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Updating paid for plugins that are no longer supported by their developer | Forum

Topic location: Forum home » Support » General Questions
Shaun
Shaun Nov 14 '16
I have alot of plugins from Puros that are now beginning to show their lack development with some now being unusable. 


I am considering my options but some of them have no equivalent  available in the store. If I offer the work to another developer to update can I remove the need to have the license validated.


If i have to pay again for a plugin to be updated because it has been abandoned by its original developer does the updated version of that plugin become my property? 

Webster Molaudi
Webster Molaudi Nov 14 '16
Hi Shaun, i also have the same problem, my site runs on 90% of purus plugins and now i feel cheated and hoping some developer would update / fix them,  i also dont mind paying.
OW-Ghost
OW-Ghost Nov 14 '16
Hi I want to know to same


If we can remove the license and hire someone fix all bugs? 


I will only use it on my websites


thanks


Shaun
Shaun Nov 14 '16
Perhaps between us we reduce the the costs involved in having the apps updated? I still feel though if were having to pay out for this to be done surely the 3 of us should be entitled to claim ownership of that plugin at that point.

If so and providing we continue to give credit to the original developer could we could sell the updated version of the plugings through Oxwall ourselves to regain some of the cost's involved.

Im being a bit blunt but the developers that sell us these plugins and then dissapear leaving us without any support contact or even selling the plugin on to another developer to provide the afformentioned are scum and will get very little support or respect from me.

Not something I thought I would ever say about Puros but thats exasctly what has happened.
OW-Ghost
OW-Ghost Nov 14 '16

+1 Shaun


If ross going to reply this topic i will forward a suggestion for make the store much better from me and a great developer name Senior Developer here at oxwall.


Is it possible ross pay extra for faster plugin support and proffessional support or would it not bee possible implement a feature like this in the store?


Because now many have to wait 1 -12 months for some developers upgrade and fix issues and many developers is leaving like this india guy we talk about in this topic and some other guys. And what i heard from SD he think this could help make the store better and we get faster support?


And i think this can help developers not leaving they old plugins because they get paid fix issues on old plugins and we get fast support and fast updated plugins


And same with suggestions they will get som extra money if they implement suggestions not only for fix issues on old plugins.


Let me know what you think about this store suggestion ross


I hope you will reply


Thanks


(we did start discuss it here https://developers.oxwall.com/forum/topic/51166)

The Forum post is edited by OW-Ghost Nov 14 '16
dave Leader
dave Nov 14 '16
First, Shaun you are not alone. When puru abandoned his store he let alot of his loyal customers down and i also never expected he would ever do such a thing, but as you said the reality is just that and its sad to see. 


Now for the bad news... 


1. The plugins will always legally belong to puru, regardless of what anyone does, that code is his intellectual property. He wrote it, he owns it and that is also reality. 


2. You will not be able to take control of that plugin and you will not be able to sell that plugin in the store. Regardless if you feel its the right thing to do. Legally it is his property.  And the only ways to not have that be the case is if he comes on the forum and gives them away in writing along with contacting Oxwall to verify that is what he wants to do.  


Even if he made the plugins for free it would still be his property. He has to come on the forum or contact Oxwall and literally tell us and them that he does not care what happens to them, that he no longer wants rights to them and gives those rights away. Short of that there is nothing we can do and unless Oxwall changes its policy on the matter we are stuck.


The other way is to have someone do a new plugin using their own code which im surprised Aron has not done yet since he seems to be first in line to copy everyones ideas around here.  And i dont mean that in a good way either. :(


3. You must accept the fact as was stated in the conversation we had about this before 


   https://developers.oxwall.com/forum/topic/49420


   that this is not just an issue with Oxwall this is an issue with every single open source store on the market. Devs come and devs go, dont believe me take a look at the plugins for elgg. Tons of them have a warnings on them that they have not been developed in 3+ years or more.  The dif is that they are free...  But its the same everywhere paid and free stores. It has been tried in the past to hold developers accountable but its almost impossible to do because even if you have them sign a contract and they disregard it, what is the company suppose to do, fly to china or some other country and track them down.  No, thats not gonna happen.  Its just the way it is and it comes with the open source projects, its a fact of life.  


4. Now there are some things that can be done to help offset that or to lesson that but in the end if a developer wants to make a few bucks and then dissappear and do nothing, there is nothing anyone can do at the moment unless policies change. 


5. Ross does not handle the store in this way, he will either forward this to Den or move it to the store area of the forum. 


Sorry to be the one giving bad news here, dont shoot the messenger ok please... :)

The Forum post is edited by dave Nov 14 '16
OW-Ghost
OW-Ghost Nov 14 '16
ross 


I have a new idea for the oxwall store


I just want to know if it is a great idea or not 



- Developers should try post not finished projects,plugins,plugin suggestions instead of we buyers try vote up ideas that can takes up to 3 years to bee finished and the developers get 0 money for the work.


- Buyers need donate for example 5 usd each and when have like 0 - 50 people donate the developer start create it? 


