Who's donating to developers?

[ShleeDragon]

Hey,


After donating to the ED fund... I just noticed that there are lots of developers who create amazing PNDs which I use every single day (no sarcasm).. How many of us have donated towards to the developers?


and Devs, Are donations important?? Would they cause any additional time to be dedicated to the pandora or are all your releases generally driven by passion?


To Notaz, we all use your software.. PCSX was downloaded 4855 times.. I think we owe you something which can be exchanged for beer.. do you want them?


Because I'm happy to support developers...

 

[Linux-SWAT]

I'd like to donate, but i'm now in financial trouble :/.


Indeed, without Notaz and especially his kernel work, we wouldn't enjoy our OP like we do.


And other devs too i won't name because i'll surely miss pple .

 

[ShleeDragon]

yyyyeah. I didn't name names because of that.. but I think people need to step by and offer donations... but people need to ask for them.. maybe?

 

[Linux-SWAT]

...or the dev fund needs ads ?

 

[quartercast]

Who's donating to developers? I think that's a private question!


If you want to encourage donations, how about creating a list of devs, their projects and their donation links?


Maybe even a wiki page? We have the software projects page after all, you could add an extra column for donation links.

 

[moxie]

Isn't there already a page with donation links? There used to be one, anyway...

 

[Fzero]

I thought there was a dev donations link page too, if not would be a good idea to have one, even as a wiki page listing devs and their apps.


I fully plan to tip a few devs once I get my Pandora and start using the repo/apps pages.

 

[PokeParadox]

I don't know - but PLEASE give devs feedback. I have personal interests and motivation but a lot of things I have run out of steam on, simply because no gives any impression of being interested...

 

[FaeMinx]

I don't know - but PLEASE give devs feedback. I have personal interests and motivation but a lot of things I have run out of steam on, simply because no gives any impression of being interested...

Admittedly there aren't very many of us.


I feel that I check the forums more regularly than the average Pandora user.... and I'm not even aware of everything that's being developed.


I don't know what to suggest in order to bring more attention to projects.... I myself don't give all that much feedback as I don't feel qualified enough to give constructive criticism.

 

[ekianjo]

I don't know what to suggest in order to bring more attention to projects.... I myself don't give all that much feedback as I don't feel qualified enough to give constructive criticism.

Even saying "it's good" or "there is room for improvement" whether or not you say how to do it is helpful as it shows someone is watching your project. ALL feedback is welcome.

 

[_wb_]

I agree - feedback is worth more than donations. Just knowing that people are somewhat interested in a project is already a good motivation. Give ratings on the repo, and put some comments there to explain why you like it or what can be improved. Typically only 1-2% of the people who download something leave a rating and/or a comment, this percentage could be higher. Even low ratings can be motivating - as long as you explain what should be improved, and of course you should revise your rating when the improvement happens.


You don't have to be qualified to give feedback - the most valuable feedback is the feedback from "normal" users. Don't be afraid that your feedback is "dumb" - even if you did miss something that the author considered to be "obvious", the fact that you missed it means it's not obvious enough and there's room for improvement.

 

[Fzero]

I agree feedback comments are important, though I'm not a visitor of the repo just yet, with my Android I always read a number of comments from users before clicking the install button.


I will leave feedback when the time comes.


quick question - is there a Pandora emulator, which would allow me to run/play .PND files on another distro?


I don't think so but just checking...

 

[A2000]

If I want to give feedback or a donation to a developer of an app I can download from the repo in most cases there's either a link a


or a discussion here.


But what about contributions to the firmware? I'm aware of notaz but anybody else?

 

[b_o_b]

If you have money enough to buy a Pandora I assume you should be able to buy a dev at least one beer. Give to anyone you like, but if you donate I think a part of your donation money should always go to Notaz. He has probably done the most important developing for the Pandora of all devs. Also helps other devs when things are getting difficult and they are stuck.


