Is it wrong or rude to ask for compensation for your (free) code?

[NauticalGent]

In short, Hell No...

Following up on this post, I wanted to say a couple of things.

I know a few people whose livelihood comes from using Access - me included. The major difference between me and the REAL experts here is that I get paid a salary to be on a clock rather than finding clients to develop for. HUGE difference.

But it is sites like theirs and contributions here that allow me to "play it safe" with Access. Some sites have a means of making a donation and although I do not always choose to do so, I do try to donate when I borrow their code. Some members have mentioned on here and other sites that if they are offering free code, then they should not ask or even hint at compensation. Excrement.

I would lay dollars to donuts that they, like me, use this site and others to make a living. The least we can do is give a little back...

Rant over

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I've contributed a few tidbits along the way. One for linear regression the easy way, one for text parsing a somewhat less easy way. If I had meant to make money from them, I would not have posted them in the Code Samples section.

 

[jdraw]

I recall a user that I helped. He wanted to send me money. I said No, I'm retired, just trying to give back a little of what I had learned/experienced. He then said - OK I'll make a donation to a charity--which he did. He's happy and I am happy.

 

[Edgar_]

You can share free code for a bunch of reasons: could be money, recognition, helping out the community, marketing, or any mix of those. And I'm sure there are other reasons I can't remember right now. But asking for something in return isn't rude. We've all gotten cool free stuff, and to keep it coming, there are ways like donations, ads, sponsorships, collecting data, and stuff. So if you can support, go ahead. And if you need support, just ask nicely. If someone gets all offended, well, not much you can do about that. The trick is, what "nicely" means in one medium or another.

 

[pbaldy]

I"m with you, I have no problem with a "Donate here" button or whatever, where it's my choice to contribute or not. As invaluable as sites like Daniel's are, I doubt they have enough traffic to make any meaningful amount of money from ads. It takes money and effort to keep that "free" site up and running, so offering a means for people to help offset that is quite acceptable.

 

[isladogs]

I don't normally read/post in the WC but a comment from NG sent me here

For info, Daniel's site doesn't have any ads (at least not at the moment)

My own site (also ad free) has Donate buttons and I do get some income from that.
However, whilst I'm always grateful for any donations, its not enough to cover the cost of running the website.
... and definitely not enough to cover the time taken in preparing articles for the site.

I doubt anyone who has an Access related website does so as a way of trying to make a living!

 

[CJ_London]

unless you're FMS

 

[isladogs]

OK - there is always an exception to every rule ....

 

[NauticalGent]

unless you're FMS

They do seem to have "cracked the code" in that area. They managed to get me to buy one of their products but the what is that saying..."a fool and his money are soon partying..." - something like that...

 

[cheekybuddha]

Some members have mentioned on here and other sites that if they are offering free code, then they should not ask or even hint at compensation.

Who has said this? I didn't see any mention in the linked thread.

 

[NauticalGent]

Who has said this? I didn't see any mention in the linked thread.

There isn't any in that particular thread, I am referring to what I have read in this and other forums since started using Access way back in 2008.

 

[cheekybuddha]

There isn't any in that particular thread, I am referring to what I have read in this and other forums since started using Access way back in 2008.

Ah Ok!

I'm not sure I've seen that as such, but I have seen forums be unhappy when some users try and push closed source stuff or actively advertise their paid products where the forum's ethos is to offer free assistance and help the users with questions learn for themselves.

But levels of this vary from place to place and from one time to another.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

My own site (also ad free)

That's a mistake! I removed all of the Google promoted adverts from my website about two years ago, and my monthly visits went down from, in the region of two or three thousand to 20 or 30...

I added the Google ad serving program back in and I'm back up to around 2000 hits a month.

To qualify my above statement. I have no idea how Google organize their advertising or how they steer people to my website, I'm just telling you what I saw happen.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

I use the freemium model. I endeavour to have a free option for my code. Not always possible, because it can involve more effort than its worth.

The logic here is that if someone in a third world country wants some of my code, the cost may be comparatively much greater to them than to a Westerner.

The code is available in a video, or an image file, requiring time and effort to extract the code.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Mind you, it's by the by now. What I've been doing with chat GPT is phenomenal.

See this thread here:-

I'm in Love with ChatGPT

I'm writing a sci-fi story. Last week whilst on holiday I organised the chapters and included a brief summary of each chapter. After my recent success with chatGPT in finding "Fractoluminescence" I was itching to test its abilities once more! I copied my summary in to ChatGPT and asked chatGPT...

www.access-programmers.co.uk

Chat GPT will turn you into a programming Genius!

 

[AccessBlaster]

Chat GPT will turn you into a programming Genius!

Exactly!
Game over, checkmate.