Intent to add a coin miner for a trial run

ParticleCore commented 7 years ago

This ties a bit with #149 since I really dislike the idea to profit from telemetry, but I also need to find a way to make this hobby profitable.

I intend to add a coin miner together with the extension for a trial run to see if it is even worth it. Although I might change my mind about this later, initially this will be enabled by default because I assume that the current user base is too small to spare the "extra hand" in order to achieve a reliable projection of this trial. Nevertheless it would have an option to disable and control the number of threads it can use.

At the moment I have been studying the available options and so far it seems that coin hive is the best option overall.

The plan is to:

have only one instance of it running at any session (session = one or more browser windows that can communicate between tabs)
only the lowest "performance" by default (1 thread running)
pause/stop when a video starts playing

I also understand how this feels like a stupid idea, but I do not have any means to make any profit that is worth the time I am dedicating to this extension, and I need to understand if this will be worth while before investing it for the stable release, which I am planning to reach before October starts, although I might have to push that date a bit further, unfortunately.

I only ask that any upset users understand my position, I am trying to make this profitable without making this a pay-to-use extension, and I am not finding a lot of options. I have looked through ads (I hate it and most likely wouldn't work), selling telemetry (I don't like the idea) and now mining currency, which appears to be a good option.

This goes without saying; if donations do improve with the aging of the extension, this or any other method for profiting would be halted seeing that they would no longer be needed, however the past almost 3 years showed that this wasn't something that would be achieved any time soon.

I would really appreciate constructive feedback as well as alternatives to coin hive, if you know of better options, or another option to make this extension profitable.

EDIT 1: adding an index of my replies here as a follow up of this post

EDIT 2: adding updating feature design for easier insight

This feature will be opt-in
The users will be informed of its implementation and asked if they want to help out or not (still undecided whether to do this via a modal window or a dedicated window)
The summary of the feature will link to a more detailed explanation, including details about the inner works of the miner itself
The feature will only run when videos are not playing, but for the sake of curiosity there will be an option where users can enable to let it run while videos are playing
- Alternative: keep it running on lowest possible setting when videos are playing (sessions on YouTube are heavy on video watching, meaning that the miner would be for the most part stopped)
The feature will allow control of how much mining the user allows: number of threads and throttle slider (less threads and higher throttle = less CPU usage and less mining)
Default feature values will be set for half the number of CPU threads at 0.75 throttle or 1 thread at 0.5 throttle (still learning this because I haven't fully grasped how it works)
This feature will never run on laptops that are not charging and on mobile devices (tablets, for example)
Only one mining instance can run at any time, meaning that if there are multiple tabs open, only one tab can be mining and the rest will be paused/stopped (ideally this should be controlled via active page is the one the miner can start/resume, all inactive pages pause/stop)

Zekken01 commented 7 years ago

@nick-s-b

tylanax

Pretty sure that you're wrong. Anyways it is going to be opt-in.

ParticleCore commented 7 years ago

@nick-s-b

Malware:

Malware is an abbreviated term meaning “malicious software.” This is software that is specifically designed to gain access or damage a computer without the knowledge of the owner. There are various types of malware including spyware, keyloggers, true viruses, worms, or any type of malicious code that infiltrates a computer.

https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-malware.html

If any other users want to keep trying to drive this discussion to the malware path, you showed that you are not only not interested in this discussion at all, but you are trying to spread fear-mongering through lies, and like I said before, I will not allow that any longer.

Coin miner? That's malware. Time to fork this script.

Good bye and say hello to all the other forks that have already been made before and after this issue was opened: https://github.com/ParticleCore/Iridium/network/members

Just remember to respect the license, otherwise I'll have to request take down.

ParticleCore commented 7 years ago

This feature has been implemented in version 0.3.1b

For feedback related to this feature please use this thread from now on: https://github.com/ParticleCore/Iridium/issues/198

ParticleCore commented 7 years ago

Locked by mistake, apologies.

VincentW2 commented 7 years ago

This is just a though from an outsider. I don't really imagine a person with a Pentium 4 or a pretty old AMD chip to be using this extension, and even if, this is an opt-in feature. Personally, I would be fine if this is the future of supporting devs like yourself. I am also happy about a developer being so transparent about this type of thing. It's crazy people still get mad over it. Ads are old news, and donations are not guaranteed. Good luck in the future.

ParticleCore commented 7 years ago

@VinLark You are right, that's why I even warn users that if they still feel the performance lacking with the lowest settings they should turn it off. This wasn't added to make their experience worse, the opposite of that supersedes the trial/feature itself.