That said I see members helping people and supporting devs with testing their software and giving good feedback. I think that is even more important than donating. It keeps the community alive and the devs motivated. Not everything in this world is about money

 

[Kumaki]

As a non-coder myself...I would not be sure, but I'd guess passion would drive most of the developers here...after all, this is open-source stuff. Which by definition means free. So if they are developing INTENDING to get paid...and if that's their prime motivation...I suspect they'd be coding in some other community.


I think many coders and indie developers hone their skills creating open-source stuff like this...and it may even lead to them having stuff they can showcase towards getting a paying job in the programming field somewhere. I could be wrong, but that is what I would think.


there are certainly tools and talent to program, say apps for the Android market...which can be sold...or ad-supported...where the developer/coder is presumably making some scratch. Like I said, seeing as this is known to be open-source stuff (by definition, free) I would guess that something other than money motivates most of our wonderful coders here.


Whatever that is...I'd love to give it to the developers here, they deserve all kinds of props. I would love to be in a financial position to support all the coders whose work I have installed on my Pandora...but it just would not be possible, since have so much stuff by so many different developers.


But, hey...how about it developers...let us know what it is that does motivate you to code stuff here, and let us know if end-users like me can give you some of the things you might be looking for...feedback, praise, whatever.


Speaking of which...I wonder if anyone here WOULD be interested in taking on a very specific database application for me for a nominal fee.


It would need to run on a PC, and be web-independent.


I'd be able to describe the project, and the variable more...to anyone who was actually interested in taking it on. I don't have a lot of money, BUT I could pay a nominal fee that seemed reasonable.


Of course, I'd insist on being given the source code, also. That way I could learn a few things myself. Like how certain things get done.

 

[b_o_b]

But, hey...how about it developers...let us know what it is that does motivate you to code stuff here, and let us know if end-users like me can give you some of the things you might be looking for...feedback, praise, whatever.

Devs are not very different from non-devs. They just have a talent or motivation that we lack.


I am pretty sure it usually starts with scratching their own itch and they stay motivated long term because of the interaction with the community and OP team (especially ED).


I guess if you have spent a couple of weeks helping fix someone's house you want at least a compliment. Even if you like doing it... Being ignored will certainly not help and motivate you helping out next time.


The money part is also easy. When a dev doesn't have a donation account he is not interested in money at all. Most devs have ways to donate to them, so apparently they appreciate to receive some cash for their work.

 

[Kumaki]

Well...I'd agree about compliments. I'm careful to thank those who help me out with issues I have had with some PND's and then have gotten working.


As to money and donations...how is one to know which developers do or don't have a donation account if they never bring it up on these boards? I'd be happy to buy a beer or two for a few folks that have programmed some awesome stuff.


It isn't a motivation we lack, it's TALENT. These guys have it. I don't. I'd love to learn, but where does one start?


And again, re: donations...I happen to run one of many Legend of the Green Dragon sites on the net. If you're familiar, you know that the sites always take donations...but one can play a game there for total free. Now, some sysop's, myself included, have programmed in ways to incentivize donations. But, again, I find very few people will pay for something they can have for free...that goes double in these hard economic times. I can program php. Not this stuff. LOL

 

[PokeParadox]

Donation links are on the repo - It is the maintainer of the PND that would get the donation.

 

[anntao]

What about an open-pandora "kickstarter-type" thread?


From what I've read on the forum, it seems like all the devs have a lot on their plate... Maybe they could submit an idea, ask for donations with a "limit" to be reached that will launch the project? Or the other way around? Instead of asking for a port, a user submit the port request, a first donation and devs can answer if they're interested or not?


An example : I'm following the AGS port that Wizard-Stan is working on, I'd gladly donate for it to be 100% working fast.


Just my 2 cts.

 

[mcobit]

I think most devs do it for fun and not for commercial reasons.


So if you want to buy them a beer for their work, thats fine, but most of them don't want to be bound by money on their projects.


As for me, I won't want anybody to donate for a port or project to get it better or something as it is a pure hobby of mine and I am not a professional. Not even a real coder. So I can't promise that I will have time to work on stuff or that I would even be able to reach a certain goal.


Some others, mainly professionals I guess might think different, but lets hear it from them.


Edit: I think its better to donate for the stuff, that is done and not for stuff that will be done in the future.