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Author Topic: Is it tacky to pay someone for a plugin ?  (Read 2703 times)

AlexV

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Is it tacky to pay someone for a plugin ?
« on: March 19, 2008, 04:05:34 am »

I don't see it very often here.

But here's the thing... I REALLY need a particular plugin.

It's probably not difficult to make... but it's a niche plugin that would probably not interest the whole community.

Would you consider it tacky to pay someone to write it ? What are my other options ?

If I go that route, how much should I pay...  Media Center is $39.98.
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Mr ChriZ

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Re: Is it tacky to pay someone for a plugin ?
« Reply #1 on: March 19, 2008, 05:10:29 am »

Depends what you need it to do, whether it will have any other uses for any one etc.
Media Center can be so cheap because it has a fairly large distribution list.
So the development costs are spread among many people, despite the fact it's cost many Millions
to build (I think there was a figure floating around at some point but I forget what it is).

If you offered $40, then developers they might laugh a bit
since many of them might be on that as an hourly rate, so if you've got even something slightly
complex the moneys not going to cover it....

On the other hand you might get lucky catch someone in a good mood, or that is interested
in the project and they might try there hand at it anyhow.

Alternatively you may find it's already built into Media Center and you just aren't aware how
to use it.

AlexV

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Re: Is it tacky to pay someone for a plugin ?
« Reply #2 on: March 19, 2008, 05:43:56 am »


Ok ! Thanks for the reply...

And what about JRiver... Do they really consider individual requests ?

See, the feature I need... Is already in Media Center... it just needs a little tweaking.

And I guess, it could be done in 5 minutes.
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Doof

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Re: Is it tacky to pay someone for a plugin ?
« Reply #3 on: March 19, 2008, 09:22:44 am »

I read your request in the other thread. It would be pretty simple to write a plugin that did that did what you want. I thought about whipping one up for you but it would be just another of 5 projects I've got going on right now (not to mention all of my other obligations like work, dive team, and for some reason my fiancee is adamant that I actually participate in planning our wedding).

But since you mentioned payment... ;)

If you paid somebody to write it, would you then be mad if it was made freely downloadable for everybody else? Or would you want all the rights to it?

If you paid somebody to write it, how obligated would they be to constantly tweak it or add to it as you saw fit?

There would have to be some sort of scope of work document drawn up that both parties could agree to so that the author wasn't constantly trying to hit a moving target once you got a taste of having your own custom plugin created just for you and came up with a huge list of new features you wanted added to it.

Just a few things to think about when commissioning somebody to build something like this for you. I unfortunately learned the hard way not to undervalue my time and not to commit myself to a timeframe when working on something like this.
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Doof

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Re: Is it tacky to pay someone for a plugin ?
« Reply #4 on: March 19, 2008, 10:40:18 am »

In case it wasn't obvious (and after re-reading it I'm pretty sure it probably wasn't), the above post was mostly in jest.

I just whipped up a quick beta plugin that does what you want. A little later today I'll upload it to my site so you can download it and try it out. I do plan on tweaking it a little bit, but for now I really should be getting back to work.  :P

If you like it, there's a PayPal link there as well, so you can donate however much you think it's worth. I'll be delighted if that number turns out to be $1,000,000.00, but I'll understand if it only turns out to be $5.00. ;)
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Matt

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Re: Is it tacky to pay someone for a plugin ?
« Reply #5 on: March 19, 2008, 10:42:19 am »

Doof, sorry to undercut you but we put it in the next build.
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Matt Ashland, JRiver Media Center

Doof

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Re: Is it tacky to pay someone for a plugin ?
« Reply #6 on: March 19, 2008, 11:34:42 am »

Doof, sorry to undercut you but we put it in the next build.

 :'(
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AlexV

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Re: Is it tacky to pay someone for a plugin ?
« Reply #7 on: March 19, 2008, 11:46:27 am »

Well... This will all make Media Center even better !

Thanks Matt and Doof...

Doof ! Ok for the $5 ! You deserve a beer for your try ! Sent !
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Doof

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Re: Is it tacky to pay someone for a plugin ?
« Reply #8 on: March 19, 2008, 12:14:03 pm »

Wow, $5 for an unreleased plugin! That's more than I made for my wildly-popular Captionater 3000 plugin! ;)

I really can't accept it, though. I appreciate the offer, but I just can't in good conscience take money for an undelivered and wholly unnecessary product. :P
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