- It need no work for oxwall team to change anything and they who donate get the plugin license free or project license free but they who never donate need buy it for example 25 usd when it is finished


- They who donate saved 20 usd and the developer did get money for the work and even in future because he can sell it to they who not did donate in the start.


- 5 usd is not much money and you can buy many totally new plugins for just 5 usd and money comes in fast and the developers can start create new projects and plugin suggestions


- Money comes in fast, because you rather spend 5 usd then 25 usd and the software will grow much faster and have many new great ideas that will bee finished much faster


- The developer start with 5 usd donation after that he decide how much he want sell the finished plugin for in the store. the license already grants when you buy from the store on auto so not much need change when you donate or buy a final product


- And for suggestions for plugin he need just give the plugin another name like the new version have name eventx and the old version have name event


- All they have to do developers is put a text that give this information to buyers that are interested of the project and want give donation for the project to start and finish. 


There is no need for any changes in the store and it would cost 0 money for oxwall to have system like this instead vote up things and begging developers all the time to do things for free



(note: 5 usd for donation and 25 usd for final product and 0-50 people donate is just examples)

The Forum post is edited by OW-Ghost Nov 14 '16
dave Leader
dave Nov 14 '16
Ross cant answer this for Oxwall because he does not handle the store in this way.  You will need to contact Den on this matter.  He forwarded our other ideas to Den already and he will probably do the same with this one.  
The Forum post is edited by dave Nov 14 '16
Webster Molaudi
Webster Molaudi Nov 14 '16
Hi Dave,

Since well we are stuck between a rock and a hard place....Can i as a oxwall site owner take a developers plugin, give it to another developer with a licence key to fix it so that it works on my site and pay the developer still retaining the original owner's work ?

If i give $50 to a developer to fix or make changes to 10 plugins of purus just for my website am i allowed to do it and still retain the licence key ?
dave Leader
dave Nov 15 '16
If you can find a developer to do so.  Most 'respectable' developers wont touch someone elses code without permission from the developer.  However seeing that your intention is not to break any binding intellectual property rules and you just want to have it work, i dont see any problem with that.  But i still think it will be hard to find a developer to do so.  Its a tough place to be for sure and i dont fault some customers that do that, but for me i have spent so many years building up my repuation that i wont take a chance on losing that over a plugin, but im a hard case. I see most things black or white and in this case there is a whole lot of grey.


So if i cant get ahold of the developer for permission then i wont touch someone elses script, but thats just me.  And with the right intention i guess i would not look down on another developer who did so because its a tough situation and there is really no 100% right answer. 


One of the "grey" areas is money. If someone wanted to fix something and provide that answer to everyone without benefit financially that would be alot better.  But if they profit from that transaction then that becomes a different ballgame. 

The Forum post is edited by dave Nov 15 '16
Webster Molaudi
Webster Molaudi Nov 15 '16
Hi Dave,

See it as a thank you for fixing what was not working or working partly.....I get where you coming from. But i believe it is just goo human behavior to thank a developer who took his time and effort to help out and also considering internet o data cost im not saying im paying him but more of saying thank you for helping me out.


I know most developers do this plugins for a hobby and some is a source of income, and that also plays a part to us oxwall website owners.....some of us it's a hobby to run it and some of us it's a source of income. We need to really understand each other's reasons for doing what we do just because one is doing it for a hobby it doesn't mean all of us are.

 
dave Leader
dave Nov 15 '16
True, so keep it seperate, if you want to say thank you then in the notes of the payment say here is lunch and thanks for your help.. lol  :)
Shaun
Shaun Nov 15 '16

Quote from dave First, Shaun you are not alone. When puru abandoned his store he let alot of his loyal customers down and i also never expected he would ever do such a thing, but as you said the reality is just that and its sad to see. 


Now for the bad news... 


1. The plugins will always legally belong to puru, regardless of what anyone does, that code is his intellectual property. He wrote it, he owns it and that is also reality. 


2. You will not be able to take control of that plugin and you will not be able to sell that plugin in the store. Regardless if you feel its the right thing to do. Legally it is his property.  And the only ways to not have that be the case is if he comes on the forum and gives them away in writing along with contacting Oxwall to verify that is what he wants to do.  


Even if he made the plugins for free it would still be his property. He has to come on the forum or contact Oxwall and literally tell us and them that he does not care what happens to them, that he no longer wants rights to them and gives those rights away. Short of that there is nothing we can do and unless Oxwall changes its policy on the matter we are stuck.


The other way is to have someone do a new plugin using their own code which im surprised Aron has not done yet since he seems to be first in line to copy everyones ideas around here.  And i dont mean that in a good way either. :(


3. You must accept the fact as was stated in the conversation we had about this before 


   https://developers.oxwall.com/forum/topic/49420


   that this is not just an issue with Oxwall this is an issue with every single open source store on the market. Devs come and devs go, dont believe me take a look at the plugins for elgg. Tons of them have a warnings on them that they have not been developed in 3+ years or more.  The dif is that they are free...  But its the same everywhere paid and free stores. It has been tried in the past to hold developers accountable but its almost impossible to do because even if you have them sign a contract and they disregard it, what is the company suppose to do, fly to china or some other country and track them down.  No, thats not gonna happen.  Its just the way it is and it comes with the open source projects, its a fact of life.  


