[feedback] Developers pay

guiguibonbon · 2007-04-29 01:54:28

Yeah, well, to me, all this translates to

In exchange for noting more than hosting (that crashed no less than half an hour ago again) and some sort of mental debt to a developper we haven’t heard of in ages, we’re being held hostage by a mysterious bunch of people.

For as far as I understand things, if no-one seems to feel allowed to take a real lead in the project, that’s because they are around. Maybe it would be time to break free?

Last edited by guiguibonbon (2007-04-29 01:56:05)

nardo · 2007-04-29 04:27:12

Neko wrote:

I know my opinion doesn’t really count, but forums exist even for people like me! :)

LOL! … hear ya

can’t see Txd/Dean Allen as scammers as I think I’m ahead!

the important issue is assisting the dev team in determining/maintaining a sustainable model for future txp development i.e. dollars

probably was naive to think an honour system would suffice (tho like Neko every Txp site deployed now & in the future will get a feel for the paypal button) …. so I changed my mind; provide certain services or functionality to paid-up subscribers… support might be too onerous a burden, documention should be open, so perhaps plugins or Pro version

alexandra · 2007-04-29 06:19:14

Neko schrieb:

In addition I believe … that a model similar to EE would be fantastic if applied to TXP: a free core version for anyone and another version that costs money but offers premium features …

Read Sencers post here carefully …

colak · 2007-04-29 06:24:04

Mary wrote:

If you want to know what I myself have received, here’s the list of people, in full (as far as I can recall and trace in my Paypal log). I certainly can’t and don’t complain about what I have received.

I posted this here about a year ago

Txp community, I think that another system should be found regarding the donations. Paypal, although very popular, does not clear credit cards form many countries. more specifically cyprus which is where I live. Here is a list of countries paypal supports .

I strongly think that alternative donation methods should be found

marios · 2007-04-29 07:16:17

A small side note on the VC II Deals:

You got a hosting account for a one-time upfront fee. (Forever, which was good both for you and for TXD. Good for you, since you never have to pay again. Good for TXD since, it allowed them to get the required funds for further expansion )

TXD provides support and hosting for all textpattern domains ( Very important as Zem mentions above )

( I have two such accounts, which I am quite happy about )

Regarding CoreDevelopment Support:

Another possible option that you might want to consider:

A Premium Support Option

A small percentage of Project Revenues goes to TXP Core Development. You get the premium support in return. ( Premium badge can be put on the Site.)

( Something along Neko’s and Nardo’s Ideas )

regards, marios

Mary · 2007-04-29 07:24:07

Yiannis: Are you sure you’re not talking about sending money through a PayPal account verses a credit card? ‘cuz I’ve looked that page over more than once and understand that list to mean those are the banks PayPal will deal with for user accounts (deposit and withdrawal from account), and receiving payments in that country’s currency. As far as I know, Visa/MasterCard don’t care where you’re from, and that was why PayPal added that capability?

If that is definitely not the case – which would suck – what other options are there, apart from the usual expensive merchant accounts?

A Premium Support Option

Er, was that not something already shouted down? But hey, if you missed that poll (or perhaps changed your mind) it’s still open for feedback.

colak · 2007-04-29 07:54:30

Mary wrote:

Yiannis: Are you sure you’re not talking about sending money through a PayPal account verses a credit card? ‘cuz I’ve looked that page over more than once and understand that list to mean those are the banks PayPal will deal with for user accounts (deposit and withdrawal from account), and receiving payments in that country’s currency. As far as I know, Visa/MasterCard don’t care where you’re from, and that was why PayPal added that capability?

Hi Mary
The url i posted clearly defines the countries which can Send. Receive. Withdraw. and the ones which can Send Money to Anyone in the Growing PayPal Network which is where Cyprus and a lot of other countries are. What they mean with that is that the countries listed there are allowed to receive money but not to pay. At least this was the case up to 6 months ago… Basically I know no one here in Cyprus who deals with paypall because of that restriction.

If that is definitely not the case – which would suck – what other options are there, apart from the usual expensive merchant accounts?

One method which steve (net carver) used regarding his mlp plugin was donations/gifts via amazon.com – which is the option I followed:)

A Premium Support Option
Er, was that not something already shouted down? But hey, if you missed that poll (or perhaps changed your mind) it’s still open for feedback.

I have already voted for that and I also made some comments here which include the paypal problem:)

Last edited by colak (2007-04-29 07:57:26)

jstubbs · 2007-04-29 09:27:50

zem wrote:

I agree. We’ve tried donations in the past, and the amount it brings in is basically pocket money (I mean no offence to those who donated). With basically no marketing, a week’s worth of revenue from the Redirect Pro plugin easily exceeded a year’s worth of donations to Team Textpattern. (It’s still not much, but enough to suggest the idea has merit).
Numbers aside, I’m a professional, not a busker. We’ve been working for a long time on ways to earn an honest living building Textpattern. It’s difficult and frustrating. There is no shortage of ideas, just time and knowledge and experience and resources.
The “Textpattern Membership” proposal was one of those ideas. The reaction has not been encouraging. We’re considering others.

