DonationCoder.com Software > Circle Dock
Change of Licensing from Version 2 (Cancelled)
app103:
My advice to any author is think very carefully before releasing any software with a GPL (or similar) license. If in doubt, don't!
-Markham (August 04, 2010, 02:36 PM)
--- End quote ---
I would also suggest the same for anyone that is considering contributing to or taking over a GPL licensed project.
cranioscopical:
Just a comment,
I'm sure that it's unintended but, to me, the direction of this topic is starting to look a bit like ingratitude.
Perhaps we should ask Markham what we could do to further the project.
In fact:
@Markham & Sarge: In your opinion, what could we do to further the project?
We did raise some donations for you recently, which you then generously assigned to the NANY prize.
sgtevmckay:
Just a comment,
I'm sure that it's unintended but, to me, the direction of this topic is starting to look a bit like ingratitude.
-cranioscopical (August 04, 2010, 04:43 PM)
--- End quote ---
Oh my cranioscopical, take heart my friend, and all of you.
I do not see anything in the comments today that I would even begin to consider as ingratitude. Just serious concern.
Concern for Markham, Myself, VideoInPicture's Legacy, and Circle Dock. :-*
I would be concerned if the response was anything else.
What could this community do that it has not already done?
Support from users and non-users alike.
Donations
Encouragement
Support about a year ago, when I was dealing with personal issues and was unable to support Eric Wong's (our beloved VIP) legacy and keep the support going myself.
Others committing code
All these things have already been done
This community has done everything that is possible, up to the point of placing itself in possible financial risks. I can not go into any great detail here as it is not my place, but know that we have never failed to know that if we needed it, the support of the entire community would be at our beck and call. I have never doubted that.
Along the way we have made great new friends in the community. Archon Of Fate, christofarian, bbc999 just to mention a short list, and all of these folks have contributed and continued in the community to support and help, both Circle Dock and Donationcoder :-*
I believe that someone here is absolutely correct in the recommendation of giving license(s) to those that have Donated.
I was keeping that Idea to myself as a surprise....Oops; Cats out now :-[
If anyone knows anything about Bizspark by Microsoft, I would love to get some further information.
As many of you know, doing what many of us do is not easy or cheap, and made less so by Markham being retired, and myself applying for SSI (currently in appeals), Neither of us are looking for profit as much as we are looking to cover costs. To expand Circle Dock, and this comes at no small expense.
So much so, that it is more of a cost than this community can bear.
So it is up to Circle Dock to find a way to be self supportive, or go into dormancy; again.
I for one can tell you that I will not be leaving Donationcoder, regardless of how this turns out.
I have built 2 communities based on the lessons and feeling of community here, and I have so much love and respect for so many members here, that I will not readily give that up.
I will protect VIP's Legacy to the best of my ability, even if that means returning to the original source :-[
I will also continue as I have done, and seek out VIP as I have continuously done for well over a year and a half now :Thmbsup:
Besides; Mouser has asked for my help on a project :tellme:
I want to thank you all for your support for, or against, and your comments.
Good, Bad, or indifferent; it is all what makes this community what it is.
Broad objective opinions, tempered with reality and honest thoughts.
This is show I see Donationcoder.com
Not to mention a really cool mascot :P
Tuesday through Friday is a really restrictive time frame for me, so I need time to assimilate all that has happened, and then speak with Markham objectively.
Give us time to talk, and seek our position(s) :Thmbsup:
Archon of Fate:
Well it appears i've been had ;D
I Feel a bit dumb about my comments earlier... Alot of good points were made today from everyone, and when it comes down to it I'd rather pay for CD than have it disappear so all I can say is that if 2.0 comes out I think i'll end up buying it :-*
thanks to all and regards,
Archon of Fate
Markham:
I've just been through this thread again and I am quite heartened by the fact that more DC members appear to support the theory that software should be paid for in some way and by some means. Cranioscopical, I don't know who you are, but I do know you are a highly respected member and I hope you don't mind me revealing the fact that you have supported Circle Dock with more donations and kind words than anyone else. Thank you, sir!
