DCoT Apps Now Donation Source
I have been getting a number of requests for access to the source code for some of the applications that I have made available as freeware on Daily Cup of Tech. Apparently, there are a number of people who would like to learn how I do some of the coding and also follow my examples.
I have been really at odds about what to do regarding this. One of the main goals of Daily Cup of Tech is to help others learn about technology and how to do things for themselves. And learning by example is an excellent way to do this.
On the other hand, I put a lot of time, thought, and effort into these applications. I do not think it is unreasonable for me to expect a little something in return. After all, I am doing this stuff as a hobby. Any time that I spend working on the blog and on applications for the blog comes right off my family time.
So, what is a blogger supposed to do? I want to help others but I don’t want to screw myself over in the meantime.
Donation Source
What I came up with is a new concept called donation source. Essentially, I will still release all of my DCoT apps initially as freeware with the source code being closed. But, you will be able to release the code by donating to the project. Most projects donation levels are set to $100 so it is not a ridiculous amount of money required to make the code accessible and I get a bit of monetary encouragement to push me to the next project.
First Projects
And, to add to this announcement, I am officially making DCoT Menu and External IP the first two projects eligible for code release. So, this is your opportunity to make this source code available to everyone.
Go forth and Release The Code!
If you found this post useful, why don't you buy me a cup of coffee to show your gratitude?
7 Responses to “DCoT Apps Now Donation Source”
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JC Says:
April 12th, 2007 at 7:32 amTim,
Uhm, although I really like your blog and opinions, I feel I have to react a bit to this :
First, I believe that many tools you write and blog about here are intitially made for yourself, and that once you wrote them, you think it could be useful to others and blog about them, don’t you ?
If we see this that way, you didn’t make any effort _only_ for the community, but for yourself in the beginning, right ?
Second, did you mean $10 or $100 ?
Because if you meant $100 (and that what the donations pages seem to confirm) that is really expensive for just an hundred of lines of AutoIT code (which is a wonderful language for some uses and that I use sometimes as well but is more limited scripting than real programming, in my opinion).Maybe it is because I’m not a newbie in either AutoIT or more conventional languages like C (with or without libraries like the standard Win32 API) or assembly, but even in my beginning years (and I’m almost fully self-taught and know how important it is to have find good resources), I wouldn’t have paid $100 for the source to a tool that I could use as a programming example.
Third, hundreds or thousands of tools are open-source and for free and way more interesting technical than any of the tools that you will ever be able to sell the source there (do not take this as an harsh comment or an insult to your skills, but I doubt you will rewrite an equivalent to nmap or Miranda singlehandledly, time required alone being a huge issue).
I also agree that too complex sources do not help the beginners, but sources for beginner shouldn’t be sold for $100 !Additionnaly, the Internet is not only visited by occidental persons and the difference of “buying power” is not fair : most americans or europeans can spend $100 for a source code, but I think that only few Afrikans can actually afford this…
If your initial purpose is to help others and share your knowledge, I think it would be a pity to limit your audience to only some layers of the population.
Even if we do not go into geographical and economical differences, one part of your visitors is probably IT enthusiast teenagers looking for resources to get themselves better into the field : most teenagers can not spend $100 for some source code lines.As you will have understood, I have mixed feelings about this move on your part and believe that the articles on your blog take you much more time and effort than writing the tools you’re selling the sources for.
If we see things that way, why make pay for the sources and not for the website as well since it is actually the article that should take you most of your time since you’re a prolific and steady blogger ?Sorry, I do not mean to be harsh or insulting and I’m not saying “release the code for free”, but if you release it, make it affordable and honestly priced.
I used to give away some of my software (sometimes even written 100% in assembly) and sources in the past when I was part of some programming groups and I have not always been thanked as I believe I should have for doing so, especially since I was providing such for free… but to come to think about selling the source of a custom USB splash screen for $100, you either became really greedy or overly excited about the coding skills and abilities required to write such piece of software.
I thought I would write this to let you know my feelings and not let an interesting and cleverly written blog drift to a greedy and (IMHO) questionnable direction…
If I missed or misunderstood something, please let me know.
JC, a surprised DCoT Reader
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Brock Angelo Says:
April 12th, 2007 at 7:52 amTook me a minute (because my coffee hasn’t kicked in yet) - source code is available to everyone once the group has donated a total of $100. Got it.
Hey, that makes sense. I think most developers will agree that this is a fair way to do it. I’ve often wondered if “open source” is really free anyway because it is usually done on either company time or university computers (ie, taxpayers dollars).
That is a nice model for software design. Great idea.
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Webs Says:
April 12th, 2007 at 8:18 amI am a big fan of open source, so I would like to see your software go that way. But I can see where you are coming from and I think it is a happy medium. Hopefully others see it that way as well.
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Tim Fehlman Says:
April 12th, 2007 at 9:24 amJC,
I really appreciate your comments on this. I knew that when I decided to go this way, there would be people who did not agree with it and I am prepared for that eventuality.
