We all want v1c to continue developing FB, right..
Well, we all also know that he's gonna get tired of working with it..
So.. how about we/someone set-up a online shop for FB stuff.. and v1c would get part of the (hopefully) profit?
Or just some donator thingy...
Ofcourse, v1c would have to promisse to only use the money he gets for FB developement.. (read: Pizza, beer and partying
)
I don't know how much I can do myself, but I would certainly donate/buy stuff...
I dont know how many times it has been said, but I think FB is great.. and seeing how fast it's developing...
Throwing in a few $to keep it going is something I gladely will do.
So, how about it? Ideas, comments? Anyone have any experience running online shops? How do we setup an easy to use donator thingy (if we want that) etc etc etc...
I'd donate/buy too, but I have my own limit too.
stores and donation would help the FB effort a lot but even so victor has a life as well and working on this project a lot going to burn him out.
if were going to insure FB stays going and keeps developing at it's current rate were going to have too start contributing to the compiler it self.
which means we going to have to get a bunch of programmer amongst us that have a good understanding of compiler theory and have them run though victor FB code and have them understand it as well as victor does.
then we need to organize our efforts and start improving and debugging the compiler and have victor act as the maintainer
also mybe somone should take over the web page stuff for victor as well.
I'll donate too... Hell, I'd even donate blood! :lol:
I don't care about compiler theory though... I just wanna make fun games.
well somone in the community going to have to step up to the plate to help out.
I've offered many times to take webmastering duties...but as usual I guess they weren't read.
As for the online shop/donation service, while I have no experience I think it is a good idea.
SF makes it easy to set up a donation service from within sourceforge itself.
And if v1c uses the donated money to buy beer and pizza, so what? I'd be happy to buy the man who made me enjoy programming again a beer or 5.
edit
My offer to take up webmastering responsibilities still stands.
I don't know a whole lot about compiler design beyond what I learned in a programming languages class, but I'd like to learn. It's not much, but it's a start.
Maybe not look at it so much as a donation, but more as a sponsorship thing...
'
I agree that selling promotional stuff is a good idea.. but that would take a little time to get to profit stage..
why not right now... start accepting sponcerships... ie...
build a page somewhere that simply lists the names of people who have decided to support Free Basic development by purchasing their copies of the compiler... this way those who cannot afford, can still get the compiler, and those who can afford can support it...
maybe.....
Sponsors - names of those who have contributed a large amount say over $100...
names........
Compiler Purchases - names of those who have contributed any amount towards a symbolic purchase of a free but Great product...
names........
?
I know this maybe a bit trapish but...
There are lot of companies and institutions that support open source projects -well in one way or another.
Maybe V1c could hook up with one of these companies -well downside to it I guess would be that he'd be forced also add company commercial and stuff like that -but hey at least he'd get paid :wink:
well dunno just an idea.
I think it would be a good idea to follow a model
that has worked on other open source projects.
I don't know how they have done it, but I think
it would probably involve some sort of non-profit
organization thing. Create some kind of offical
organizaiton, have an official election of board members,
including a treasurer, and some kind of annual
meeting (which would be pretty cool) where everyone
gets drunk.
Become members of the organization, maybe with
an annual dues that's not a lot, and you get voting
rights to elect board members. Even if you're not
contributing to the development, you become a member,
pay your dues, and you can vote on who should be
a board member.
Whatever way you collect money, whether dues, donations,
buying things, or whatever, it's decided by the board
of directors how it gets distributed, and it's all disclosed
on some web site so everyone knows that they're contribution
shows up (so you know nobody is scaming your money), and
how it was all spent. If you don't like how its being done,
when its time to re-elect members, you can vote accordingly.
We can even have a constitution -- live freebasic or die.
Dean