Why not charge for RavenNuke?

Worker Joined: Mar 30, 2009 Posts: 132

maybe were all thieves. who "stole" code from someone who stole it from someone else who stole it from someone else all the way stealing it from the original 1st php code Razz

(BTW; if you dont know im trying to instert a little humor here Razz

)

I agree with duck on alot of his post.... especially "Don't Charge for anything Raven just focus on building a "GREAT FREE PRODUCT" and as they said in Field of Dreams "If you build it they will come." " and i think that could be said for anyone who is a current coder of a project or a future coder..

Involved Joined: Feb 03, 2006 Posts: 269

Like I said too, keep the core free and if you want to make some kaching!

on the way like wordpress or joomla make some exclusive modules/scripts and sell them, this way you give users the choice... there never going to donate are they !!

registered · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 6:48 am

kd8hho wrote:

I agree with duck on alot of his post.... especially "Don't Charge for anything Raven just focus on building a "GREAT FREE PRODUCT" and as they said in Field of Dreams "If you build it they will come." " and i think that could be said for anyone who is a current coder of a project or a future coder..

The unfortunate reality is that even if you build a great product, very few will donate even just a few dollars to help keep the project alive. Raven has to almost beg for donations and that just should not be the case!

Site Admin/Owner Joined: Aug 27, 2002 Posts: 17088

Please do not read into this. I am going to be v-e-r-y transparent for a moment. I have debated for a long time as to whether or not to share this, but here goes Wink

This is not a pity-party nor a poor, poor, me story. It's my reality and there is no cure; only managing it. I am only sharing this so that no one gets the mistaken impression that I'm just after donations to supplement my job. I have no job. I am not after welfare Laughing

When I was working I had no financial issues and I had a 6 figure income. However, in 2005 I was forced into disability retirement at age 55 due to Narcolepsy and associated issues. Needless to say I took about an $85k/year cut in pay - OUCH! Not to mention my medical costs of which I pay a good portion due to the drugs I must have which are very expensive and not on anyone's formulary.

I'd like to also mention that I try to share with the RavenNuke(tm) Team as much as possible. It's not usually monetary, although sometimes, as finances allow, I do make donations to Team members also. I try to do something annually that benefits the Team members. It may be access to books, software that I purchase Team licenses for, etc.

Anyway, that's my reality. We are now dependent on support from this site. Whereas in the past it helped to offset expenses, it now is required to pay expenses and pay for the medicines that are out of pocket to the tune of about $1,000/month. So, that's why I actually pleaded last month. I have never felt as helpless as I have this year. I wish to thank all of you who donate, especially last month. I know for many it was sacrificial.

Hopefully this clears up any misconceptions, doubts, questions, etc. that anyone has.

Thank you all for your support!

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 9:59 am

How about subscription based donations? I think many would donate more often but don't always remember with everything else going on in their lives. You could create separate packages and maybe as a reward have an icon that displays their "supporter level" next to their posts in the forums...? Gold Supporter, Silver, etc, or whatever.... Just a thought..

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 10:15 am

I would subscribe, but that would mean you only get possibly a handfull of dedicated people who do subscribe.

I can relate to ravens heart ache Im in a very similar situation

Worker Joined: Oct 26, 2004 Posts: 134 Location: Boston

Raven you belong to Him through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, you will never have to face a second of your life without hope. Now THAT’S GOOD NEWS! Wave

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 1:29 pm

Unit1 wrote:

Raven you belong to Him through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, you will never have to face a second of your life without hope. Now THAT’S GOOD NEWS! Wave

Amen!

registered · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:21 pm

xGSTQ wrote:

I can relate to ravens heart ache Im in a very similar situation

I'm still in good health but my dad and mom aren't.It's a good thing we are french (living in France) because the health system covers 80% of expenses. Add health insurance and we're are 100% covered.

Raven , it would be weird for a complete stranger to say he's concerned about your state , wouldn't it? Even if total anonymity is hard on the web.

Out of curiosity , what was your job?

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:06 pm

Sorry to hear about your parents but I'm glad you can meet their medical needs.

I was a Sprint Corporate Human Resources Manager HR Reporting Systems & Development and my group managed the Help Desk for all of Sprint Corporate.

Worker Joined: Jul 06, 2005 Posts: 172

I like the idea of membership levels which only offer a special title/rank or whatever. Perhaps high level memberships could offer the benefit of special support or something. Most of my nuke issues are not urgent, but there may be a couple a year that are like really really urgent. Most of the time the question is answered before I get a chance to get back on here. But anyhow Very Happy

3/mo shouldn't break anyone's bank if they want to be a supporter. Or it could be paid yearly. I just emailed Raven and asked him to send me a subscription for $10/mo. It's the least I can do and that way I don't have to remember to donate it'll just do it automatically.

