[Scummvm-devel] Description of ScummVM in README

[Max Horn]

Hi Thierry,

hm, seems nobody ever replied to this email ... :)


Am 02.08.2009 um 12:07 schrieb Thierry Crozat (Yahoo! Mail):

> Hi all,
>
> I was looking at the various places where we have a description of
> ScummVM and found that the README file and the wiki manual have
> exactly the same text  (or rather had since I just changed it in the
> User Manual).

No surprise, it was copy&pasted, like a lot of other things in the  
user manual :)
And then there is the description on our homepage; and on SF.net; and  
on Freshmeat; and ... ;)


> I made some modifications on the wiki and wanted to let
> you know in case you want to update the README as well or you have
> comments to improve it further. The link to the wiki is:
> http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/User_Manual/Introduction
>
> But the primary reason for this mail is that I noticed this bit:
> "At this time ScummVM should be considered beta software, and is still
> under heavy development. Be aware that whilst we attempt to make sure
> that many games can be completed with few major bugs, crashes can
> happen."
>
> And here come my first question: with the coming release of 1.0.0
> should ScummVM still be considered as beta software?

LOL :) It's a bit like with many Google products, you know... The  
meaning of "beta" is quite diluted these days *g*.

But yeah, we probably should revise that. So, we should rephrase the  
above. It should mention that ScummVM is always under heavy  
development, and things may crash, and that we give no warranty; but  
that overall, things should work fine, at least for the mature  
engines. Might be a good place to point to the compatibility page(s),  
too.


>
> There is a second question concerning the last paragraph:
> "If you enjoy ScummVM feel free to donate using the PayPal button on  
> the
> ScummVM homepage. This will help us buy utilities needed to develop
> ScummVM easier and quicker. If you cannot donate, help and  
> contribute a
> patch!"
>
> I remember a mail from Max (I think) about ScummVM not accepting
> donations.

To be precise: We *would* accept donations, but we currently *cannot*.  
Because we have no paypal account for it. We used to have paypal at scummvm.org 
, but that was under Enders sole control, and since Ender is gone, we  
didn't want to use that anymore (sev and me also never saw an account  
of income and expenses made via that account, so consider all money  
sent there lost for the time being). Furthermore, I believe there were  
some issue with it at a point in the distant past, where paypal  
blocked / canceled the account, because they considered our use of it  
inappropriate somehow. I must admit I forgot the details :)

Some of the issues (we emailed about this to -devel in the past):  
Eugene cannot open an account in the Ukraine. I already have a  
personal account, which I am highly reluctant to use. Also, if there  
are many donations, taxes may become an issue. Taking care of the  
account and collecting the data etc. on a regular basis also implies  
quite some work. Finally, we need somebody 100% trustworthy, obviously.

If we joined the SFLC <http://conservancy.softwarefreedom.org/> or  
some other organization, this would resolve most of these issues, BTW.  
At the drawback that it would limit how we can spend it (we could only  
spend it in ways that are compatible with the not-for-profit status of  
the SFLC).

Getting this resolved would be *really* good, too. I have some money;  
Eugene has some money; Ender probably still has some money, too. GOG  
gives us money at times; and people may want to donate. We might (or  
might not) enter an agreement with iPhSoft about getting money from  
them. We could consider adding some subtle adds, and would probably  
get tons of money from that (although I don't like adds, so I am  
against that ;).

Of course, we don't really *spend* much money... ;). People always  
insist on donating their servers etc., somehow ;).


> And there is no PayPal button on the homepage as far as I
> can see. There is a sourceforge "Support this project" button which
> leads to a page with the text "Sorry, ScummVM does not accept
> donations."

SF.net donations go through paypal. In the past, they had requirements  
in their TOS that disallowed putting other donation buttons there; or  
putting up ads, for that matter (many projects ignored the latter,  
BTW). Recently, they changed their TOS and it is allowed now to have  
ads or paypal buttons.



> Which makes me wonder:
> is this button really necessary on the homepage?
> shouldn't this paragraph in the ReadMe (and wiki) be updated?

If we fail to find a solution, the buttons should be removed and the  
README/Wiki updated. I'd prefer to find a way to re-enable donations.  
But if we don't find one quickly, we should indeed make those changes!


Max