I have a different take. I think it's a warning to people that use the software: they can either chip in a little bit, or have no expectation whatsoever for there ever to be another release. I think that there is an ethical obligation here on the part of active users to donate at least $2 each, assuming that the developer isn't making up a story.
There's no ethical obligation to help someone who decided to upload code you can use to the internet.
Now that's brutal. Of course there isn't and you are quite right but there are such things as morals.
Can I offer a more pessimistic view? This is Darwinism. If the author has a seemingly popular and monetisable (sic) product with real users, yet has failed to achieve the state of ramen profitable, then perhaps this is fate. Perhaps he's not able to be at the helm of a product that people would rely on in their production apps. What if the author of this app is unable to run the product successfully and is forced to…
>What if the author of this app is unable to run the product successfully and is forced to close it down. That’s why many businesses would not consider a free service or a product. The developer of SQLite sells licenses for his public domain code for this very reason.
True.
I knew my comment would be downvoted.
Interestingly, one comment above said the author did not release an update in over a year...
Can I offer a more pessimistic view? This is Darwinism. If the author has a seemingly popular and monetisable (sic) product with real users, yet has failed to achieve the state of ramen profitable, then perhaps this is fate. Perhaps he's not able to be at the helm of a product that people would rely on in their production apps. What if the author of this app is unable to run the product successfully and is forced to…
The thousands of users have the power to avoid costly migration via a less costly payment just like Darwin prescribed
Same - i dunno if i ever have a use for the project/software, but when he wrote that he doesn't want to "Jimmy Wales" people i just had to :D Also: sometimes, life is just brutal - admitting you actually do need help (and even moreso in such a public way) itself has to be rewarded and commended!
I have a different take. I think it's a warning to people that use the software: they can either chip in a little bit, or have no expectation whatsoever for there ever to be another release. I think that there is an ethical obligation here on the part of active users to donate at least $2 each, assuming that the developer isn't making up a story.
Free software is a gift. It does not create an obligation when one receives it.
>What if the author of this app is unable to run the product successfully and is forced to close it down. That’s why many businesses would not consider a free service or a product. The developer of SQLite sells licenses for his public domain code for this very reason.
True. I knew my comment would be downvoted. Interestingly, one comment above said the author did not release an update in over a year...
Maybe your comment comes as a too harsh of a portrayal of the person who provides valuable product or service for free but IMHO from business standpoint its true.
If you want money ask for it and I don't mean donations. The strange dynamic where you collect street cred in exchange for your work and expect to be taken care for doesn't work. Even if he finds a job and doesn't need donations, he will be working for people who wanted money and asked for it. It's the same thing with directly asking money for your services but with extra steps where you pay other people for doing the asking.
Reminds me a lot of the boat I'm in - based on his CV it looks like he's self-taught and started around the same time I did. This market right now is killing us, and I've got to wonder if AI tools are filtering out self-taught devs more aggressively than they used to. In the worst case scenario, I have family I can move in with, but I don't know how to function in any other role after dedicating myself to this since…
I've come across so many devs with "good" CVs who were full of themselves and couldn't do a single pragmatic thing. CVs, degrees, titles seem completely inflated and mostly meaningless in North America and in tech in particular. Sometimes I'm wondering whether people like you – assuming you are good at your job – shouldn't simply lie on their CV to get their foot in the door. Regardless, you should have better chance…
A billion of these stories never prepared me for the utter shitshow that laid itself bare to me when I first became a hiring manager. I’m self-taught, am strongly philosophically opposed to educational or past employer ‘prestige’ like working for FAANG or whatever. Still, I learned pretty quickly to not trust a bunch of naive ‘intuitive’ signals.
I have a different take. I think it's a warning to people that use the software: they can either chip in a little bit, or have no expectation whatsoever for there ever to be another release. I think that there is an ethical obligation here on the part of active users to donate at least $2 each, assuming that the developer isn't making up a story.
Free software is a gift. It does not create an obligation when one receives it.
Life is a gift that also comes with no obligations. Pity everyone takes it so seriously.
Reading that other people donated helped me to do so. I'm writing this to help other people get over the decision hump.
I self-host his [name redacted] on a fun site of mine. I like this style of app: small, simple binary that can share a machine with lots of other things.
Can I offer a more pessimistic view? This is Darwinism. If the author has a seemingly popular and monetisable (sic) product with real users, yet has failed to achieve the state of ramen profitable, then perhaps this is fate. Perhaps he's not able to be at the helm of a product that people would rely on in their production apps. What if the author of this app is unable to run the product successfully and is forced to…
The thousands of users have the power to avoid costly migration via a less costly payment just like Darwin prescribed
I disagree, there's no contract or expectation of performance with a donation. People who depend on products like paying for that product because this sets expectations.
True. I knew my comment would be downvoted. Interestingly, one comment above said the author did not release an update in over a year...
Maybe your comment comes as a too harsh of a portrayal of the person who provides valuable product or service for free but IMHO from business standpoint its true. If you want money ask for it and I don't mean donations. The strange dynamic where you collect street cred in exchange for your work and expect to be taken care for doesn't work. Even if he finds a job and doesn't need donations, he will be working for peop…