4. Now there are some things that can be done to help offset that or to lesson that but in the end if a developer wants to make a few bucks and then dissappear and do nothing, there is nothing anyone can do at the moment unless policies change. 


5. Ross does not handle the store in this way, he will either forward this to Den or move it to the store area of the forum. 


Sorry to be the one giving bad news here, dont shoot the messenger ok please... :)


Don't Worry Dave I wont try and the shoot the messenger and I can honestly say I appreciate all the hard work you have done to improve the Oxwall store. It is good to see someone fighting our corner here at Oxwall.

It can get really frustrating though, I personally praised Purus efforts I recomended him and his plugins to other buyers. I would not under normal circumstances send out or swap plugins. I do respect a developers and their rights here. We have however been abandoned and are not getting any respect in return.

Getting back on topic though If I can find a developer who is willing to make the plugins useable and also find other Oxwall users that are willing to contribute to the developers fees are we ok to go ahead and update these plugins?

The updates should only be made available to those that contribute to the developers cost's and no one other than the developer working on the project should benefit financialy from this.

From Oxwall perspective is this Ok?
Webster Molaudi
Webster Molaudi Nov 15 '16
Hi Dave and Shaun,

I do agree....Like how oxwall has a beta forum where it is only locked out for public....All who have contributed will have access to this plugins and download for their website anyone who didn't contribute won't have access to the fixed / updated plugins.
dave Leader
dave Nov 15 '16
I cant answer for Oxwall as i am only a volunteer. However i guess the best thing to do here is apply a "dont ask and dont tell" logic to this.  What you do with your money is of course your business.  But organizing anything that is "pay to play",  that i dont recommend at all. 


Again if somoene wants to fix it and offer the solution to everyone without a fee then that would be more inline with expectations.  


Other than that you have to decide for yourself the best course of action.  

The Forum post is edited by dave Nov 15 '16
Shaun
Shaun Nov 15 '16
Im in no imediate rush and im happy to wait and see if Oxwall respond to the topic.

It's not my intention to profit from this at all or break any of Oxwalls rules, I just want to fix the plugins problems and have them working so my site is working.

Webster Molaudi, With your permision if in a couple of weeks or even just after christmas if we have not heard a reply from Oxwall is it ok to contact you again regarding this and see what we can work out together?
Webster Molaudi
Webster Molaudi Nov 15 '16
Hi Shaun,

No problem please do :) Lets see what we can come up with
Shaun
Shaun Nov 15 '16
Sound good to me then, Fingers crossed some more will be intrested in contributing and Oxwall will give there blessing.
OW-Ghost
OW-Ghost Feb 28 '18
Very interesting to see how much power i and many others was input to change this store to much better place for everyone....


summary what did happen = NOTHING absolutely NOTHING in soon 2 years


now i thinking, how stupid can i bee involve in this company and try change it. like talk to the walls no respond what so ever and nothing new about that 2018  there is same quiet no responding TEAM


Have a great day


oxwallers

Quote from OW-Ghost ross 


I have a new idea for the oxwall store


I just want to know if it is a great idea or not 



- Developers should try post not finished projects,plugins,plugin suggestions instead of we buyers try vote up ideas that can takes up to 3 years to bee finished and the developers get 0 money for the work.


- Buyers need donate for example 5 usd each and when have like 0 - 50 people donate the developer start create it? 


- It need no work for oxwall team to change anything and they who donate get the plugin license free or project license free but they who never donate need buy it for example 25 usd when it is finished


- They who donate saved 20 usd and the developer did get money for the work and even in future because he can sell it to they who not did donate in the start.


- 5 usd is not much money and you can buy many totally new plugins for just 5 usd and money comes in fast and the developers can start create new projects and plugin suggestions


- Money comes in fast, because you rather spend 5 usd then 25 usd and the software will grow much faster and have many new great ideas that will bee finished much faster


- The developer start with 5 usd donation after that he decide how much he want sell the finished plugin for in the store. the license already grants when you buy from the store on auto so not much need change when you donate or buy a final product


- And for suggestions for plugin he need just give the plugin another name like the new version have name eventx and the old version have name event


- All they have to do developers is put a text that give this information to buyers that are interested of the project and want give donation for the project to start and finish. 


There is no need for any changes in the store and it would cost 0 money for oxwall to have system like this instead vote up things and begging developers all the time to do things for free



(note: 5 usd for donation and 25 usd for final product and 0-50 people donate is just examples)


The Forum post is edited by OW-Ghost Feb 28 '18
dave Leader
dave Feb 28 '18
Welcome to the club!