Hamlet Au at new World Notes posted an article on saving the Kirsten Viewer. From information coming from Dawny and Lee the problem is a change in their income from health issues. Hamlet put together that if the money comes from developing the viewer, development could continue. Duh! Why didn’t I think of that.
See: Kirstens’ Viewer Development Could Continue – If Kirstens’ 8500 Users Donated $6 Each!
I’m not buying the $6 per year average. Hamlet basis his number on the 8,500 downloads of the Kirsten S21(9) viewer. That is a recent development. The typical download is 2,000± per version. I think it more likely that there are 1,500 or so devoted fans of the viewer.
The recent increase in downloads is likely due to the fact that until just recently, Kirsten’s was the only mesh capable viewer, other than the Lab’s. Capable not just in the sense that it can render mesh, it also uploads mesh. AFAIK, it is the only TPV that can upload.
I would expect once Firestorm and Kokua can render and upload mesh many of those 8,500 will switch back to their preferred viewers. Also Astra, Dolphin, and others now render mesh. I expect that will start to divide up some of those 8,500.
If that is the case, the more realistic number for the money needed is $34 per Kirsten user. Personally I think $34 per year for the Kirsten viewer is a pretty good deal. I know the entitlement crowd that wants everything for free will have problems with that. I also know that in this economy $34 can be more than some can handle. That is life.
Also, people get funny about donations. After they make a donation they feel they are entitled to something. They seem to think they have some say about how their donation is used. That is not what a donation is about.
I know Red Cross and others allow one to specify how a ‘donation’ will be used. But, that is a miss use if the word donation, they mean a contribution, a contribution to something specific. So, make sure you understand what you are doing with your giving and what the recipient is doing.
A donation does not obligate the recipient.
Many of us may make a donation and it may not be enough to provide the funds needed. It may be more than enough. In the first case Lee may still have to get another job and not be able to work on the viewer. Don’t expect any donation to get you a new viewer version. It may not happen.
Actually, as of today, KirstensViewer Modder, NiranV Dean, has now put out a full install of a modified KirstensViewer, redubbed naturally, NiranViewer.
Available from here: http://niranv-sl.blogspot.com/
I’ve been meaning to try NiranV’s version.