Blogging

What A Mighty Big ‘Tude You Have

Last Updated on June 13, 2017

I was doing a Google search for a plug-in option that would further assist my spam filter so that I could weed out spambots without having literally hundreds of suspected spam comments to sift through to make sure no legitimate comments were misdirected.

I came across a website with a plug-in that wasn’t really what I was looking for, anyway, but I couldn’t help but notice the big bold message at the top of the page:

“This plugin project is on hold. Why? Because hundreds of people asked for this plugin, so we created it. However, when we asked for donations to fund further development we gathered a whopping $20. So, it seems that while people are chomping at the bit to make money with our code almost none are willing to share their revenue by making a reasonable donation. Therefore we give the existing code away only to those that deserve it. For the rest of you, write the code yourselves.”

Wow. So somebody is surprised that in this day and age, a large number of people want something for nothing? Particularly when many of WordPress’s users don’t pay a cent for WordPress itself?

I wonder if they get that “asking for donations” is like asking for a favor, and that a request, or even a plea or demand, does not force someone else to hand over a donation. A donation, the last time I checked, refers to something that is given voluntarily, usually in the form of a gift. There may be a moral obligation that some people feel, but if it’s voluntary, it’s a little unfair to get bent out of shape if everyone chooses not to take part.

We do live in a lazy world, after all. And with gas prices about a dime away from the $4.00 mark, we’re beginning to live in a stingy one, too.

There’s no question in my mind that this this person made a very wise decision in limiting access to the product…especially if there’s that much anger that donations haven’t rolled in faster. But with a message like that, I can’t admit that I’d feel generous enough to make myself one of the “deserving,” either.

More power to ’em.

the authorPatrick
Patrick is a Christian with more than 30 years experience in professional writing, producing and marketing. His professional background also includes social media, reporting for broadcast television and the web, directing, videography and photography. He enjoys getting to know people over coffee and spending time with his dog.