A lot of the tools that I made for the blog initially started out as tools I created for myself and then released. But, recently, people have been making special requests of me to build custom tools for them. I would like more than just the person who requested the tools to be able to benefit from them so I release them as freeware. But, there is a lot of effort that goes into them and a certain amount of priority has to be given to these projects. I have work, family, church, etc. that also need attention and if I am working on special projects, these all suffer. I think if people can ask me for something, than I have a right to ask for something in return.
As for the price, to be honest, that is an arbitrary number that I came up with. It could just as easily have been $10 or $1000. The way I am looking at it is that each person does not have to pay $100. If 100 people each pay $1 or 1 person pays $100, the end result is the same. That is the beauty of the Internet. What we can’t accomplish on our own (I agree that I would not pay $100 for some AutoIt code), we can do as a group (I could probably get a bunch of my friends together and all chip in to get $100).
I guess the other thing is that you do not have to pay if you do not want to. If enough people have contributed toward the release of the code, it is released to everyone, not just the people who paid for it. This way, people who cannot afford to donate still get access to the code at the same time as everyone else. They are not disadvantaged in any way.
JC, I really do appreciate your willingness to be open and honest with me about this. As I have written about several times in the past, I write for my audience.
But, I have seen a very strong trend on the Internet toward a “take and don’t give back” mentality. I feel that I am giving tremendously of my time, knowledge, and experience. I do not believe that it is too much to ask that people be willing to show their appreciation in this way.
Hope you continue to read and enjoy the blog.
Tim
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JC Says:
April 12th, 2007 at 12:35 pmHi Tim,
Thanks for your answer.
I fully understand that your time is precious and that the time you devote to the website or the tools isn’t time you spend doing your other occupations like work, family, and other hobbies.
To be honest, I thought “wow” when I saw the post in which you wrote “Please write me about your IT problems and issues and I’ll try to help you to fix them and post back my solutions”.
Wow because it was a great idea, but also because like you and many people here, I work in the IT field and I spend so much time supporting “my own” users for the company I work for that I was surprised you still had time to take care of the problem of potentially any people connected to the Internet in the world…
I don’t want and have no right to tell you what you should do but if time is lacking, then why to do it in the first place ?
What I’ve learned the hard way when I was helping out in a community was to not give more than I could actually afford : it feels good for you (because you find yourself helpful and useful) and for the others, but it will never be enough (for either you or them), so I’ve learned that sometimes you have to decide for yourself what you have time to do and what you don’t.In my mind, things that one willingly decides to do for a community cannot then receive the “it takes me a time that I can’t afford to spend for nothing” justification because one knows its own schedule, prerogatives and priorities and made the decision fully knowing them.
That was more for the “spirit” part of it and is my personal opinion, but now, as Brock Angelo pointed out, it wasn’t very clear that the source code would actually be available to EVERYONE when the total of each individual donations reaches $100 !
I probably got too hot-blooded and didn’t read the next page carefully then but that’s not the same thing at all than what I understood (ie. any distinct person wanting the source code has to pay $100 !!).
I missed that and I apologize since a part of my comments was uncalled for, but I believe you should make that point much clearer on the main post to avoid people misunderstanding what your purpose really is as I now view what you’re trying to do under a fully different light and what sounded to me totally crazy before I knew that now sounds quite reasonable and honest…
Even on the projects page, I think it could be stated in a clearer way… after all, when buying things, money is the most important part of it…
That said, even though price is not the biggest matter now, I still believe that you should set different prices
for different projects as the USB splash screen sounds obviously an easier project than the Remote Presenter.
Not so much a matter of money here, but I think it would be meaningful to reflect the difference on complexity of each project to the price.Thanks,
JC.
PS: Brock Angelon, you have a point regarding open-source being not so free as it seems…
For some of the biggest open-source projects, like Linux or some open-source Database Server software, it can get quickly very expensive in terms of TCO as it needs an army of highly trained staff or consultants to administrate, which are often from the same company that the open-source project was initially sponsored with… -
Duncan Cunningham Says:
April 13th, 2007 at 9:32 amTim,
It all appears fine to me. I’m glad I let others comment first to reveal the whole story. Maybe JC has a point that your intention wasn’t made clear, but now I understand. $100 for your time is fair since we get alot of you for free anyway.
You are right on the dot with your “take and don’t give back” comment. I am very guilty of that with my learning of linux and freeware. I just try not to be ungrateful, I could never have done what I’m able to with old pc’s and fully operating packages like freenas, smoothwall, ebox and others. I’ve used your notes a lot to help me understand and if I needed more, I’d be happy that you are being (not rewarded) compensated for your time.
Keep up the good work, many many good people that appreciate your work on this site will never make a comment, make sure you know that when ‘a few’ make comments that may not be the feelings of ‘the many’.
I don’t go to work for free either and I sometimes get the impression that my ‘gifted time’ is valued more by myself than by the ‘receivers’.
GREAT work!!, I look forward to seeing your site each day.
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Emanuele Says:
April 16th, 2007 at 5:22 pmDear DC0T,
about the “MedInfo Keeper” you are planning to code, seems thet someone have already developed this idea: take a look at http://www.thebandoflife.com/
We (at MyPendrive.org) provided the software, the idea and the product was conceived by our friends.
Cheers,
Emanuele - Italy
