Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 2:30 am Post subject: Re: scrreenshots of neo2
guest wrote:
Just for the curious of us: would it be possible to post some screenshots of an actually running neo2 build?
I would say no. Why? Mainly because NeoOffice is funded purely by donations and it is a 60 - 70 hour a week job to development and support it. Unfortunately, in the last month (i.e. since Neo 1.2.1 was released), donations have slowed to a trickle.
Unfortunately, I cannot work for only $25/day in California so I am reluctant to release Neo 2.0 if there is not enough income to allow me to support myself while I am debugging and fixing the inevitable deluge of bugs that will pour in when Neo 2.0 Alpha goes out the door.
As I posted before, why not realize a simple way to make donations: banners bringing to a specific webpage with simple explanation of the project and paypal donation? All based on "one click away".
As I posted before, why not realize a simple way to make donations: banners bringing to a specific webpage with simple explanation of the project and paypal donation? All based on "one click away".
I don't understand what is different from what we currently do. Can you describe in more detail? Currently, we have the donation header for non-logged in trinity users, plus we have the donate header on all of the NeoOffice web pages at www.planamesa.org/neojava, and then NeoOffice opens the donation web page when you first run NeoOffice and once a month thereafter.
Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 11:16 am Post subject: Re: scrreenshots of neo2
pluby wrote:
I would say no. Why? Mainly because NeoOffice is funded purely by donations and it is a 60 - 70 hour a week job to development and support it. Unfortunately, in the last month (i.e. since Neo 1.2.1 was released), donations have slowed to a trickle.
Unfortunately, I cannot work for only $25/day in California so I am reluctant to release Neo 2.0 if there is not enough income to allow me to support myself while I am debugging and fixing the inevitable deluge of bugs that will pour in when Neo 2.0 Alpha goes out the door.
Patrick
Not that I want to criticize you or anything since I can appreciate the amount of efforts you put into this software, but sometimes people are not willing to spend a dime more on the "same old thing" whereas something new will get them to open their wallet. Releasing a major milestone like NeoOffice 2.0 might actually improve your finances...
Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 11:27 am Post subject: Re: scrreenshots of neo2
Boukman wrote:
Not that I want to criticize you or anything since I can appreciate the amount of efforts you put into this software, but sometimes people are not willing to spend a dime more on the "same old thing" whereas something new will get them to open their wallet. Releasing a major milestone like NeoOffice 2.0 might actually improve your finances...
And that will always be the dilemma: people like free stuff but, on the hand, they really don't want to pay much for it. This is the primary reason that you don't see much direct competition against MS Office other than OpenOffice.org (funded by Sun) and NeoOffice (funded by me). Sure, there are word processors and other parts of an office suite out there, but the number of real MS Office alternatives is pretty thin.
Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 12:42 pm Post subject: Re: scrreenshots of neo2
pluby wrote:
This is the primary reason that you don't see much direct competition against MS Office other than OpenOffice.org (funded by Sun) and NeoOffice (funded by me). Sure, there are word processors and other parts of an office suite out there, but the number of real MS Office alternatives is pretty thin.
Well, funded by all of us, then.
But I get the hint and just made requested my mum to do a second donation in my name (I don't have a credit card).
Good luck,
Oscar _________________ "What do you think of Western Civilization?"
"I think it would be a good idea!"
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 12:58 pm Post subject: Re: scrreenshots of neo2
ovvldc wrote:
Well, funded by all of us, then.
But I get the hint and just made requested my mum to do a second donation in my name (I don't have a credit card).
Thanks. But note that I really don't like to keep hitting up the same small number of dedicated volunteers. By answering user questions on these fora, that is a huge help and is more valuable than a $25 donation.
My point is that we are now averaging 1.8 million (!!!) downloads per year. That is a huge number of people and, I suspect, some portion of these people (mainly businesses that have Macs) are saving a lot of money. What has surprised me is that donations actually seem to be much higher for Alpha and Beta releases than for final releases even though the number of downloads for the final release is much higher for final releases.
Seems to me that the "early adopters" who use the pre-final releases of NeoOffice are supporting the huge number of regular users that wait for stable final release.
Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 1:22 pm Post subject: Re: scrreenshots of neo2
pluby wrote:
Thanks. But note that I really don't like to keep hitting up the same small number of dedicated volunteers. By answering user questions on these fora, that is a huge help and is more valuable than a $25 donation.
