[osflash] Support OSFlash

[Ray Chuan]

In the first place you should not use open source to gain revenue.
Contribute code for the sake of it. The fact that people even donate
is already good enough; expecting more (<quote>I don't think the
donate button is enough</quote>) cash is unreasonable.

If you are expecting that your users are obliged to make a monetary
contribution because you have spent hours writing code, testing,
debugging, etc, then you must be mistaken, because there is no such
obligation. Open source does not impose this obligation on users.

If you want to make a living out of open source (or generate steady
revenue), then I suggest you look at existing business models based on
open source software, like Red Hat (Linux flavour) and Sun (Java,
Solaris) does: give out free software, then charge for service.

That's why I say one should support the community spine
(infrastructure), not the individuals developers. Suppporting the
community should be kept separate from "supporting" (giving them a
means of making a living) developers, because it is difficult to
separate the self from the whole. I mean, what is the basis for
demarcking personal gain and "collective" gain?

By having 2 channels (one for infra, one "donate" button for
individuals), users can choose how their money is used, dissolving, to
some extent, this problem of demarcation (no, Popper not involved).

On 10/21/06, stuff at trackingsolutions.ca <stuff at trackingsolutions.ca> wrote:
> You know I find it interesting the way people start to think when it comes to
> money. There is more to it than infrastructure. If you were to read my e-mail
> about putting the money into a paypal account and deciding what registered
> OSFlash project to give the money to.
>
> I come from the point of not having funding for my business and projects when
> I needed it. I don't think the donate button is enough. I would like to see a
> concerted effort here. Doe not anyone else see this or is everyone just
> saying this is too much work and hassle just everyone go home?
>
> I would like to see some effort towards this. I will start by doing my part
> then from there we will see what happens.
>
> On Friday 20 October 2006 4:11 am, Ray Chuan wrote:
> > I think it would be better to pay for the "infrastructure" of osflash,
> > instead of funding/pay-rolling individuals/individual projects.
> >
> > I can only think of osflash and cvsdude hosting as part of the
> > infrastructure.
> >
> > If you want to pay individuals/individual projects, then just use the
> > "donate" button like in sourceforge and elsewhere. That way we
> > wouldn't have to decide who should get what and how much, we can be
> > counterproductive(such as in terms of conflicts).
> >
> > On 10/20/06, David Rorex <drorex at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > How do you decide who to donate to? Only the OSFlash maintainers? Some
> > > projects you find interesting? Or will you try to split evenly between as
> > > many people as possible? The OSFlash community has become quite large
> > > nowadays.
> > >
> > > Either way, I commend you on your generosity.
> > >
> > > -David R
> > >
> > > On 10/19/06, stuff at trackingsolutions.ca <stuff at trackingsolutions.ca>
> wrote:
> > > > In order to see the OSFlash community thrive and grow it is necessary
> > > > to provide financial support for the primary source of Open Source
> > > > Flash development.
> > > >
> > > > I am purposing that everyone give a one time donation of $50 Canadian
> > > > (why Canadian? well because I live there) or the equivalent. Then try
> > > > to make monthly donations of around $25 dollars.
> > > >
> > > > It may seem like a little but with lots of people doing so it would
> > >
> > > provide
> > >
> > > > the necessary money to keep OSFlash going solid.
> > > >
> > > > I am transferring money to my Pay Pal account and will make my first
> > >
> > > transfer
> > >
> > > > as soon as possible.
> > > >
> > > > Chris Cherrett
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > osflash mailing list
> > > > osflash at osflash.org
> > > > http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > osflash mailing list
> > > osflash at osflash.org
> > > http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> osflash mailing list
> osflash at osflash.org
> http://osflash.org/mailman/listinfo/osflash_osflash.org
>


-- 
Cheers,
Ray Chuan