krambriw wrote:Because you base your solution on something a community has worked hard for without any profit thinking.
I based it on EG because this is what I have been using and it is awesome. It is what I have been using and it is awesome because of people like yourself. That being said, my point was that even when you develop a plugin for whatever remote or IR blasters or some software control, retailers and manufacturers profit some by your work since it can drive up sales. This situation is the same, with the exception that I am the one actually doing the plugin work not some other anonymous community member, and instead of just the OEM profiting from the driven up sales I also do since I am a VAR of the HW. EG will benefit in this way since those other HW manufacturers that indirectly profited from your work are not going to be donating, yet I will be. I put savings towards high dollar inventory, I pack and ship orders, I handle disputes and provide very timely support, so I work for my money as a HW seller no doubt.
But the software only link seems to be what has some of you up in arms. As I stated the fee is for my non-GNU blah blah blah you don't care legal stufff, but like you said, any CEC plugin would be useless without HW and that link is only for current Rainshadow HW owners (not my version) so they can get my driver package and comm library for use with the EG plugin. So this only effects a few people who already own the hardware and certainly none of them ever even heard of EG until after buying the OEM HW (or they would have bought mine for EG to begin with) and finding that the standalone SW app that goes with it was not meeting their needs. It is not effecting the community members here who have made contributions to the project and if anything it is bringing new users to EG.
I've contributed a few very small snippets to EG base code here and there which I believe are of value above and beyond what the RCAware code uses, it's not much but its something. I have also helped a few users here out with their problems outside of my own project. But this is one thing, and my choice to sell for profit the non-GNU portion of my work is another. There is the portion I sell under my own license and then there is the portion which is GNU and is by it's own right a contribution. If someone wants to re-use the plugin code for another hardware they are welcome to do so, legally and also ethically so far as I am concerned. I've also done a few things in the code which I have not seen anyone else do which will probably provide value to plugin developers looking to solve similar problems. This is also how it works sometimes.
Your confirmed understanding that this community is driven by hard working engaged members and therefore needs a little financial support from time to time to survive is appreciated.
Yes Walter, I do appreciate EG and the community members like yourself who have given. I have contributed, probably not as much as I could or should but probably more than some others, and I will continue to contribute more and more. This year will be my first to contribute financially, please let me know how/where I can do so. And please let's be friends regardless.
