Phoenix Cart Forum

As you may (or may not) have noticed, all the addons I publish on here are Free, I make a living from my shops, not from writing addons.

All of them take work, some of them a lot of work, with testing many iterations to get a working version I am happy to use myself on my sites. Only then will I publish to the addons area.

My addons have been downloaded many times, but I have no visibility of who is downloading them, and in 99% of the time there is no feedback, good or bad.

Now two weeks ago I asked Gary for a Phoenix Paypal Link to add to the description of my addons, linked into the Phoenix account to allow donations to Phoenix. This was in the hope that anyone who found any of my addons useful would make a donation, however small, to help keep Phoenix alive.

Well 2 weeks later, and many downloads made, not even £1 has been donated.

I can only assume that my addons are useless and not worth a single penny! - Or is it that nobody wants to help the project which provided their shop software, for free, to continue to grow and thrive. In a way I hope its the first option, as the second one would be too depressing to think about!

Thanks for reading this post - after all it was Free!

We've watched this play out for a quarter of a century, haven't we. Going back 25 years to the early osCommerce days, through every iteration, fork, and era right up to Phoenix today - the split has never really changed.

99% of shop owners treat free software as an entitlement. They take the download, use it to turn a profit, and never give back by leave a rating, a thank-you, or a beer. They consume, they move on, and then return to speak up only when something breaks. I know - I get it - you've seen my "shopowner walks into a bar" thread. It's demoralising and it's disheartening - but we keep plugging on in the hope that people like you arrive to help change the balance between `consumers` and `members`.

Your add-ons aren't worthless - the download numbers prove people are using them (and not saying thanks), or at least trying them (and not giving you feedback). The lack of beers isn't a reflection of your code; it's just the accepted fee of open source when something is handed out without a price tag.

We won't change everybody's attitude, but we can build something sustainable for the people who do understand.
Keep building for your own shop and for the Co-op members who make having that shop possible.

I read and fully recognise what you both say ... A bit broader ... it is also a general habit in modern society .. consume - being entitled - give nothing back - come with excuses why not able to give back - don't give a shit - just be entitled ... We do not do politics in this forum which is a good thing ...

Maybe times will change .. for now "it is what it is" I am afraid ...

@Mort_Lemur and @burt