I'll do both, it's worth it. Or will be, if I get a Neo 2.0 eventually .
pluby wrote:
Seems to me that the "early adopters" who use the pre-final releases of NeoOffice are supporting the huge number of regular users that wait for stable final release.
1.8 million is quite a lot, when you think about it. I have the impression that the early adopters are much more committed to what they use.
Now comes the $64000 question (literally): how do we get even a handful of these regular users to cough up? Be more blunt in the language, or put the advertisement in a clearer spot? Make an uncle-sam like poster screen, that pops up every 100 times you start the app, asking you for a donation?
Best wishes,
Oscar _________________ "What do you think of Western Civilization?"
"I think it would be a good idea!"
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Joined: Dec 08, 2005 Posts: 291 Location: Berlin, Germany
Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 3:49 pm Post subject: Re: scrreenshots of neo2
ovvldc wrote:
Now comes the $64000 question (literally): how do we get even a handful of these regular users to cough up? Be more blunt in the language, or put the advertisement in a clearer spot? Make an uncle-sam like poster screen, that pops up every 100 times you start the app, asking you for a donation?
I would say, most users simply aren't prepared to donate at the time of download & testing of a "free" software. But after a while, if they use NeoOffice on a regular base, and know they can (and do) use it in a productive way, there should be the urge in some to say "thank you" that way. So a splash (or something like that) after a certain amount of startups after installation could be reasonable & successful.
Posted: Fri Apr 07, 2006 4:48 pm Post subject: Re: scrreenshots of neo2
doctype wrote:
I would say, most users simply aren't prepared to donate at the time of download & testing of a "free" software. But after a while, if they use NeoOffice on a regular base, and know they can (and do) use it in a productive way, there should be the urge in some to say "thank you" that way.
No disagreements here
doctype wrote:
So a splash (or something like that) after a certain amount of startups after installation could be reasonable & successful.
However, not to be negative, but 1)
pluby wrote:
then NeoOffice opens the donation web page when you first run NeoOffice and once a month thereafter.
(which is essentially the same thing as showing a dialogue) and 2) we have to do this in a way that doesn't require mucking around inside the OOo code, which pretty much rules out showing an actual dialogue, if I've understood Patrick's previous comments correctly.
I'm really at a loss here, too. Every time we hit a rut in donations, Patrick tweaks something to be more "annoying" and donations recover for a little bit, but at some point we're not going to be able to keep doing that (and at some point the additional "annoyance factor" will start to hurt rather than help)....
Smokey _________________ "[...] whether the duck drinks hot chocolate or coffee is irrelevant." -- ovvldc and sardisson in the NeoWiki
I'm really at a loss here, too. Every time we hit a rut in donations, Patrick tweaks something to be more "annoying" and donations recover for a little bit, but at some point we're not going to be able to keep doing that (and at some point the additional "annoyance factor" will start to hurt rather than help)....
I will wade in with my humble opinion based on several decades of experience. At one point or another NeoOffice will have to go 'commercial' that is charge for each and every copy in use. I know this is not in the spirit of OpenSource, but it has to be done. Want a good example of this: MacAfee Anti-Virus. This product started out as freeware to combat a growing problem with Intel based PCs: viruses. It then went shareware, that is software that you could use for a limited time for free and then you had to pay for it. Finally, out of frustration, it went commercial. You can add as many 'nag' screens as you want. Since the source is avallable, all someone has to do is get it, remove the nags compile and run. This is a bad scenario. Once you remove the product from the 'Open Source' community, you've done a bad-bad-bad thing. WRONG. You have the right to protect your source of income, too. Not that I'm against 'going commercial' but no one at OpenOffice.org is going hungry at night because OpenOffice.org did not make a predetermined amount of donations this month. I don't depend on either for my rent, food, housing, or transportation (Maslow's first level of needs), but Patrick does. If 'Donateware' is not doing this, something has to be done.
I'm just offering what should be the most extreme level.
Ed posted one a while back, but he Photoshopped in the "About this Mac" from an Intel mini, so it went away.
It wasn't photoshopped in.
I agree...
OPENSTEP wrote:
Forgot to move the png over when I switched servers.
I know all about this. I have TWO backup drives for my Mac. I've lost about 500 pictures in the various system moves and an one accidental erasure from my digital camera. Fortunately, I had backed up the directory onto DVD and that saved the day. BTW, the DVD drive is now packed into a box, but may see the light of day soon.
Also, I am willing to provide those "shots" as soon as I remember the key stroke combination to capture the current running program....
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