Well somehow but that should have happened a year ago, now it pops up cause it is annoying tweakers from playing with the Fermi BIOS. Oh well, criticism isn't an issue but that simple suggestion, I wait till it is leaked... And just a simple mind tweaker, if every downloader would have donated voluntary $1 for NiBiTor (not for every single version) or actually shown appreciation before when there was no exclusive period than we would just had let it be as before. But the complains are always coming afterwards. Each will have their own thoughts about it, so I guess becoming one of the persons you will hate for now is something I will have to live with...
so it will get leaked, you will pirate it, nobody pays for it, developer gets fed up and stops development altogether.
why not send the guy some money as a token of appreciation? you spend thousands of dollars on hardware and can't give 10 bucks to a software developer?
$10 bucks. That would be nice.
Quality free software will die because of piracy and a total lack of support. I worked it out once and for every 30 users of RealTemp I receive approximately 1 cent. That's not an average of 1 cent from each user. That's combined.
For every 30 users of RealTemp that use the program each and every day, they get together and ask each other, "What do you think we should give the guy so he can afford to eat? How about a penny? Does anyone here have a penny? I got one. Good enough, that's plenty. That should keep the developer going for a while."
It really is that insane. Developers throw a huge amount of time into their projects and we're not looking to get rich but being able to afford a new piece of hardware once in a while would be nice so I could do some more development for the user community. Besides, I need to eat too. Total donations so far barely cover the cost of the temperature gun I bought for my projects let alone the CPUs, etc. It's been a complete loss but I'd do it again because I enjoy helping others.
I've been forced to make the decision to wind things down and to walk away from the user community. Nibitor is a great program so throw the developer some spare change, anything or he will be gone too.
These are talented programmers, who love doing apps like this and having thousands of people use them.
The sense I'm getting from these posts quoted above, is that it's not so much about the money, but the appreciation - or lack of it that pisses them off. And rightly so.
Now, I haven't done any programming for years and it was certainly nothing as intricate as these utilities, but I know how much hard work and frustration (when it doesn't work) goes into writing programs.
I can imagine it's not very nice to give something useful like this away and instead of getting praised for it, put on a well deserved pedestal and allowed to feel like The Man, get
unconstructive criticism and whinging posters wanting lots more features, all to be delivered tomorrow and with no support from the community or hardware companies.
Ultimately, it's those hardware companies that should really be paying up, because these utilities make their products much more useful to prospective customers and boost sales. Can you imagine just how good these utilities would be if the developers were properly funded by them and supplied with all the necessary technical data and support to really make a first rate product? You wouldn't worry about "piracy" then, would you? It's these companies that profit off your back with greater sales are the ones you should really direct your anger at, not your users.
I haven't a problem with paying a few pounds for these apps, be they donations or a standard pay model, however.
Regarding the piracy angle, I don't think you should get too hung up on it or demonize people that copy your stuff for free - they have
not stolen from you: you still have your copy, there's simply one more, which they have. Anyone that doesn't pay wouldn't have anyway, plus it distributes your product much more widely, so anyone that sees it and
is inclined to pay, will do so. It's more of a moral question, rather than a financial one, unlike what Big Media with their lawyers and pocket politicians would have you believe.
The music, movie and software industries are far too hung up on this and think that "stamping out piracy" will suddenly bring in lots more revenue. It doesn't and all the offensive DRM and lawsuits just alienates people that want to support you by being your customer. They've certainly driven me away - and I don't even copy stuff. I mean hey, look at the RIAAs lawsuit strategy. Worked a treat, didn't it?
Two excellent sites on this:
www.techdirt.com &
www.p2pnet.net
. sell it! put it on steam! I'll buy it.