| Re: A Plea for Fair Behavior [message #74910] |
Wed, 09 February 2011 08:57  |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Paul van Delst writes:
> I'm confused. I have several times thought to donate to your website for the work you do/services you provide, but I
> always interpreted the donation button as "any $$ donated will be forwarded onto a charity, with matching $$".
>
> The two things that occur to me are:
> 1) If I wanted to donate to a charity, I would do it myself.
> 2) If you are matching any donations, you obviously don't need any donations for your IDL efforts to begin with.
>
> Oh, and yes, I have become a total curmudgeon (I blame living in DC for 10+ years :o)
I believe the work I do for the IDL community
is "community service" and I feel guilty being
paid for it. My idea was that if people appreciated
the contributions I made to the community and felt
like they wanted to donate to that effort then I
would "play that donation forward" and try to
make a contribution to an even larger community.
I guess I envisioned ripples spreading in a pond.
I understand where you are coming from, though. I kind
of like the idea of "paying" for on-going development
effort. I'm thinking currently of having several buttons in
the new store:
Check the appropriate box:
__ Donate XXX to buy beers for Coyote on Friday Nights.
__ Donate XXX to spread joy and comfort around the World.
__ Donate XXX just for the hell of it and hope it will be
used for something I care about.
Choice three is sort of like paying IDL maintenance on your IDL
license. Maybe people will actually go for that. :-)
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: A Plea for Fair Behavior [message #74911 is a reply to message #74910] |
Wed, 09 February 2011 08:38  |
Paul Van Delst[1]
Messages: 1157
Registered: April 2002
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Senior Member |
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David Fanning wrote:
> Guillermo writes:
>
>> I know is none of my business, but have you considered adding a Google
>> Checkout button in your website? That way people who are willing to
>> contribute to supporting the free services you provide to the
>> community could do so. Hawthorne Beyer, a guy who is famous in the
>> ESRI user community for providing for free awesome tools, has
>> circumvented the legal intricacies of international donations by
>> asking folks to support the project by purchasing "consulting
>> services" that will result in the improvement of the software (http://
>> www.spatialecology.com/gme/gmepurchasing.htm).
>
> Timely advice. I am setting up a new store front now.
> I'll give this some serious thought. :-)
>
> I've always had a button to accept donations on my
> web page, and I have always matched those donations
> one-to-one and sent any receipts to various charities.
> I had visions at one point of becoming a community
> philanthropist. Alas, the expected "donations" did not
> materialize. It has amounted to perhaps $1000 donated,
> even with my matching funds, over the past 10 years.
I'm confused. I have several times thought to donate to your website for the work you do/services you provide, but I
always interpreted the donation button as "any $$ donated will be forwarded onto a charity, with matching $$".
The two things that occur to me are:
1) If I wanted to donate to a charity, I would do it myself.
2) If you are matching any donations, you obviously don't need any donations for your IDL efforts to begin with.
Oh, and yes, I have become a total curmudgeon (I blame living in DC for 10+ years :o)
cheers,
paulv
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| Re: A Plea for Fair Behavior [message #74912 is a reply to message #74911] |
Wed, 09 February 2011 07:09 |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Guillermo writes:
> I know is none of my business, but have you considered adding a Google
> Checkout button in your website? That way people who are willing to
> contribute to supporting the free services you provide to the
> community could do so. Hawthorne Beyer, a guy who is famous in the
> ESRI user community for providing for free awesome tools, has
> circumvented the legal intricacies of international donations by
> asking folks to support the project by purchasing "consulting
> services" that will result in the improvement of the software (http://
> www.spatialecology.com/gme/gmepurchasing.htm).
Timely advice. I am setting up a new store front now.
I'll give this some serious thought. :-)
I've always had a button to accept donations on my
web page, and I have always matched those donations
one-to-one and sent any receipts to various charities.
I had visions at one point of becoming a community
philanthropist. Alas, the expected "donations" did not
materialize. It has amounted to perhaps $1000 donated,
even with my matching funds, over the past 10 years.
Maybe I need to be more mercenary about it. :-(
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.idlcoyote.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: A Plea for Fair Behavior [message #74941 is a reply to message #74938] |
Tue, 08 February 2011 07:30 |
pgrigis
Messages: 436
Registered: September 2007
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Senior Member |
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On Feb 7, 7:50 pm, David Fanning <n...@dfanning.com> wrote:
> Paul van Delst writes:
>> Can't you sic the lawyers onto them with a cease-and-desist order?
>
> Uh, I think it costs money to hire lawyers. :-)
Well sorry to hear that, but I would suspect that the
same fate happens to every book in circulation.
I guess the trick usually is to send a letter and
*threaten* to hire lawyers... not actually hiring them.
