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Being someone who develops software as a hobby and asks for donations I am aware of how blinking difficult it is to get people to part with their money even when they think that your software is the bestest thing ever created.
Receiving a modest donation makes such a difference that I try and make a point of making a donation whenever I make regular use of a piece of software - as I imagine like me, other developers appreciate the small donations.
Trying not to blow my own trumpet here but more to let others know how pleasant it is to get some acknowledgement of all the hard work one has put in for a free piece of software.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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Same with me (except I do not ask for donations) - I do pick free software for my needs, but make a point to donate...
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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Interesting: in Italy, prior to circa 2006, there were very few households with an internet connection, almost no card enabled to internet payments and in general no knowledge of how something could be paid online - but WinRar was very common, thanks to various computer magazines and floppy/cd exchanges. But no-one could donate and how many people would bother with sending a snail mail to the other part of the world, where the eventual donation would be overshadowed by the cost of mailing?
Even the "Register calling 1-800...", seriously, an INTERNATIONAL call? If you did not enable them (paying a much higher monthly fee for the telephone) you couldn't even dial... there were two choices: no software at all or software forever shareware. That is, we lacked the enablers to even think to donate.
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
If you think 'goto' is evil, try writing an Assembly program without JMP. -- TNCaver
"When you have eliminated the JavaScript, whatever remains must be an empty page." -- Mike Hankey
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Probably make more money from creating a video or videos on youtube showing the product, and get the revenue from advertising.
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Good point 
I have got fairly minimal advertising on my site which is just about enough for my beer money.
I could do more on the videos - being a somewhat introverted software developer the whole concept of marketing is something that I avoid as much as I can - so it would probably not do too much harm to bite the bullet and do more in that area.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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I get about 15 to 20 usd a month from my YT videos, and in reality it is 1 video that gets all the views!
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I bought Epyx "Rogue" about thirty years ago (took five years to win).
My employer paid for an MSDN license for a while if that counts.
And what about software that comes with hardware - isn't that paid for, too?
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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I paid $99 for Visual Studio 2003 back then. Today, I have a MSDN membership so I don't pay for software like that anymore.
I do utilize VLC, FF downloaders, and AYouTubeCatcher a lot and should probably donate; other than that, not much. As far as music, movies, or streaming sports, I won't pay for them. That is part of my Internet bill as far as I'm concerned; which is way too expensive to begin with.
Thanks for bringing this topic up.
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I paid my own money for Quick C For Windows, Visual C++ V1.0, VS2008, VS2010, WinZip (twice), several versions of DOS and Windows, several versions of JASC PaintShop Pro, my current version of Corel PaintShop Pro (V6, with Video Studio), WordPro, Office, and a heap of games over the years.
On my tablet, I have donated for several apps (including the wonderful LocalCast).
I don't think there is anything I use regularly that's unpaid-for shareware.
But in the early years, when I was skint? No, I didn't donate to shareware... 
And it's possible that a few of the games I played weren't paid for either... 
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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OriginalGriff wrote: Visual C++ V1.0, VS2008
Quite a jump in versions there.
Jeremy Falcon
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Yeah - I was doing mostly embedded work for quite a few years, and V1.0 was good enough for the little bits I needed. Then I needed to move to C#, and ...
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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...everything has worked perfectly with no glitches or problems whatsoever.
Then we woke up.
Jeremy Falcon
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I pay for all my software, if needed. I have no problem paying $1200 for a license, if needed.
I use free stuff, if needed.
Unless you are a very unsuccessful or new Engineer, you should be making enough money to pay for your own sh*t. Just saying. Penny pinchers, need not apply.
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Penny pinchers and tight-wads, need not apply. Pay for the freakin software if you have to. No big deal really.
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Most people want something for nothing.
Jeremy Falcon
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I've never paid for shareware and I never will.
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Enough so that the man I see in the mirror is only disgusted with his appearance.
cheers, Bill
«I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center» Kurt Vonnegut.
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If I use it more than about 3 times I donate, and that winrar purchase could have been me!
I can afford the minimal payment most apps require to register, it's the poor sods in 3rd world countries where US$20 is a major commitment that I sympathise with.
I once sent Neil Asher a payment for $60 for 5 books I pirated. Artist, and developers, deserve to be paid for their creations.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity
RAH
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As for me, if it's a well-written piece of software I'll pay for it. My most recent purchase was Sublime Text 3. I don't use it that much yet, but even for marginal use it's a nice piece of software. The author(s) deserve some compensation for not making something that's not a pile of sh*t.
Jeremy Falcon
modified 26-Oct-15 11:01am.
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Jeremy Falcon wrote: The author(s) deserve some compensation for not making something that's not a pile of sh*t.
Might want to pay attention to your double negatives... 
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde
Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
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Let's just cough that one up to being Monday shall we.
Jeremy Falcon
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Colin Mullikin wrote: Might want to pay attention to your double negatives
Why, we are Americans.
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Why would anyone pay for WinRAR / WinZip when 7-Zip[^] is free?
I made the mistake of paying for a copy of WinZip 10 years ago. I've never paid to upgrade to a newer version, but I still get two or three spam messages from them every week.
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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The question is: do you hit the 'Donate' button on 7-Zip's site? 
Skipper: We'll fix it.
Alex: Fix it? How you gonna fix this?
Skipper: Grit, spit and a whole lotta duct tape.
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