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I don't know their numbers, but http://synergy-project.org/ http://synergy-project.org/ is a good example of how to get donations. It's a public, GPL project h

I don't know their numbers, but http://synergy-project.org/ http://synergy-project.org/ is a good example of how to get donations. It's a public, GPL project https://github.com/synergy/synergy https://github.com/synergy/synergy You can either compile it yourself or you can go through the very smooth purchase process to get a lifetime subscription to pre-compiled binary installers for $10. It was much cheaper for me to just type in my CC# and move on with enjoying the program than to even investigate compiling it myself. Both Synergy and Humble Bundle do the same thing: They make going through the checkout line a smooth, easy, natural process on the path to getting the software. The problem with donations is not really that people are so cheap. It's that they're so lazy. If you give them what they want up front and then ask that they come back later to go through some awkward process to give you money for something they already have... Well, what do you expect? It's too late. They've moved on with their day. They can't be bothered. But, if you make it very easy to give you money on the path to giving them the goods. Then their appreciation and generosity doesn't require much effort. That's the key.

trestletech 11y ago
+1 and I really like the idea of that model and wanted to support Synergy in particular, but I almost gave up when I saw I'd have to compile from source, then did give up once I started encountering errors building from source. I would have happily given them money if they could have proven that the product worked on my equipment first (free trial, etc.) but given that it didn't seem to work, I bailed.
- crazypyro 11y ago
  They purposely make it difficult and even removed documentation on building synergy to boost sales. You can find nightlies here: https://synergy-project.org/nightly https://synergy-project.org/nightly
  - corysama 11y ago
    I don't know anything about the history of the project. Is this the documentation you were referring to? Or, was it something else? https://github.com/synergy/synergy/wiki/Compiling https://github.com/synergy/synergy/wiki/Compiling
    - crazypyro 11y ago
      I believe there was additional information that they removed, but maybe its all there now. That was a complaint I had read somewhere else, so I'd take that specific one with a grain of salt. Still, I think it would be silly to ignore the fact that the developers have a monetary incentive to making the project hard to compile and distribute. Maybe I'm just biased, but their site and github gives me a distinct impression that they would pretty quickly shutdown all open source aspects of the project and completely close the source if they legally could. They are hiring a CTO and another engineer. Why does an open source project with this size of scope need so much money and employees? Its clear their number one goal is to make money now, not create a quality open source project. Combine this feeling I get with how they have treated users and potential contributors in the past, I would dissuade anyone from using them as a model open source project.
crazypyro 11y ago
Synergy is a terrible model for supporting open-source projects. While the project is very useful, the lead devs basically begged the community for years trying to support full time developers on what honestly started as a very small tool (although the compatibility issues are many). They made to pay to put in bug reports or vote on which issues were important to you. The devs eventually got a bunch of donation money and then they wasted it all on an office and full-time employees with zero revenue. After using community donation money as seed funding for their new business, they decided to start charging for the installers. They also removed resources that aided distribution in an effort to get more people to pay them. There are tons of open source projects that dwarf synergy both in scope and lack of funding, yet synergy somehow needs thousands of dollars, over and over. In my opinion, they are trying as hard as it can to close down the GPL project so they can make even more money.

trestletech 11y ago

+1 and I really like the idea of that model and wanted to support Synergy in particular, but I almost gave up when I saw I'd have to compile from source, then did give up once I started encountering errors building from source. I would have happily given them money if they could have proven that the product worked on my equipment first (free trial, etc.) but given that it didn't seem to work, I bailed.

crazypyro 11y ago
They purposely make it difficult and even removed documentation on building synergy to boost sales. You can find nightlies here: https://synergy-project.org/nightly https://synergy-project.org/nightly
- corysama 11y ago
  I don't know anything about the history of the project. Is this the documentation you were referring to? Or, was it something else? https://github.com/synergy/synergy/wiki/Compiling https://github.com/synergy/synergy/wiki/Compiling
  - crazypyro 11y ago
    I believe there was additional information that they removed, but maybe its all there now. That was a complaint I had read somewhere else, so I'd take that specific one with a grain of salt. Still, I think it would be silly to ignore the fact that the developers have a monetary incentive to making the project hard to compile and distribute. Maybe I'm just biased, but their site and github gives me a distinct impression that they would pretty quickly shutdown all open source aspects of the project and completely close the source if they legally could. They are hiring a CTO and another engineer. Why does an open source project with this size of scope need so much money and employees? Its clear their number one goal is to make money now, not create a quality open source project. Combine this feeling I get with how they have treated users and potential contributors in the past, I would dissuade anyone from using them as a model open source project.

crazypyro 11y ago

Synergy is a terrible model for supporting open-source projects. While the project is very useful, the lead devs basically begged the community for years trying to support full time developers on what honestly started as a very small tool (although the compatibility issues are many). They made to pay to put in bug reports or vote on which issues were important to you. The devs eventually got a bunch of donation money and then they wasted it all on an office and full-time employees with zero revenue. After using community donation money as seed funding for their new business, they decided to start charging for the installers. They also removed resources that aided distribution in an effort to get more people to pay them. There are tons of open source projects that dwarf synergy both in scope and lack of funding, yet synergy somehow needs thousands of dollars, over and over. In my opinion, they are trying as hard as it can to close down the GPL project so they can make even more money.