporation (or however this endeavor is incorporated) that pays for ports, or emus, sure sounds like it would attract a lot more attention by the lawyers of the world than an individual dev asking for pay pal donations on their personal website, whether you label it as "donations" or not.

-Suntan
 
Suntan said:
I do have a problem with "special access" as a reward for "voluntary donations." Its the principle of it. If nothing else, just call it what it is: paid access to activities that are not available to the general public.

Oh, what a horrible crime; paying to get something in return? How absurd! I'm glad your principles have steered me clear of an otherwise sticky situation! :lol:

Seriously, what's the big deal? You donate and get special access. If you've got such an issue with accessing that stuff, then don't and just donate knowing that you're helping to promote software you enjoy and use. Or just don't donate at all.

The first law of economics is that people respond to inscentives, and that's the truth. Access is just an inscentive for people to donate on top of helping out developers.
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The problem is, what betas? Which developer does what beta, and how? How is it distributed to donators?

Finally, a donation ceases to be a donation the second something is promised in return, let alone delivered. If you're gonna call it something, you might as well use the right name.

When I donate something, all I expect in return is for the developers to consider continuing their hard work.
 
As long as it is only access to something that the developer would not have released to the community. Like the psx4gp2x releases that first went to testers a few days earlier.

But I can see where you are coming from Suntan, as money is involved, there will be developers who take adventage of this to drum up interest in donations.

Then again, developers could do this already if they wanted to, and don't. There may be one of two occurences, but I think we should trust in the the integrity of the developers.
 
hey

Again, as I've already said I don't get why people have a problem with the beta access. There is nothing stopping the developers from releasing beta versions on their own websites or whatever.

So without the service you miss out on the ability to try out beta versions of software that you otherwise would never have the opportunity todo so. Again, if no such service existed then I probably would not release a public beta version of sorts in the first place.

I will leave it at that as I don't think it needs any more justification.

Hmm, I don't understand... I think alot of folks may come here screaming their heads off about what is fair and what is not, or rather what is legal and what is not legal, and I wonder who of these same people will go download roms illegally and play them.

Sorry to even bring this up, and I hope this doesn't spark any off topic discussion. I mean it's nice that people have concern about such issues, but do you care because you want everything for free? do you care for the welfare of the producers of the pandora? do you care for the fair trade of those who purchase the pandora? anyhows I dunno.

But yea, personally I think it's a nice idea.

I also think people must be careful when they say they are paying for devs. I think rather you are paying for devs to spend more time and put extra effort into producing their software. I think a developer is mislead if they expect to receive anything, it's just an incentive or something that may happen if they put that extra effort in. I guess you can kinda think of it as a scholarship, you don't expect to receive one but you are greatful if you do, hehe.

But yea, I'd like to hear what people think about the idea I mentioned in my previous post (see page 8 of thread) about having quaterly events, alike the openpandora developer awards thingy, hehe.

cyas
 
Semantics ahoy. If it makes people happy, just call it a "contribution" instead of a "donation". And if it makes them even happier, don't give them anything in return for it. :rolleyes:
 
icurafu said:
gbax still needs to be registered as an international charty organisation or else it is classed as money laundry.
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A charity fund to help sell a commercial product. As long as the consumer understands and is willing, its all perfectly legal. In fact, it's brilliant. Lets go even one step further. If GBAX registers its self as a church and the GP2X community as its members everyone gets a tax break with every purchased Pandora, the official testament of this new found church. :lol:
 
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DisgruntleElf said:
icurafu said:
gbax still needs to be registered as an international charty organisation or else it is classed as money laundry.
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A charity fund to help sell a commercial product. As long as the consumer understands and is willing, its all perfectly legal. In fact, it's brilliant. Lets go even one step further. If GBAX registers its self as a church and the GP2X community as its members everyone gets a tax break with every purchased Pandora, the official testament of this new found church. :lol:



"The Church of Pandora" is actually a legitimate sounding name, too. :lol:
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AireTamStorm said:
The problem is, what betas? Which developer does what beta, and how? How is it distributed to donators?

I'd imagine that you'd be given login information to an exclusive section of Openpandora in which devs would upload beta software to a database where donators could then download it at will.

At least, that's how I'd do it. :p
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Gruso said:
icurafu said:
Sounds like a doomsday cult. ^_^
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...run by GPL Ron Hubbard.

I loved his music on the c64 and Megadrive........................John Madden football anyone? Much better than all that cult rubbish he was into! :p

Anyhoo, donations can be good, I made a donation to a cancer charity and have just been rewarded with an invite to an event at St James' Park tomorrow, home of Newcastle United to take a spot kick with Meat Loaf between the sticks!!

I am being rewarded right?.................. RIGHT!?!
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x68000 said:
Gruso said:
icurafu said:
Sounds like a doomsday cult. ^_^
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...run by GPL Ron Hubbard.

I loved his music on the c64 and Megadrive........................John Madden football anyone? Much better than all that cult rubbish he was into! :p

Anyhoo, donations can be good, I made a donation to a cancer charity and have just been rewarded with an invite to an event at St James' Park tomorrow, home of Newcastle United to take a spot kick with Meat Loaf between the sticks!!

I am being rewarded right?.................. RIGHT!?!


Hope you are not confusing the founder of Scientology with the ingenious musician ;)
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I'd rather donate to specific software or dev's.

If I donate to a fund that is distributed, via whatever method, I want an assurance that I won't have to pay for the full final version, which means that the fund should only be open to open source software.

Just my two peneth.
 
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