Fund my app: a new concept!

pparent

Hello everyone!

Today, I would like to introduce a new concept: Fund My App.

https://fund-my-app.com/ will now be the official donation link for all my apps on the Openstore. But it is much more than a simple donation page.

Fund My App allows you to fund the features you really need. Instead of donating for past development, you can support upcoming features, the apps to come, and the future development! It gives you a real opportunity to influence the future of your apps.

On this website, you will be able to create a new feature request for one of my apps, propose a new app idea, or even request modifications to another open-source app. You will be able to back these feature requests with a donation pledge.

You can also pledge a donation to an existing feature request created by another user on Fund My App. It therefore makes it possible to crowdfund features: individual pledges are combined to fund the development of a specific feature.

My current goal is to first test this concept through my own app development. I hope it can help foster more community-driven development and improve funding for open-source apps. If the concept proves successful, it could be extended way beyond my own projects.

Try it out, and don't hesitate to give me feedback, whether on the general idea or on its current implementation.

https://fund-my-app.com/

Cheers,
Pierre.

Ps: I will make a video presentation of Fund My app soon.
Ps2: That doesn't change the fact that I plan to continue maintaining my applications on a volunteer basis.

turtle_racer

Brilliant Idea Pierre!

Thank you for all your contributions to Ubuntu Touch and its apps!

nbdynl

@pparent interesting concept, i hope it will help you build a healthy income while we enjoy your content

pparent

@nbdynl said:

i hope it will help you build a healthy income while we enjoy your content

Thank you!

I just want to mention that currently I don't expect it to be more, than at best a side income, for now! But the most important for me, for now is really to test the concept to see if it can be an efficient way to fund open-source projects, and allow the community to have more influence on the development!

domubpkm

@pparent Why not. This will, I think, lead to the establishment of a confidentiality policy and collection and use of personal data subject to I don't know what rules.

pparent

@domubpkm said:

This will, I think, lead to the establishment of a confidentiality policy and collection and use of personal data subject to I don't know what rules.

Can you develop what you mean by that?

domubpkm

@pparent
Because of this.

nbdynl

@pparent no one knows if this will work if you dont try right.

I am kinda against "money" in general, but no fool that we all still need it until the world changes xD

Paying you to help build what actually matters is kinda interesting as a concept. I do have some concerns, but time will tell.

pparent

@domubpkm

Can you say explicitly what is your concern?

Is it asking for the first and last name? This could be deleted if that turns out to be a blocking point for some people. It's not really something I had considered.

For now the plateform is completely based on trust. Creating a pledge only corresponds to an intention of donation when the feature has been completed, but without any legal or financial commitment. That is to say, that a weak point of the plateform could be the creation of fake accounts or accounts creating unserious pledges.

Though I'm not sure about the impact of asking the name on that. But at the same time one could argue that wanting to stay anonymous does not help to build a trust relationship between developer and user. Also I think that currently most of the existing donation plateform (if not all), will ask you for your name before you can donate.

Don't hesitate to share your point of view.

pparent

@nbdynl said:

I am kinda against "money" in general, but no fool that we all still need it until the world changes xD

I get what you mean, but I think in practical terms nowadays money makes the difference for what individuals will be able to do with their time in most cases, whether we want it or not. Because it is hard to live without money.

So I think that it can be very positive, if more people can make a living out of developing Free and Open-Source software that makes sense for the community, rather than having to work for an industry based on exploiting users. Therefore form my point of view, solutions that help improve the funding of Free and Open-source software can really impact the world very positively.