[R H Steele]

In General > Trainz: A New Era the topic was a Kickstarter Compaign for Auran's Trainz simulator. Something similiar was suggested for Open Rails - with some differing opinions. I got another approach. Surely there must be something, software, web service fees, file sharing hosting fees, something that could be of benefit to the whole Open Rails Team. Software can be expensive, perhaps something is needed that could make the teams work much easier. I propose we - the end users of Open Rails - donate, any amount each person can afford, to a fund to purchase a specific item for the team. No pressure, anonymous only (or known only to administrators, moderators, certainly the team members need not know who gave what) no one need give any reason why they donate or why they cannot donate. Surely the team must have some sort of "If we only had this - it would make this project sooo much easier or better!" Only another of my crackpot ideas --- give me the raspberry if I'm in foul territory. Cheers rhs (Gerry)

[roeter]

R H Steele, on 11 December 2013 - 04:58 PM, said:

Surely the team must have some sort of "If we only had this - [....]" Cheers rhs (Gerry)

What immediately comes to mind is an old pop-song from the late 60's : "If I only had time" :lol: .

But - overall : I'm not so sure about this. It brings with it a lot of additional work : accounts have to be kept, spending must be accounted for, regular statements must be published etc. Also, you would have to make OR into some sort of company - otherwise someone is going to get into trouble with the tax-man.
Also, if donations are coming in before spending has been identified and allocated, you cannot just leave that hanging around so you're almost obliged to spend it. And what if more is donated than is required? Would there be some kind of pay-back system?
The only way it might work, is if spending is identified first, and then donations upto that specific amount are invited. But even then I am hesitant because of the points raised above.
And if one wants to have a negative outlook : what if donations are invited but not enough is coming in? Should the developers than all feel depressed because of apparant lack of support?

But that's just my view. Others may see things differently.

Regards,
Rob Roeterdink

[Genma Saotome]

I don't know how it works in other counties but here in the U.S. person A may make a gift of money to person B that is tax free, limited to $15,000 per pair, with, AFAIK, no limit on either person. And so you sometimes see retired couple A and C both giving the max amount to Son B when he's trying to get started on his business, or each both to each of granddaughter D, E, and F because couple A & B are in the hospice and it's generally accepted that it is better to be giving to family than let the inevitable death taxes take it.

Obviously much small amounts transact as well.

All that said, IMO should any sort of donation campaign get started it would be best to procure something first and ask for help paying it off. No questions then about what it is for, how much is needed, and at what point can the donations stop.

[thegrindre]

;) Raspberry. ^_^

:lol:

[That Genset Foamer]

That begs the question--what would ORTS be kickstarting anyways? Dedicated multiplayer servers and connections?

[captain_bazza]

The moment you mention 'money' people's perceptions about a project change and not always towards the best. There are OR developers in many countries, so the money could not be transfered without incurring further expense and then there are the complications associated with different tax regimes in those countries.

This is a project of 'reverse donation', where the donation is the time and effort, given freely and according to each donor's ability to provide such labours. The end users of the results of the project are the recipients.

Cheers Bazza

[Genma Saotome]

That Genset Foamer, on 11 December 2013 - 07:20 PM, said:

That begs the question--what would ORTS be kickstarting anyways? Dedicated multiplayer servers and connections?

This is not the first time this topic has been raised... none of the others moved past idle chat and I doubt that will change this time. But if it were to become a serious possibility what comes to mind are software licenses... there might be a really good game engine out there somewhere that isn't free to developers, something that would blow the proverbial doors off their hinges (and, FWIW, I'm not suggesting there is). That sort of thing might be plausible.

[Lindsayts]

Genma Saotome, on 11 December 2013 - 08:32 PM, said:

This is not the first time this topic has been raised... none of the others moved past idle chat and I doubt that will change this time. But if it were to become a serious possibility what comes to mind are software licenses... there might be a really good game engine out there somewhere that isn't free to developers, something that would blow the proverbial doors off their hinges (and, FWIW, I'm not suggesting there is). That sort of thing might be plausible.

Just a comment..............
The problem with most such engines is that they are closed src. This complicates things significantly if one wishes to retain the GPL. It has been done on Linux examples being the NVidia and AMD closed graphics drivers, but it is messy and comes with a new set of problems.

Donations, have been a part of Linux (an open source operating system) for quite a while. These though usually are for things like hardware (say a new graphics card) to one of the driver team to produce a decent open source driver. Another much used donation in Linux is server time and space for some of the many Linux websites around the world and some of these are gigantic.

My own personel experience though shows that donations of funds to a volunteer organisation causes more trouble than its usually worth, see some of the earlier posts.

Lindsay

[Lindsayts]

Now I do apreciate the idea that R H Steele is trying to put up but its worth considering that the developers are volunteers who for the most part are doing something they really love and consider to be worthwhile. All of who's main drive is to produce a better program, in this case a train sim, than what is currently availible. These two reasons are why open source software is so good.

Lindsay

[R H Steele]

thegrindre, on 11 December 2013 - 06:38 PM, said:

:p Raspberry. :p

^_^

I LOVE IT .. finally some spunk! Bravo! :oldstry: :lol2: :rofl: Cheers rhs (Gerry)