Ciao,
Paolo
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
>
> P.S. Anyway, it conflicts with my pseudo-Bhuddist philosophy
> of life. After drinking heavily this afternoon I finally
> came to the conclusion that it is my choice to do what I do.
> I believe that if you live your life "on the path" that good
> things happen. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. But
> I do know that's what I prefer to believe, and I am going to
> choose to act from that place rather than someplace else.
> We'll see what happens. Life's an adventure no matter what
> you do. :-)
>
> --
> David Fanning, Ph.D.
> Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
> Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming:http://www.idlcoyote.com/
> Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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| Re: A Plea for Fair Behavior [message #74948 is a reply to message #74944] |
Mon, 07 February 2011 14:07 |
Gray
Messages: 253
Registered: February 2010
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Senior Member |
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On Feb 7, 5:04 pm, David Fanning <n...@dfanning.com> wrote:
> Folks,
>
> I was all excited today to get a mock-up of my new book,
> and I was looking forward to publishing it soon, when
> I got a bucket of cold water poured on my head. No, not
> a Super Bowl celebration. A report that my old book, in
> PDF form, could be downloaded for free on a public web
> page. Indeed, I just downloaded it.
>
> Here's the thing. I'm not out to cheat anyone. Or take
> money out of anyone's pocket. No one pays me to write
> books, maintain my web page, or provide free advice to
> anyone who e-mails me. I do that all at no charge to
> anyone. In fact, what limited advertising I do on my web page
> doesn't even cover the cost, so I *pay* to do that, too.
> I'm sure if I withheld all the information I give
> away for free on this newsgroup and in my web page and put
> it instead into books, I would probably be writing 4-5 books
> a year.
>
> I'm probably a sucker to give so much away, but I like
> the feeling of being in a community, and I enjoy very much
> being a part of this one.
>
> So, don't rip me off. If you can't afford a book, let me
> know. I'm always able to work something out. I'm not getting
> rich doing this. In fact, just the opposite. I'm practically
> driving myself into bankruptcy. I'd like to write 3-4 more books
> because I think I have something valuable to offer the IDL
> community. But this kind of news really makes me question
> whether it's worth it at all.
>
> I don't know. I don't feel like working much today.
> I guess I'll go get a beer. Maybe that will help.
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
>
> --
> David Fanning, Ph.D.
> Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
> Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming:http://www.idlcoyote.com/
> Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
I'll buy a book!
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| Re: A Plea for Fair Behavior [message #75006 is a reply to message #74912] |
Wed, 09 February 2011 10:33 |
Michael Galloy
Messages: 1114
Registered: April 2006
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Senior Member |
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On 2/9/11 8:09 AM, David Fanning wrote:
> Timely advice. I am setting up a new store front now.
> I'll give this some serious thought. :-)
>
> I've always had a button to accept donations on my
> web page, and I have always matched those donations
> one-to-one and sent any receipts to various charities.
> I had visions at one point of becoming a community
> philanthropist. Alas, the expected "donations" did not
> materialize. It has amounted to perhaps $1000 donated,
> even with my matching funds, over the past 10 years.
For what it's worth, donations for IDLdoc seem to be about the same
level, approximately $100 per year for the last five years or so. This
does not cover the web hosting.
> Maybe I need to be more mercenary about it. :-(
Mike
--
www.michaelgalloy.com
Research Mathematician
Tech-X Corporation
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| Re: A Plea for Fair Behavior [message #75007 is a reply to message #74913] |
Wed, 09 February 2011 10:30 |
Michael Galloy
Messages: 1114
Registered: April 2006
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Senior Member |
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On 2/9/11 7:54 AM, Guillermo wrote:
> On Feb 8, 12:26 pm, Paul van Delst<paul.vande...@noaa.gov> wrote:
>> David Fanning wrote:
>> No one pays me to write
>> books, maintain my web page, or provide free advice to
>> anyone who e-mails me.
>
> I know is none of my business, but have you considered adding a Google
> Checkout button in your website? That way people who are willing to
> contribute to supporting the free services you provide to the
> community could do so. Hawthorne Beyer, a guy who is famous in the
> ESRI user community for providing for free awesome tools, has
> circumvented the legal intricacies of international donations by
> asking folks to support the project by purchasing "consulting
> services" that will result in the improvement of the software (http://
> www.spatialecology.com/gme/gmepurchasing.htm).
That's an interesting idea. Perhaps it would also circumvent the
restrictions in the US against government money being used for
donations, i.e., someone from a government agency or on a grant from the
government can't use that money as a "donation". (They are free to
donate their own money, though.) But they can purchase consulting services.
Mike
--
www.michaelgalloy.com
Research Mathematician
Tech-X Corporation
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