Re: Asking for money

faq
flatforty
contribute
subscribe
configure
search
rdf

main
parent
thread

Re: Asking for money
by anon on Wednesday 27/Feb/2008, @19:38

$100, for someone who freely decided to develop and work on this project. Why not give you money to something more needy. 30,000 children die from starvation each day, but hey, give money to someone who freely decided to work on this project, rather than truly needy people in the world

Related Links

·   Articles on Applications
·   Also by anon
·   Contact author

The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whomever posted them.
( Reply )

Re: Asking for money
by Eric Laffoon on Wednesday 27/Feb/2008, @21:31

Why not do both? Usually people saying such things do niether. In fact statistically it's a safe bet. I have gotten people money to help them out recently in the form of finding work for them to do that I didn't need to have done. So what? That's not relevent to this topic.

I once received an email from a man in his mid 20s in Africa who had been out of work for three years. He was building web sites with Quanta Plus and he was so excited to be earning a living and taking care of his family... He wanted to send a donation. I told him not to. No amount of money is more valuable than knowing you changed someone's life. So what is morally superior, giving a man a fish or giving a man a fishing pole? I don't consider the moral superiority so much as I think about the man and his needs. Many people in third world countries have to choose between illegally using stolen commercial software or free alternatives. For these people an office suite can be a large portion of their annual income. Free software can make a difference there. Even in more prosperous countries few people can afford $100-$500 every time a new task comes up they need to do.

I may have volunteered to work on this, as well as spend thousands of dollars of my own money on it over the years, but Andras is sponsored and it is his primary source of income. Your argument effectively says supporting us bringing the tools of economic freedom in free software isn't as good as a handout of food to hungry people and therefore you can't see financially supporting it. Your moral argument equates to "support commercial software with money, but don't support free (as in freedom) software with money." Or is your position to just steal commercial software?

I'd like to think your average teen ager has a better grasp of ethics and social conscience. I'm doing something to make the world better. I think that's important. You should examine your motivations. If you're not trying to make the world a better place then don't think you should argue for it without first having a clue!

[ Reply To This | View ]

Re: Asking for money
by Oscar on Wednesday 27/Feb/2008, @21:51

Actually I do. I donate money to Amnesty International, I donate blood as often as I'm allowed, my wife donates money to an alcohol damage prevention organisation and works as a volonteer for the red cross every now and then, and we're thinking about being "world parents" to an african or asian kid to help them through school. If I can help needy of all kinds, why not do it?

I can only assume you do something similar?

[ Reply To This | View ]

Re: Asking for money
by Eric Laffoon on Thursday 28/Feb/2008, @20:27

Yes I do. I also contribute to animal rescue and donate to several foundations, plus I sponsor developers which enables them to live where they want and work on free software, and I have a small business which employs over a dozen people with supplemental income. I am actively planning to dramatically reduce my carbon footprint in the coming few years to no petrochemical fuel consumption, but this site and story is about software. At least one post here seems have been suggesting it would be morally superior to not contribute to free software, which in fact promotes free economies and economic welfare.

What I hope to find when I come here is something about using Kommander, questions, comments, somewhere I can help. This project is very dear to me and lots of people have used it. It would be nice to get the right focus. There is nothing else out there like Kommander and it will only get better... assuming I can cross from where I am to where I can better fund it. Maybe I shouldn't care if others are enjoying it? I certainly am. ;-)

[ Reply To This | View ]

The Fine Print: The previous comments are owned by whomever posted them.
( Reply )


		"Njaard was simply NOT designed for Europe." -- Nikolas Zimmermann
KDE®, "K Desktop Environment", "KDE Dot News", "got the dot?" and the KDE Logo® are trademarks or registered trademarks of KDE e.V. in the European Union, the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the poster. The rest: Copyright © 2000-2008 KDE e.V. for The KDE Project. For further information or comments on this site, please contact the Webmaster.