Amazon Component Moved To Online Store

Since launching APF Bridge almost two years ago I have received less than a handful of donation and whilst I'm not bitter about this fact I must confess to being somewhat disappointed. I have asked those using the component for their thoughts on this - why this is the case and what they feel I should do about it - and it would appear that people download the component with the intention of testing it out and understandably don't wish to make a payment prior to testing whether it meets their needs. It does seem though that once the component is installed and working well for them, their initial intentions to make a payment don't come to fruition possibly due to the lack of any other reason to re-visit this site - they simply forget to make a donation or just don't get around to it.

I feel that by encouraging (alright - enforcing) an up-front donation (alright - a fee) I can best secure the future of the project and a significant improvement taking place now behind the scenes. I'm sorry if anyone is offended, put out, or disappointed by this move - but I feel that where a component generates an income for its users it is not unreasonable for myself (the developer) to receive some of that revenue. I stress that this is my position only and that I also urge those using this component and who necessarily use MrRat's Perl based APF Script to also consider their debt to MrRat without whom my little offering (and their Amazon store) would be useless.

The component remains GPL - the source code is available without restriction to those who acquire the script and all of your rights under that license remain. I urge users of the component to support my position through this move to commercial open source and to understand my desire to offer you a product and a service whilst receiving some level of income in return for my work.

Feel free to discuss this issue here in my forums, over on MrRat's forums or on the Joomla and Mambo forums. I'd appreciate a pointer to such discussions so as to put my side and/or defend my position.

Best Regards

Dean Marshall.