Alex, I am not sure the membership thing is so bad. I voted on your poll for more plugins. Maybe the right format is not a membership scheme, but I don’t see why you need to ask, you could just do it and see if it works.

Paid plugins are an easy way forward. You already have the zem_event plugin which you could make into a paid plugin – by which I mean offer support and updates for those who pay for it.

Other plugins that would be useful:

Membership management
E-commerce or store
Built in forum
Better image management
Multi-languages

Maybe others in the community can offer their own ideas.

An approved list of TXP developers (like EE) might also be useful for first time users.

Essentially, you need to give us a better way of supporting your efforts. The membership option is not very clear at this point, which may explain the hesitation on the part of the community.

Last edited by jstubbs (2007-04-29 09:28:14)

alexandra · 2007-04-29 12:31:38

zem schrieb:

We’ve been working for a long time on ways to earn an honest living building Textpattern. It’s difficult and frustrating.

By the end of the day, TXP is Open Source. To make a decent living on coding for TXP is full of dewy-eyed optimism. Do you know programmers who live on coding for OS? I don´t. Why do you not release one drop cash plugin after the other? Why did you not already code an eCommerce solution yet selling it? Now somebodyelse took this over. I don´t get your mourning… I never got 1$ for all my TXP contributions. Truth is i payed instead!

Besides TXP is not only developers … you are just a part of the game, but not the complete game itself. I probably should give this issue a seperate post. Some people seem not to see how much other people contributed … Code itself is a long binary in the first place and nothing more!

Apart from that, it seems selling VC plans with the offer to fund OS projects was nothing but a marketing trick by DA – at least it seems so to me. (I am no VC).

zero · 2007-04-29 12:49:39

Alexandra, I think what is remarkable is that it is not the developers who are moaning, or mourning, as you put it. It is the TXP users making themselves heard about the intentions of Textdrive, or more precisely, as you point out, Dean Allen. The developers just get on with it and keep doing a great job.

jstubbs · 2007-04-29 13:08:15

Alexandra, I don’t think this thread is about the developers moaning or groaning, rather the main issue is supporting the efforts of those who contribute to TXP – developers, marketers, Text Book authors etc etc. Your own efforts are amazing, and well thought of.

I remember you organised a Christmas gift year before last for the developers and those who had worked hard for TXP – Stuart (bombsite) for example. That was a nice thing to do, but now it seems we need to do more, and the question is what.

We are also not happy that we paid for TXD hosting assuming that part of our money would go towards the developers of TXP – it appears this may not have happened, although to be fair, we don’t know TXD’s story. It did say “10% of profits go towards the developer of your choice” or something like that. Then, the question would be what if there was no profit – then no money would be owed to the developer in question.

I for one would like to see paid-for plugins and extensions, because then I might have a better guarantee that the plugin won’t be dropped like so many others. What about those plugins that have been paid for with ransoms and then dumped?

The developers have made it clear that they will keep TXP free and open source – they just want to find a way to make some money for their work. We should support this, just like we should support the efforts of those who have also worked hard, like yourself.

ruud · 2007-04-29 13:19:53

jstubbs wrote:

What about those plugins that have been paid for with ransoms and then dumped?

If the license is free enough, there’s nothing to stop others from continuing development. That’s the beauty of free software.

hcgtv · 2007-04-29 16:05:02

alexandra wrote:

By the end of the day, TXP is Open Source. To make a decent living on coding for TXP is full of dewy-eyed optimism.

I’d love to expand on this, do start another thread.

It’s been said that Textpattern is hosted for free, so that’s where Textdrive gives back. Well, I’ve been trying for the last couple of hours to reach this forum. Then I’ve had to wait on the server to post this message. There are many hosting providers that would give Textpattern a similar deal. Heck a nice VPS would cost $38 a month, that’s $456 a year.

On the PunBB Hosting page it states: By signing up at TextDrive and selecting PunBB in the drop-down “Software I’ll be using”, 50% of the profit go to supporting the development of PunBB. All we are asking, as enthusiastic users and developers, does this still apply?

colak · 2007-04-29 16:06:16

I’d just like to point towards this topic in the txd forum

zero · 2007-04-29 16:15:18

*Jeremie wrote:
Can the TXD customer around here check their old archives, to see if the others plans (including the first VC, and the later on similar offers) have the same wording?*

I can’t find anything in my old emails apart from: Thank you for subscribing to TextDrive Consider this a confirmation of your membership in the TextDrive VC200 – which means great hosting for as long as the company exists.

However, Smartys has posted some interesting links over at this thread

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#31 2007-04-29 01:54:28

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#32 2007-04-29 04:27:12

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#33 2007-04-29 06:19:14

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#34 2007-04-29 06:24:04

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#35 2007-04-29 07:16:17

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#36 2007-04-29 07:24:07

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#37 2007-04-29 07:54:30

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#38 2007-04-29 09:27:50

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#39 2007-04-29 12:31:38

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#40 2007-04-29 12:49:39

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#41 2007-04-29 13:08:15

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#42 2007-04-29 13:19:53

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#43 2007-04-29 16:05:02

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#44 2007-04-29 16:06:16

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

#45 2007-04-29 16:15:18

Re: [feedback] Developers pay

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