People ask how I can manage to distribute Gallery Server Pro for free. Do I have a rich uncle? No. Are the donations really enough to pay the bills? Well, no, they are not. I want to be completely transparent with you, so here is a report of recent GSP registrations and donations (a registration is simply a request for a product key):
The average donation is $45, and has ranged from $1 all the way to $500. I find it inspiring that so many of you donate of your own free will, and $400 per month is a nice chunk of change. But I can't live on that. Margaret brings in about the same with her part-time job, so we have been slowly burning through our savings.
And now our money is about to run out, so I have to figure out a way to recharge the savings account. An avalanche of donations would be my preferred method, but that is unlikely to happen. Or will it? hint...hint...
I could start charging for GSP. Many have suggested I do just that, and people I respect believe it would be successful. But I am absolutely committed to keeping GSP free and open source. The fact that an average of 8% of you donate is quite impressive - If I can increase the number of registrations to 1000 or more per month, GSP will become self-sustaining. I intend to get there, but "there" has not yet arrived.
What I need to do is find a programming contract that keeps me fully employed for a month or two or six. This is where you come in. Is there a .NET project I can help you with? Would you like a customization of GSP for your website? Maybe there is some feature you would like, like a shopping cart, integration with Flickr, etc.
Visit Tech Info Systems for more information about my consulting and programming abilities. My resume is updated with the latest exaggerations. Contact me at roger*at*techinfosystems*dot*com or give me a ring at 920-563-3165. I will even fly to your location to discuss your project (you pay travel expenses). Projects in New Zealand are given top priority.
Help this guy get a summer job. And when my savings are again stocked, I will be back at GSP full time. There is a lot of great stuff in the pipeline, and I can't wait to open the spigots.
No comments:
Post a Comment