Create a patreon

[relapi]

I’d like to support the continuing development of this application... you should make a patreon.

[strowger]

Seconded.

[zmk5]

This would be great. I would love to support this project more.

[dartov]

My work and comfort depends on this app, I'd love to support it more

[relapi]

@yury Any updates on this? Would love to support a patreon (or maybe GitHub sponsorship?)

[yury]

No news yet.

[carloscabanero]

Wanted to open a discussion here. But first things first, the current model is working so far and Blink's future is guaranteed. We think we still have a big growth margin there, but we would obviously love to have more resources.

The problem with Patreon is that it falls short of all these variables, it is hard to find a relevant example and I don't see how this would be different for us. I know everything counts and we could open one for the time being, but I think there may be more relevant ways to do it. In the end we just need to grow our business. And I prefer to do so by finding features that everyone finds relevant and that you would be willing to pay for in a recurring way.

We do have some ideas on what we would pay for ourselves: better synchronization of configuration files or snippets even with team members, multi platform support, team features like sharing terminals over the web instead of through tmux, even maybe quick/disposable online sandboxes with preconfigured environments... On the other side of the spectrum, maybe we could move to a yearly model of releases in sync with Apple, or purchasing feature bundles...

I would love to have everyone's opinion on what we think would be better models that offer real value and that could get everyone on board, because that's what will really skyrocket our resources!

[jwr]

@carloscabanero I'm looking at your list and I see cool features. But I don't want or need any of these features. While I can see how they could be nice, I would kindly suggest an approach where the first goal is a solid base: a good, fast and reliable terminal emulator with configurable keyboard macros, that is usable for both basic usage (such as tmux+vi) and more demanding use cases (tmux with custom key combinations for nested sessions, Emacs with multiple modifiers, get rid of the annoying delay on the CapsLock as Control, etc).

To put it another way: if you implemented everything from your list, blink would still be nearly unusable for me, because of the current state of keyboard support.

To put it yet another way: I think Blink with better keyboard support is a fantastic application worth paying a subscription fee, even if there are no other features implemented, ever.

As to funding, I am currently funding various software projects through:

• OpenCollective (CIDER, https://opencollective.com/cider)
• Clojurists Together (https://www.clojuriststogether.org) who use the Software Freedom Conservancy as the funding vehicle
• Individual developers directly through PayPal subscriptions, for example: https://www.taoensso.com/clojure/backers

I am not sure if Patreon is the right approach for software development. I would also suggest looking at Github sponsors, this seems poised to become a major way of funding projects in the future.

There is, however, one thing I am sure of: funding software development through "one-time purchases" of major releases with new features is not the way to go. It is not sustainable, and drives feature creep, because it puts pressure on developers to ship shiny new features to justify upgrade fees. Let's be honest: software development is a continuous process; a software application is not a hammer which you can buy once and use for life. It costs money just to maintain the software in a changing environment, not to mention fix bugs and improve performance.

So, I would much rather pay a subscription and have a fantastic and reliable tool that I can use for many years, than play the "new features in a paid upgrade" game.

[strowger]

The subscription model is a better match between revenues and costs, but repels users. Very few users would think it fair to pay an ongoing cost for a "simple" (I know it isn't really simple) app.

I would definitely sponsor ongoing dev/support. Blink changed my life and I use it hard. It's very valuable to me and I am grateful for it. It is good to know that sales are going well, however.

I agree 200% with the comments around sales driving feature creep rather than stability. I would like anyone who does dev work on Blink to come away from reading this comment remembering my gratitude and enjoyment rather than negativity - however I do find it buggy, still, and would like attention paid to stuff like "resolving crashes", "figuring out all the circumstances in which it fails to resume a session and fixing them", "understanding why the terminal sometimes suffers corruption and fixing it" rather than features.

For me, new features which add size, complexity, and brittleness make Blink worse not better. It already has features I don't understand and will never use.

Thanks again for working on Blink - I do love it.

