Stuart Brorson wrote: [...]
> Also, look at it this way: a $200 donation is only three or four > months of cable TV; how much real value do you get out of all those > channels of junk? Isn't gEDA/PCB much more valuable, both in terms of > the amount of time you spend with it, and also (if you use it > professionally) because it is a tool you use to make your living? If > you agree, please donate! > I get your drift :-) We do not have cable TV. Currently our donations go to places where the need is a whole lot more dire than in the software community, places like the church aid fund for the poor, food bank and such. > Now I'll add a new wrinkle to my comment: During this ongoing thread, > somebody said: > >>> Of course gEDA for Windows would mean more users. But would those >>> additional user contribute something to the project? > > and Joerg responded: >> Oh yes. Without feedback from lots of folks who do engineering and CAD >> for decades you cannot create a good CAD tool. > > I think this point has been made several times before, but I'll turn > it into a challenge. Sure, offering occasional comments like "gEDA > needs better slotting before I can use it" is a kind of contribution. > However, it's at best of marginal use, since the gEDA developers are > also professional engineers and are already aware of the tool's > shortcomings. > > A better contribution to the gEDA Project would be to help provide > incentive for development work to happen. So I'll make Joerg a > challenge: > > Joerg, if you donate to the Linux Fund's gEDA/PCB project, > I'll *match* your donation up to $200. For example, that means > that if you donate $100, I'll send in another check for $100 to > match yours, up to a limit of $200 from you. > > My goal is to remind folks that there are many ways to get their > feature requests implemented, including: > > * Implement the feature request yourself, and send in a patch. This > is the best and most reliable way to ensure your desired feature > makes it into the project. > * Pay a developer -- either one of the gEDA developers, or one you > find yourself -- to implement your desired feature. This method is > also effective. The Linux Fund project is one instantiation of > this method. > * Beg, whine, and cajole the developers to implement your feature for > free. This method is not guaranteed at all. > Again: I do not need gEDA, I have a (commercial) CAD that works almost perfectly for me and where the manufacturer has hinted they'd fix the last serious shortcoming, after which they'll be rewarded with a check for an upgrade by me and lots of other. If they really do that I'll probably use that CAD until someone shows up with a pine box. But I do like the fact that there are several open source effort. All I want to do is give feedback into the community. If that's not desired I'll just stop. Also, I do not use PCB Designer or any other layout program because all my layouts are farmed out. What I did do is answer the occasional hobby/non-profit request like "Hey, this is too noisy, can you take a look?". For free ... -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ _______________________________________________ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user