Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion

For Developers: Do Donations Make a Difference?

<< < (6/9) > >>

zridling:
[Veign]: MAYBE WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE IS TO CREATE A PAGE WHERE USERS REGISTER AND THEN 'DONATE' IN ONE OF THREE WAYS: MONETARY VALUE, BUG REPORT (SOMETHING NOT ALREADY ON A BUG LIST), OR FEATURE / IDEA REQUEST. ACTUALLY LETS ADD A FORTH: REVIEW. A REVIEW FOR ME CARRIES ALOT OF WEIGHT ON SOME OF THE DOWNLOAD SITES TO INFLUENCE A NEW USER TO DOWNLOAD AND TRY THE APPLICATION.... THIS WOULD ALLOW A USER, ANY USER HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO REGISTER THE APPLICATION WITH LITTLE OR NO OUT-OF-POCKET. THE USER GETS THE APPLICATION AND I, AS THE DEVELOPER, RECEIVE SOMETHING OF VALUE.
--- End quote ---

You may be onto something there. My concern as a user is to always have a viable freeware/OS alternative to shareware and commercial apps. But to sustain good freeware, in the end, the developer must see some return on their time/sweat investment. Sure, the 13-year old can't whip out a credit card, but he can contribute in measurable ways to ensure the program's progress.

mouser:
that's pretty much how we do things here, but informally.  anyone who helps out significantly in identifying bugs or making suggestions gets upgraded to honorary membership.

reviews are v important - but i'd be a litte wary of offering licenses in return for positive reviews, it might end up making people a little wary of the reviews of your program.

Veign:
That's a good point mouser. 

I am working on the next release of Link200 which cleans IE favorites.  The next version will include a cleaner for FireFox too.  This application will be Donationware and I will be working on a new system for Veign to register the product.

Going to try and figure out a method so that anyone that wants the application can get it and I receive something of value in return...

And in response about underperforming applications:  My rule of thumb when creating an application is "Eat your own dogfood" so I use all applications I release.  Even if its underperforming in the public I still would update it as I use it. 

My philosphy has been create an application out of need and release it to the public as they may also have a need for it.  Creating the application lets me control the features.  This way I get an application exactly how I want or think it should function.

rjbull:
Mouser,

Are you looking to list donationware?  Because I just spotted another one:

"Zhorn Software   http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/

Stickies is a PC utility I wrote to try to cut down on the number of Post-It® notes I was leaving stuck to my monitor. It is a computerised version of those notes.

The design goal behind Stickies is that the program is small and simple. Stickies will not mess with your system files, or write to the registry. Stickies stores all information in a single text-based ini file. "

Carol Haynes:
Hey - me like them thar stickies ...

They are particularly good on a network where you can post a sticky on a friends dest to say "Don't forget to make Carol a coffee"

Top fun, and potentially useful when the novelty wears off  :onfire:

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page