[relapi]

Agree with everything @strowger said. I think I'd suggest just keeping the current pricing structure, but adding a patreon for anyone who would like to further support continuing development would be great. Lots of software projectse use patreon for this like iterm2 (https://www.patreon.com/gnachman), kitty (https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/support.html?), and homebrew (https://www.patreon.com/homebrew).

[NightMachinery]

I agree 100%. SSH is one of those applications where stability and reliability trumps everything else.

On Thu, Aug 15, 2019 at 9:35 AM strowger notifications@github.com wrote:

The subscription model is a better match between revenues and costs, but repels users. Very few users would think it fair to pay an ongoing cost for a "simple" (I know it isn't really simple)

I would definitely sponsor ongoing dev/support. Blink changed my life and I use it hard. It's very valuable to me and I am grateful for it. It is good to know that sales are going well, however.

I agree 200% with the comments around sales driving feature creep rather than stability. I would like anyone who does dev work on Blink to come away from reading this comment remembering my gratitude and enjoyment rather than negativity - however I do find it buggy, still, and would like attention paid to stuff like "resolving crashes", "figuring out all the circumstances in which it fails to resume a session and fixing them", "understanding why the terminal sometimes suffers corruption and fixing it" rather than features.

For me, new features which add size, complexity, and brittleness make Blink worse not better. It already has features I don't understand and will never use.

Thanks again for working on Blink - I do love it.

— You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/blinksh/blink/issues/448?email_source=notifications&email_token=AIUL56TW5EW2M3C5HLRWHUTQETP3HA5CNFSM4ERGG3GKYY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGOD4K3ATQ#issuecomment-521515086, or mute the thread https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIUL56UNMFU4PNDJQM7PQ6TQETP3HANCNFSM4ERGG3GA .

[andrius]

I work exclusively from the iPad pro and two main tools I use is a blink and web browser. Would love to see better mosh support (clipboard exchange does not work as in ssh, there I get vim/nvim-tmux-iPad sync; colors support is limited too);

Back to the support: why not to add optional monthly subscription model, I would pay price of coffee or two ;)

[pbnj]

I second @andrius.

I too work exclusively from my iPad Pro and Blink is a critical tool for me among other tools, like 1Password.

For the tools I rely on the most, I don't mind paying a monthly/annual subscription, again like 1Password. Some users may scoff at that, but what could it more palatable is if Blink was available cross-platform (i.e. iOS, macOS, Windows?, Linux?). The convenience and cost of maintenance on an ever-evolving/changing platform justifies a subscription model.

[NightMachinery]

There are far better tools in each platform already. It’s better not to add decorative features, but focus on the basics. Just being a competent iOS terminal is enough. (Blink still randomly loses sessions for me.)

BTW, isn’t there a way to get some corporate sponsorship? Companies all benefit from increased productivity on the part of their developers ...

On Wed, Sep 25, 2019 at 10:54 AM Peter Benjamin notifications@github.com wrote:

I second @andrius https://github.com/andrius.

I too work exclusively from my iPad Pro and Blink is a critical tool for me among other tools, like 1Password.

For the tools I rely on the most, I don't mind paying a monthly/annual subscription, again like 1Password. Some users may scoff at that, but what could it more palatable is if Blink was available cross-platform (i.e. iOS, macOS, Windows?, Linux?).

— You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/blinksh/blink/issues/448?email_source=notifications&email_token=AIUL56T3CMCCI56NR7PC67LQLMGZHA5CNFSM4ERGG3GKYY3PNVWWK3TUL52HS4DFVREXG43VMVBW63LNMVXHJKTDN5WW2ZLOORPWSZGOD7Q4PNI#issuecomment-534890421, or mute the thread https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AIUL56UCNJ5Z3EQAJ27UFA3QLMGZHANCNFSM4ERGG3GA .

[chrismetcalf]

My $0.02, GitHub sponsorship would probably fit best with Blink since there's also an Open Source component to it. And I'd sign up.

[larme]

+1 for a donation channel. I already bought the app store version long ago and want to keep supporting the development of blink.

[treuille]

I would really like to support this as well. Blink shell is amazing, @yury! 😍

[jbetemp]

Would love to support this somehow as well!