Can anyone else join me for $10/mo? or 5?

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:46 pm

Thanks so much! I think I will just implement this into my Donations mod Wink

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:02 am

i like the membership deal also.

I think many of us has taken a huge income hit over the last couple years. some of us medical reasons, some economy reasons (layoff/fired/job outsourced)

times are truly tough on a huge majority of us. and I think after the US meltdown 2008/2009 many of us who do have websites will have a hard time keeping them up.

ill send ya cash when i can but like many i have felt the economic collapse hard. and i think for the 1st time in my life im a bit scared that we wont see a recovery (in my lifetime)

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:15 am

alien73 wrote:

No need for emporium - Alien Cart(tm) is coming soon Dance-Y

But isn't it based on Emporium??

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:28 am

Wow, some great responses in this topic.

Licensing - a move to a custom license seems like a sensible idea to me. I'm currently using a modified Creative Commons license for some stuff and if that route was taken for RN, one of the most important area's that needs covering is extending the license to cover third party code, specifically, none redistribution/dissemination of the code.

Subscriptions - definitely a better model that relying on donations but keep in mind that payments via Credit Cards/Debit Cards will expire as the have an expiry date so there should be some mechanism to 'remind' subscribers when their subscription lapses.

Support - Raven has already made it clear the support model will not be changed (at the moment) but I do think there is merit in recognising/rewarding those who donate/subscribe when they download an RN distribution. Whether that recognition/reward be a custom title or modification to a forum file to show which software they have downloaded etc is really immaterial, the important bit is that other users can recognise that they are supporting RN financially, which might encourage others to do the same.

Added Value - thats the name of the game even if it is a buzzword of the late 90's. If a subscription model is used, there is no reason why there cannot be a 'Developer' level which would allow access to WebSVN or even access to private discussion forums aimed at development rather than bug fixes etc.
One value added service might even be access to a 'hire a developer' type forum.

Advertising - there is always revenue to be had from advertising, whether it be client based or third party ad links. I personally use two or three different third party ad providers and it really helps!!
On the downside, too many ads might be bad for SEO but there are legitimate ways around that for Google.

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:00 am

Guardian2003 wrote:

One value added service might even be access to a 'hire a developer' type forum.

I like this idea. Let me take this one step further....Have RN approved developers. The deal is cut through RN. Raven holds the money. Once the work is complete he pays them and keeps 10% for RN.

For people like me that hire folks to build MODS.....It would offer some security knowing that the person I have hired will do what he says he will do. The developer knows that he will get paid once the project is complete.

Dawg

Involved Joined: Sep 15, 2008 Posts: 352

Guardian2003,

It's based from emporium but I've done so many changes and bug fixes it's really not anymore... The credits are there. It was a quick start over CCart.

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:13 am

"The Bounty Forum"

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:35 am

eldorado wrote:

Raven , it would be weird for a complete stranger to say he's concerned about your state , wouldn't it? Even if total anonymity is hard on the web.

Possibly, probably, maybe, Laughing

. That message was really more directed at the regulars and/or those who frequent this site. Since you don't have to be a member to access the downloads, those who are members aren't really strangers. Anyway, I felt I owed it to whomever reads it Smile

.

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:20 am

Raven wrote:

Possibly, probably, maybe, Laughing

. That message was really more directed at the regulars and/or those who frequent this site. Since you don't have to be a member to access the downloads, those who are members aren't really strangers. Anyway, I felt I owed it to whomever reads it Smile

.

Ab imo pectore ,I'm glad to be part of these members,(sed persevare diabolicum).

Wow...lots of ideas. And some are really good.
and to add another latin stuff I learned at school!
Carpe Diem Razz

edit: I should change my sig to "culture is like butter"

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 1:46 pm

sak wrote:

3/mo shouldn't break anyone's bank if they want to be a supporter. Or it could be paid yearly. I just emailed Raven and asked him to send me a subscription for $10/mo. It's the least I can do and that way I don't have to remember to donate it'll just do it automatically.

Can anyone else join me for $10/mo? or 5?

I'm all for this, put me down for $10 a month as well

Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:18 pm

Anyone else see the irony of Raven having to code a new monthly donation into the donations mod? killing me

I think it'll be a great addition and I hope lots of people use it!

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:51 pm

bump -- any luck with adding the subscription to the donation module? I'd love to get that going on my site as well. You can send me the donation subscription link by email if you think it's going to be a while before you get that functionality in the module.

Posted: Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:07 pm

Definitely haven't forgotten. I've just been having to deal with some personal issues Wink

. Hopefully I'll get there this week.

Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 12:59 am

sak - as a temporary measure, why not include your subscription code within the email that is sent out to new users?
You could also add it to the forum email template for the topic reply notifications etc just to 'remind' people Smile