Please read AND VOTE (an Idea for Media Portal to be #1)

[donmega]

So recently I switched over to MEEDIO because I kept running into problem after problem with media portal. Some were fixed and some where known bugs and some I was just out in the cold on.

Let me try to cut to the chase as quicly as possible.
I think Media Portal is great, its extremely powerful and evolved compaired to what else is out there, and although this is only somewhat impressive what really makes the program shine is thats its free to all.

But what if it wasnt?
Ive been toying with the idea that maybe we should pay, look at it this way
Microsoft Media Center OS is around $180 ? or something like that
MEEDIO is $45
Other greats are anywhere from $40 - $90


By paying a little bit of cash I believe we would help to speed development, why?
because time = money with money you buy time, bought time = more work (in a nutshell).

So how many of you would pay? and how much, please vote below.

And please check out the other software out there and see what your alternative would be if media portal up and went tommorrow.
Software like meedio @ $45 with their 10 supported tv cards, or MCE which means a complete re-install.

I mean seriously how many of us dont have AT LEAST an extra $10 or $20, I mean com on. How about you dont smoke for a few days, skip a couple lunches, these developers are hungry too you know. Borrow if from your grandma, mow a lawn, you know its just not hard to make $20 imo.
We all spent hundreds building our machines, some over hundreds in TV cards alone and then we want to cheap out when it comes time to buy software ???? Doesnt make sense to me.

Think about it, Oh yes and vote.

[donmega]

Did some quick math to show how much this would make a difference.

Media portal forums has 7588 registered members.

if everyone paid $10

7588 x 10 = $75,880

Divided up amoungst the programmers and devs, and who ever else and Im SURE that we would see media portal turning a whole new leaf.

Lets say theres 20 people that work on the software.

so 20 / 75,880 = $3,794 for each person

Now if I offered you an extra nearly $4k you didnt plan on making this year wouldnt you at least dump a few months of your 110% into this software?

I know I would.

I hope Im making somewhat of a point here and not just dicking the dog on the weekend.

I only know how this works because my software went from free to pay and went from 1 piece of software to 7 pieces in nearly 2 months and the evolution of the software was sped up quite nicely. in fact I was able to quit my day job and focus solely on programming for over a year.

here is my site for anyone interested

www.burnersware.com

Check the ffxi site
www.ffxi.burnersware.com

thats the main site that started it all.

Oh yeah and im in the process of expanding the one main site into 10 sites because the community is getting a little big and out of place for just one site.

Thats all done by 1 person and thats me, the phpbb work, the software design, the everything, all done by me and me alone. Wouldnt have been possible if I didnt start charging.

[Callifo]

While donations are fine, making it cost money would decrease the user base. Just because it would increase money intake doesnt mean that a large influx of developers would occur.

Most of the developers do the work because they want to develop something they and others are going to use. Having to pay a professional to do it wouldnt fix the problems MP is currently experiencing.

[jawbroken]

I truly believe in open-source, free software. I don't believe that making MediaPortal cost money will result in "better" software. If anybody thinks that they owe the makers/programmers of MediaPortal anything, there is a donation link in the Contribute section of the site that they can donate money to.

[donmega]

Originally Posted by Callifo

While donations are fine, making it cost money would decrease the user base. Just because it would increase money intake doesnt mean that a large influx of developers would occur.

Most of the developers do the work because they want to develop something they and others are going to use. Having to pay a professional to do it wouldnt fix the problems MP is currently experiencing.

I think I may have been a bit mis understood.
I wasnt implying adding new devs to the current roster, I was saying that all the current people working on it would have a little added bonus other then the occasional "your software is the bomb" e-mail in their inbox.

This in turn would possible encourage them to spend even more time doing something they love because not only are they getting to do something they enjoy and get apraise for but they would also be getting paid.

See what im saying ?

[wewe]

Hi all,

paying for MP would completely destroy the current 'open source climate' (which I like very much).

We (the users) would pay money to the devs. Then we would say: hey - I payed for this and that function so you have to do this and that.

All of the developers do that work in their free time because they have fun with it. I guess they don't need 'customers' in their free time who tell them what they have to do, when and how.

Also it's little bit simple to take the registered forum users and multiply this number by xEuro. In my opinion a maximum of 10% would pay (if they had to).

So I am absoluteley against turning the 'open source model' of MP in a 'commercial model'. It's not because of spending 10 or 50 or even 150€ - I did already spend 1000€ for my MP-PC ... that wouldn't make a big difference. It's because of the principle.

By the way: why should we? MP is already the best Media Center Software in the world!

thanks+regards
WeWe

[Spragleknas]

What would then be the difference between MP and Medio (and btw; MCE includes WinXP).

I think donations are fine, but not paid version.

[tklon]

Originally Posted by wewe

... paying for MP would completely destroy the current 'open source climate' (which I like very much).
...
By the way: why should we? MP is already the best Media Center Software in the world!

Good comment wewe. I agree to both.

I would not sign up in a forum of a commercial software. Here at mp I'm trying to contribute as good as I can to say thank you to the devs.

[Callifo]

Originally Posted by donmega

This in turn would possible encourage them to spend even more time doing something they love because not only are they getting to do something they enjoy and get apraise for but they would also be getting paid.

See what im saying ?

That where the problem would lie then, as almost (if not all of the developers) are doing it as a hobby, they just dont have time to work more then they already do as they have lives outside of MP which are very demanding, so getting paid a little on the side wont really encourage them at all.

[Khris]

I've recevied better, and more REAL help from the MP forums, then I did from Snapstream "Support Staff" when I had issues with their software which I purchased!

Snapstream blamed the problems with their software on my router.....HUH???