[maemo-developers] "Donate $x" button on Packages and/or Downloads

[From: Sascha Mäkelä]

Yes, I would definitely be in favour of a centralised donation system.
However, instead of the suggested amount set by the author, why not
have a general minimum amount (say like €1) accepted per app? Then the
the user who wants to donate, would select the amount and the app(s).

Thanks,

Sascha

On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 13:55, Andrew Flegg <andrew at bleb.org> wrote:
> BACKGROUND
> ~~~~~~~~~~
> A number of articles recently have talked about Ovi Store as the only
> "real" app store for Maemo; massively overlooking
> http://maemo.org/downloads/
>
> Similarly, as Ovi takes off, it is interesting to think about how
> micro-payments for ones software could make one a bit of money (100
> users at $1 each is a nice present); but whilst still having our
> software as open source. There've been suggestions in the past of a
> "Donate" button on each project's website, but I suggest we thrash out
> a scheme - and then implement - a consistent micro-donation system for
> maemo.org
>
>
> REQUIREMENTS
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~
>  * User can make quick donations to apps they like.
>  * There is a suggested amount, set by the author, to indicate
>    that even small donations are appreciated.
>  * The button is in a consistent and logical location, with
>    the easiest place to put it on maemo.org/downloads/ and
>    probably also maemo.org/packages/.
>  * Developers can receive donations direct from the users, without
>    maemo.org taking a cut.
>
>
> SPECIFICATION
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Two new debian/control fields would be introduced:
>
>  XB-Maemo-Suggested-Donation - amount, in dollars (or euros) which
>      would be shown on the button. If not present, no donations
>      are expected.
>
>  XB-Maemo-Donation-Recipient - email address to whom user will
>      be donating.
>
> Downloads and Packages would be updated[1] to show a button at the
> bottom right of the package description:
>
>   "Donate $2" (showing the amount from Maemo-Suggested-Donation)
>
> ...with a small "what's this?" link underneath linking to a help page
> explaining that it's entirely voluntary, maemo.org takes no cut and is
> a direct donation, using PayPal, between you and the maintainer.
>
> Clicking the button will use the PayPal API[2] to redirect the user to
> a "$PACKAGE donation" page with the amount prefilled and the recipient
> fixed.
>
>
> NEXT STEPS
> ~~~~~~~~~~
> There are Brainstorm and Talk threads on this issue; so the
> next-steps, as I see it are:
>
>  * Link up discussions from elseweb.
>  * Find a stakeholder (happy for it to be me)
>  * Come to a consensus on the technical implementation, and get signed off
>    by X-Fade.
>  * Develop the changes and submit to maemo2midgard.
>  * Test, deploy & use.
>
> Perhaps this is an opportunity to use the project management approach
> outlined by Stskeeps[3]?
>
> Comments, as ever, very welcome.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Andrew
>
>
> [1] https://garage.maemo.org/plugins/scmsvn/viewcvs.php/?root=maemo2midgard
> [2] https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?&cmd=_render-content&content_ID=developer/e_howto_html_donation_buttons
> [3] http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=41092
>
> --
> Andrew Flegg -- mailto:andrew at bleb.org  |  http://www.bleb.org/
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