Developers/Themers what is your take on them?

[Paul627g]

I started this just to see some comments and thoughts on developers & theme developers. What is your feelings behind beta releases that you have to pay for? Do you believe even with Android being " open source " that developers deserve claim to new " developments " ? Where do we draw the line?

These are just a few of the many questions this thread could bring up. I think everyone would be interested in hearing what each other has to say.

[WARN]Please keep your comments constructive and under control. If posts start to get " out of bounds " of being decent I will fully support our Moderators decision to close the thread. So lets not ruin it...[/WARN]

 

[Paul627g]

My personal feelings are simple. I support developers for the time, the effort and skill that is involved in creating and modifying ROMs & kernels to make the Android experience better for all.

My feelings on beta releases that you must " donate " to have access to, I do support this. Nobody is forcing anyone to dig into their pockets to donate. If you choose not to donate well then you don't get access to the newest developments. 99.9% of the time the well known developers that offer this option turn around and eventually offer these beta-tested developments to the general public once they have been rigorously tested. So its not like this is withheld from the public forever, only during the beta testing phase.

I personally have taken a small dive into the ROM dev scene and now my latest into the theme world and you do really begin to appreciate the time that it put into these developments once you attempt them yourself. This isn't 5 minutes a day or even 1 hour, its literally hours and hours of work to accomplish these things. I know now, especially in the theme department its so trial and error, things look nice in Paint Shop or Gimp, then you flash them and they don't appear as great so you constantly change things. Most devs do all this for free, they have jobs, families and other activities besides sitting here putting together this quality work. So for those who feel its deserved to throw $5 here or there to a developer for his or her work and in some cases gain access to new materials to help development testing I feel is a great gesture. I think about all the useless money I throw away on senseless garbage each day or week and think heck what's $5 once in a while to enjoy something on my phone. Many of those who have complained in the past about donating have also posted elsewhere here or somewhere else about how great of a app they purchased off the Market for a few bucks. Basically the same principle, its a developer that has taken his/her work and provided it to Google and the Android Market. They have done this so 1. We can enjoy what they have created for a small price. 2. The small fee helps in the purchase of a new a device to develop for or new equipment, server space, etc. maybe even none of the above but that is what most developers use any donations for.

Credit, I always give credit where credit is due. Love them, hate them, whatever the case is if they did it fine I can throw them the thanks and credit for what they did. Nobody is here to get famous or hopes of getting hired on by Sprint or Samsung, etc. but at the same time it is a good feeling when people recognize that something you spent time trying to make work for everyone is appreciated and not just thrown to the curb.

Anyways, these are just some of my thoughts and feelings. Whats yours?

 

[dragon57]

I can't say I can disagree with anything you said. Being a long time donator and coder, I can appreciate the time it takes to work on rom releases and themes. That said, I have also given away much of my efforts in the past, while charging for others. As long as licenses are abided by and expectations are set up front as a project is announced and kicked off, I don't think it matters one way or another. Where devs get into trouble, if you want to call it that, is changing mid way into a project, e.g. saying up front that this will be free once and forever, then when a number of users are in the bag, so to speak, change to a pay only model. I have know a number of projects like this that really caused a lot of bad blood.

I know the Bonsai project caused a lot of stir when they changed direction. I didn't have a problem with it because the work does eventually get released to everyone after a while. Again, expectations were stated and kept to.

Thoughts? Have I misstated anything?

 

[fab5valentine]

I can't say I can disagree with anything you said. Being a long time donator and coder, I can appreciate the time it takes to work on rom releases and themes. That said, I have also given away much of my efforts in the past, while charging for others. As long as licenses are abided by and expectations are set up front as a project is announced and kicked off, I don't think it matters one way or another. Where devs get into trouble, if you want to call it that, is changing mid way into a project, e.g. saying up front that this will be free once and forever, then when a number of users are in the bag, so to speak, change to a pay only model. I have know a number of projects like this that really caused a lot of bad blood.

I know the Bonsai project caused a lot of stir when they changed direction. I didn't have a problem with it because the work does eventually get released to everyone after a while. Again, expectations were stated and kept to.

Thoughts? Have I misstated anything?

I would have to agree with you Paul. The early access is just that.. The site I have donated a few bucks to I only had to do that once, and have access to all the new or beta releases into the furure.. I mean $5 bucks is no big deal in this case, and I have not been required to pay anything since.

Yes, I understand peoples compaints to what is considered open source.. But I also understand that forums of this nature in any product is a place to vent complaints, and especially where posts/threads input are basically annonymous so this is probably even more prevalent. For every 1 complaint there are probably 50 people that do not complain, or even make commentary to being perfectly happy to have access to ealy material.

Your post shows exaclt that, and I apprecite that. I spend about 5 bucks at Starbucks every morning and they don't let me get another one the next morning for the initial fee that I had already paid for..

So for me it's choice.. Either I do or I don't. It will become available anyway when it goes public. So my choice is what "I" decide, and in some cases it's yes.. But again, if I choose yes again tomorrow it's at no additional fee and that's really cool.

People have a right to vent or complain but at the end of the day "it is what it is".. I feel that the devs who put this together in this format should listen to complaints but take them as a grain of salt because that how they set it up. I even understand the keeping up of the websites etc., and trying to run a business.

I also have to add that I have benifited emensley for this minimal investment, and for work I can't even begin to understand the complexities. So my spin is THANK YOU, and please keep up the great work. I hope other folks who feel the same way will decide to post their suppot as well.

Thanks!