What none of you perhaps realise - although mouser, the Sarge and I know only too well - is that since I released version 1 in January, downloads of Circle Dock have soared beyond our wildest dreams. Just prior to the release, mouser provided me with space on the sister dcmembers.com to host the downloads. In our naivety we thought that we'd only be supplying product to a couple of dozen or so users per day judging from hits to the wikidot site and here. The size of that release was around 15MB but the download volumes quickly rose from a few megabytes per day to several Gigabytes per day. Circle Dock's Google Ranking went from nothing to #5 almost overnight; I'm told it has recently gone up to #4.
We are averaging just over 1 Terabyte of downloads per month and here are the figures to date:
February: 1,047.16 GB
March: 1239.35 GB
April: 998.50 GB **
May: 1358.43 GB
June: 1058.25 GB
July: 1007.0 GB
August (1st-4th): 140.31 GB - projected: 1087.40 GB
** April's volume is slightly reduced as we redirected the download link posted here and on the wikidot site to another ISP as we wanted to establish if the statistics obtained from dcmembers was accurate. When the volumes from that secondary site are added to that for dcmembers, there's a close correlation with other months - ie: downloads well in excess of 1 Terabyte/month.
Over the last few weeks, mouser, the Sarge and I have been in discussions as to the future of Circle Dock's distribution. It is quite clear - and accepted by the Sarge and myself - that the bandwidth Circle Dock requires of the dcmembers server is not sustainable and poses a real threat to that server's reliability. However there are now more than one hundred direct links to the downloads posted on sites around the world so removing all traces of Circle Dock from dcmembers is not an option. In an attempt to alleviate the situation, I have split the installation into a number of "modules" and all except the core installer will be hosted elsewhere. The core installer simply contains the executable and a rather complex install script which downloads the required modules according to the type of installation being performed (ie: new user or update) and the user options selected. It is similar in nature to a "web installer".
I have investigated an number of alternative sites where we could host Circle Dock's downloads including SourceForge (where Eric Wong did open a Circle Dock Project), Mediafire, and CNet. They all have serious disadvantages and none is really geared up for multi-part distribution - which given the size of Circle Dock v2, is the only way forward. Therefore a dedicated site seems inevitable.
But here's the rub: who is to pay for that? Are you seriously suggesting that I should pay for hosting when I'm not receiving one brass penny in revenue? Well, it should come as no big surprise to you that I'm not about to do that. Isn't it enough that I devote my time, knowledge and resources to maintaining this product and incorporate new features requested by users, that I have already commissioned and paid for a new web site to be designed? I may have been born on a Sunday but it wasn't last Sunday!
To those of you who feel that they are automatically entitled to up to date source code, I will say this. Go to SourceForge and spend some time - as I have very recently - and take a look at the Projects there which are supposed to have GPL (or similar) licenses. Most of the projects are abandoned or haven't been worked-on for more than 6 months and of those that aren't, very few have source code available for download. I would suggest that it is because you and those who think and act like you aren't prepared to support such projects financially that the authors either give-up on good, worthwhile projects, or simply refuse to make their work publicly available free-of-charge.
It is highly doubtful that changing the licensing mechanism would have adversely affected the majority of users and almost certainly no one who reads these words. My IPR lawyer believes the GPL License to be unenforceable under English Law from both the Licensor's and Licensee's viewpoints and it certainly does not protect the author's intellectual property rights.
For my part, I will be removing all remaining GPL'd code from the program and will be relaunching it under a different name and Logo later this year. It will, alas, no longer be free beyond a free trial period but will be priced attractively and competitively and I will extend a free lifetime licence to all those who have donated to either myself or to the Sarge up to this point in time. If, however, you insist on a free, GPL'd version, you are welcome to download the source to Eric Wong's last public release and spend the next few months removing all the bugs - or simply use it as-is. A word of warning though: if you intend to distribute any copies of Circle Dock, you will have to compile using the paid-for version of Visual Studio as per Microsoft's licence. I will continue to answer questions posted on this Forum regarding Circle Dock's usage but there will be no further development of that program.
Mark
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