Future of Alt.Binz

[Rdl]

I'm sorry to say, but the time has come for me to decide the future of Alt.Binz. In short, results of this poll will decide if Alt.Binz will continue with much frequent updates or just leave it on current version as it is and move on.

[Rdl]

Please, feel free to post any thought you have on this subject

[kC_]

100% yes, have been wanting to pay/donate towards the project for along time. you spend a lot of time making this program, and deserve to be paid.
one thing i wouldnt want though, is to go the direction of newsleecher.
seems spiril spent a LOT of money on an expensive copy protection system, which by iteself introduced a massive number of bugs, problems and cpu load. (yet was still being cracked same day it was released) and cracked versions had less bugs
it was for that reason i ditched my NL license & jumped to altbinz.

if you could keep the protection relatively light (it would be cracked anyway no matter what you do)
but have some form of user id, that gives it benefits, such as support
(if you want support in forums & irc, you need to state your user ID)
auto updates etc, needs User ID...

also may be worth having a free version availiable? limit its use, by disabling features like scheduling/rss/search's

i am always 100% into donating to worthwile good projects, but 100% against copy protection systems that make life easier for cracked users & harder for the paying customer.

you have a very good relationship with the people around you, always listening to comments and implementing fixes and features, this by itself makes people want to donate, not only have you created the best usenet utility ever, but you also show that you are interested in bettering it.

[grogert]

If it needs a credit card for the payment then forget it. Otherwise i'll look into it as its definitely the most useful usenet application i've ever used.

[musiclover]

I will gladly pay the $30 for such a great program.

[Gompy]

Hi,

Replicate the comment kC_ wrote in here, would be enough I suppose  

There are been more then one request, in how to donate/recompense you, Rdl, in all the work and effort you did put in developing your program, so hopefully that day will come soon...   amen..  :roll:
Enjoying your program everyday

Regards, Gompy

[afdad]

Hm, I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I really would like to donate to support the project. In fact, I have asked for this possibility before. On the other hand, I am not a fan of mandatory "donations". For instance, I have lost interest in the DVD Rebuilder project after users were required to buy "free updates forever".

At any rate, maybe 30 dollars is a bit too much for most cheapskates (like myself). I'm afraid that while many users would gladly donate, say 10 or 20 bucks, they are not willing to hand over 30 dollars for a product with an uncertain future. The higher the price, the more likely it is that people won't buy the program, but will use either a cracked copy or turn to another program.

To sum up: Voluntary donations? Yes! Mandatory registration at a relatively high price? No.

[Hecks]

Absolutely!  $30 is peanuts, really, when compared with how much pleasure the program has already given me, and the huge amount of effort you've already put into developing it.

I ditto everything kC and Gompy said.  It's hard to gauge what the response might be without having trialled donations beforehand.  Nobody wants to see alt.binz go the way of Newsleecher ...

Here's to a bright future for the best usenet progy around!

-Hecks

[andreasfc]

I don't mind to do a one time donation for unlimited updates, but maybe there should be a minimum ($20) amout for unlimitied updates. I should not be the case that someone think, 1 dollar will do for a great program like this.
Please keep up the good work about this great program.

[asperge]

if the 'Header Fetching' feature will be implemented, i have no problem to pay 30$.

[zak_21]

I voted no, because $30 may be peanuts for some people but not for me while I'm out of work. I love this program & would be willing to DONATE what I can afford ... anyway good luck to you all!

[buzzra]

I voted no because I generally do not pay for BETA products. The version is 0.24.2 only. I sometimes donate an amount of my choosing to support development, but it should not be mandatory. When we have a 1.0 release and some proper documentation and help files, then we will see about making a purchase. Until then, I will support this excellent program when I can.
Is the source code available? Personally, I tend to lean more to open source software, but Alt.Binz is an excellent program and I will continue to use it.

[A_T]

I'll just stick with the last free version whatever happens - it works fine for me. If a donation button was available I'd gladly give about $20. But I won't pay $30 for a license.

[ody55ey]

if the 'Header Fetching' feature will be implemented, i have no problem to pay 30$.

I agree with this comment..

ABZ is worth $30 in it's current form and Header Fetching would just be the iceing on the cake.

[Magnificus]

I will pay 30$ because this is possible the best newsreader software in existance.

It can search the indexing sites (newzbin should be added ^^).
It has shedulling capabilities. It has a small system footprint, used memory, cpu time, no writing in protected areas (programm files, windows system directory (nice if you are on a campus or university pc)). It starts fast, so please don´t add a header database there are other programs for header processing.

Things I would like to be fixed/added:
- Splitting of downloaded files if activevirusshield is running
- The possibility to disable the skin and display all buttons in plain text (for a speedup on remote desktop connections and low resolutions)

If you ask for payment because you are thinking on quiting your job, split functionality and make lite and pro versions of your software, it helped my cashflow =)