ATTENTION Do not turn this on if:

You are on a mobile device (i.e. smartphone or tablet)

You notice a negative browser experience even at the lowest settings

https://github.com/ParticleCore/Iridium/wiki/Features#miner

Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate them.

HyphenSam commented 7 years ago

I have a beefy computer so I don't mind using my PC to help out. Right now I have it set up so it uses 10% mining speed over 12 threads, and I'm only experiencing 25-30% of CPU usage. So far I haven't run into any issues.

ParticleCore commented 7 years ago

@HyphenSam glad to hear that, but for that specific feedback I've already opened a dedicated issue just for that here https://github.com/ParticleCore/Iridium/issues/198

HyphenSam commented 7 years ago

Ah sorry, I thought that issue was only specifically for people who are experiencing problems, and not general thoughts like my comment. I'll be sure to post there in the future.

Tharn commented 7 years ago

I don't think a coin miner has any place in a browser extension. I want my browser to be fast and efficient, coin mining is anathema to that idea. It wastes CPU and battery, increases temperatures and may produce slowdown. IMO if people want to help, they can donate. You may give them several effortless options for donations to reach the biggest possible audience.

Mining, telemetry etc. are both ways to monetize a thing beyond what I'd consider a reasonable median, and a browser extension is not a stand-alone program worth a lot of money but a cog in the machine that's first and foremost supposed to work efficiently and without a fuss. Imagine if the flash plugin, built-in pdf reader or popular browser themes all started running their own schemes to siphon CPU cycles. Horrible!

I sympathize with your desire to make money off the work you put into the extension, but I would strongly recommend to rip the mining/telemetry part of the code out as soon as the trial run is over and return to traditional methods of monetization.

On the positive side: Your extension is one of the best, if not the best YouTube settings extension out there. If I'd want any extension to be financially feasible, it would be this one. You may consider a 'splash screen' on first startup that asks the user to donate. I would consider that benign.

ParticleCore commented 7 years ago

@Tharn it is optional and turned off by default, if the user does not want to use it he is not forced to, there are no features blocked until mining is enabled. The extension is exactly the same with the exception of the "welcome" screen and the existence of such option. Also the idea of telemetry is on hold, at least for the duration of this trial run. I don't want to rush on that one, it is not something I am very inclined to integrate.

ghost commented 7 years ago

@ParticleCore, you might want to edit the issue to reflect that. Currently it says:

initially this will be enabled by default

ParticleCore commented 7 years ago

@Tsutsukakushi Please read the full issue, especially the second edit notes, not just the first paragraph:

This feature will be opt-in

Hegezcc commented 7 years ago

@Deranox I understand that. But I am 90% sure that nobody will start making a project so big and great like this. In the history of open source mods for proprietary code there are lots of stories about someone making things in their free time, but then stopping at the top for lack of motivation. Money is a great motivator, but who will pay $25/hr for improving this add-on continuously? Nobody is the one for that, but maybe thousands of fans would pay a few bucks for month via service like Patreon. That would make a pay of a reasonable full-time job. And the best people in IT have always started it as a hobby.

Who would be the best person to be that coder? I think that the original dev has proved their skill and knowledge here.

jcdenton2k commented 5 years ago

Or I'll just fork Iridium, change the name, and work alongside some other devs I know to improve/maintain it. Your license is pretty crap (you could easily just use a Creative Commons or GPL-compatible license) and doesn't protect you or your users from abuse by others.

If you are unable/unwilling to maintain the codebase then it may be useful to just open-source it and permit GPL-based rights such as reuse, modification, etc.

I've poked through the code and I'm thinking I could probably write up something better. If I'm motivated by money to be compensated for my time then I'll throw up a Patreon and have at it. If not, then I'll do a one-time crowdfunding and then only start up Patreon to handle maintenance after the first year.

ParticleCore commented 5 years ago

Or I'll just fork Iridium, change the name, and work alongside some other devs I know to improve/maintain it. Your license is pretty crap (you could easily just use a Creative Commons or GPL-compatible license) and doesn't protect you or your users from abuse by others.

If you are unable/unwilling to maintain the codebase then it may be useful to just open-source it and permit GPL-based rights such as reuse, modification, etc.

I've poked through the code and I'm thinking I could probably write up something better. If I'm motivated by money to be compensated for my time then I'll throw up a Patreon and have at it. If not, then I'll do a one-time crowdfunding and then only start up Patreon to handle maintenance after the first year.

As long as the license is respected, I wish you good luck.

ParticleCore / Iridium

Intent to add a coin miner for a trial run #189