[linux-audio-dev] donations or sponsoring?

[Richard Spindler]

2007/2/6, Leonard Ritter <contact at leonard-ritter.com>:
> from http://www.leonard-ritter.com/donations_or_sponsoring
>
> I keep bouncing an idea in my head, thinking about how to strengthen the
> bonding between open source software developers and software users.

Hi,

a lot of interesting thoughts, and since i've been thinking about this as well,
I will add some of the ideas that I had. Not all of them are thought through, so
this is more a of a brainstorming and overview over a number of different
approaches.

Some are also limited to a certain type of application.

1.) Port the App to win32 and osx, and implement some kind of shareware like
system. Due to the fact that Windows and Mac Users are less likely to compile
their software themselves, it might work out, provided the App is indendent from
features that are only available on Free and Open Systems. The source code would
still be available, and Linux users would get the app for free from
distributions.
Pros: For Desktop Apps, Windows is still widely used, I have an free software
app, that runs both linux and windows, and the Windows version has been
downloaded about 7 times as often as the linux version. Could be deceptive
though, because some sites redistribute linux software.
Cons: The philosophical aspect of free software dimishes, you have to compete
with other non-free shareware packages, so you would have to excel in features
and quality, but you should do that propably anyways. ;-) Advanced users could
compile your app and redistribute without restrictions.
QCad seems to use that model sucessfully.

2.) You could sell T-Shirts and CD-Sets from your Project, and rely on that.
Just selling T-Shirts with the Project logo is propably to simple, so you would
need a little creativity to make nice artwork, and regularly update the
selection of Shirts.
Pros: The contributors recieve a direct physical benefit for their support,
which might be encourage them to consider this way of support.
Cons: You have to establish an infrastructure for manufacturing the stuff,
though this is easy as there are companies which do this for you.
The OpenBSD project does this with some success, although they complained
recently that people or buying to few CDs, so a little complaining now and then
might be necessary to drive sales. ;-)

3.) You could do a yearly donation drive like wikipedia does, define a goal
about what recources are needed for the coming year of development, and then
make noise about your project an all major news sites until the goal is reached.
Some kind of donation-meter on the website would encourage users to help reach
the limit.
Pros: Due to the concentration of efforts around a specific point of time, the
media exposure might be bigger, then just dragging the donation button along,
people might encourage each other and their friends to donate, creating some
kind of hype, depending of course on how widely useful and popular your app is.
If it works, your funding for the coming year is secured.
Cons: The Goal might not be reached.

Of course non of these approaches are guaranteed to work, you would still need
to establish some credibility, trust and wide adoption. Additionally,
different models
might apply better to different users, so a mix might work as well, who knows?

Cheers
-Richard



-- 
Are you teaching the What and the How but without the Why and the When?