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<div id="newHeaderAG1" style="font-size: x-small; padding:1em;
background-color:rgba(220,220,240,0.4); border-radius:3px;"> <b>Subject:</b>Donations
(was: My comment on Exchange Calendar as it applies to
financial issues of Thunderbird)<br>
<b>From:</b>Ben Bucksch <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:ben.bucksch@beonex.com"><ben.bucksch@beonex.com></a><br>
<b>To:</b>Tb-planning <br>
<b>Sent: </b>Monday, 01/05/2017 19:05:02 19:05 GMT ST +0100
[Week 18]<br>
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<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:7e584974-4127-0c38-bb50-f31a39702026@beonex.com"
id="mid_7e584974_4127_0c38_bb50_f31a39702026_beonex_com" class="
cite">R Kent James wrote on 01.05.2017 16:40:
<br>
<blockquote type="cite" id="Cite_4312914" class=" cite">
<br>
Adding EWS as a "supported" protocol to core Thunderbird does
not magically make the resources appear to maintain it. This
particular addon, Exchange Calendar, is a really good example of
the problems. The work required is substantial, a
free-as-in-beer developer can enjoy working on it for awhile,
but then there is the inevitable burnout followed by periods of
poor support, which we seem to be in the third phase of now.
Personally, I believe that something mission-critical like
Thunderbird (and critical addons such as this one) deserve
better than that if people are going to rely on them to get real
work done.
<br>
<br>
But this gets at the core of what people mean by "open source"
and "free software". There is always that hope that there are
lots of potentially motivated volunteers that could be
attracted, if somehow we just do things better.
<br>
<br>
Personally I don't believe in that, but I am in a minority - and
I get plenty of flak for charging for ExQuilla. (Note I am the
ExQuilla author as well as a member of the Thunderbird Council).
The solution that I think makes sense is something like a
non-profit user coop, where there would be enough benefits to
the users to pay for membership, the code could continue open
source, but somebody would be paid to keep the lights on. We're
collecting substantial donations now, and that is helping alot,
but not enough to imagine that EWS could be added to core
Calendar and supported.
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Hey Kent,
<br>
<br>
I agree that people who critically rely on a piece of software
should also be willing to pay a reasonable amount for it. Free
Software doesn't mean the work is done all by itself.
<br>
<br>
How about simply offering recurring donations on the donations
page, and explaining to users why we need that? It's not obvious
to them why the software needs maintenance just to keep the lights
on. Once we explain it in a way that they understand ('we fix
security bugs, we fix other bugs etc, and that takes several
employees just to get that done'), they might be willing to make
recurring donations. </blockquote>
I agree in principal. Let's look at the Patreon model<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:7e584974-4127-0c38-bb50-f31a39702026@beonex.com"
id="mid_7e584974_4127_0c38_bb50_f31a39702026_beonex_com" class="
cite">They should be in the area of $30/year or so. If 1 in 1000
of our users does that, we have already significant progress.
<br>
</blockquote>
<p>I think that is too much. Postbox has recently switched to a
lifetime license (but only for version 5) for less. While I think
that there are quite a few users who would accept this sort of
payment I would bet you would also find many more supporting
Thunderbird with10$ or 5$ / year. If there were different support
levels like on Patreon (and we could debate on some perks such as
blog notifications, downloads of debates, Youtube videos ,
workshops) it might be possible to pull of a more nuanced variety
of monetisation.</p>
<p>I think a monthly model with 1$, 2$ or 5$ levels might also make
some sense, because it is more dependable in regards of hiring
developers and a lower risk commitment on the part of the users.<br>
</p>
<p>Another possibility would be something like sales weeks (e.g.
black Friday, Holiday sales) where a cheaper "license" could be
obtained. <br>
</p>
<p>As one of the few Addon authors who monetises I would also be
open to handing out vouchers for cheaper licenses to anyone who
supports Thunderbird Core with a donation.</p>
<p>Axel<br>
</p>
<br>
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