Add Opportunites for people to apply to help develop SimplyPrint#56
For those that are wary of putting their software as open-source (especially if they have spent countless hours on a particular add-on) and need to make a living, please provide options or opportunites for people around the world to apply to add a feature to simplyprint. This could in the form of contract opportunities, Hackathons, and part/full time roles.
The community is mainly open-source, I understand; however, if you can encourage those like myself to get some sort of compensation for softwares (machine-learning data, AI add-ons, additional phone/PC integrations, etc.), I believe it would hugely benefit SimplyPrint and the developer as they could be paid for the completed add-on (once demonstrated working) that could be added to their resumes.
I teach a bunch of students how to create upcoming and prominent Full-Stack Web developement and data science for those mainly without degrees through boot-camps and I know this would be something they are HUGELY excited for!
Just using a small percentage of the revenue gained from subscriptions would help to appeal a greater audience and encourage upcoming and talented developers to be properly compensated for the added value that I know SimplyPrint strives for. Love the app and the updates so far, I post a lot of my software projects in this area online and plan to feature SimplyPrint in my upcoming Youtube videos!
If you are interested in collaboration and/or further details on ideas suggested would love to discuss this further. My business email is:
[email protected]
Thanks for reading,
Mikey Marks
Dear Mikey,
Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed suggestion and feedback. We genuinely appreciate the effort you’ve put into articulating your thoughts and the evident passion you have for the developer community.
You’re absolutely right; the open-source community is a treasure trove of talent, innovation, and enthusiasm. We recognize the immense value that developers bring to the table, especially when they are appropriately compensated and appreciated. Your idea of creating avenues for developers around the world to contribute features to SimplyPrint through various methods like hackathons, contract opportunities, and roles is genuinely commendable.
However, I’d like to provide a bit of insight into our current operational structure. While SimplyPrint isn’t open-source, our team operates on a lean budget. Many of us, including myself, work on modest compensations, driven more by passion and the impact we’re hoping to make, more than monetary incentives. That being said, we completely understand and respect the value of compensating developers fairly for their contributions - we’re just not at a point where we have a lot to compensate with.
While hackathons or similar events might be challenging to integrate given our non-open-source nature, I agree that we should have a more transparent and accessible platform for potential job opportunities. In fact, we’re considering setting up a ‘Careers & Jobs’ page at simplyprint.io/jobs to address this very need. This would make it easier for interested individuals to spot full/part-time and freelance opportunities with us! As addressed before, we don’t quite have the resources as a small self-funded startup to actually start posting a lot of jobs on there just yet, but the existence of a “Jobs” page would be great!
Regarding the specific implementation of features, while we’re always excited about new additions, integrating them seamlessly into our ecosystem can be a complex endeavor. Given the intricacies of the SimplyPrint platform, any new feature would require a deep understanding of our coding practices, tech stack, and overall structure. Without the project being open source, this could be quite challenging. Most of our freelance roles, as of now, focus on standalone tasks, like design, CSS, or integrating open-source components to aid in printer compatibility.
Nevertheless, we genuinely value your feedback and suggestions. I’d love to keep the door open for future collaborations or opportunities that align with both our visions. Thank you for considering featuring SimplyPrint in your upcoming YouTube videos. That means a lot to us!
We’ll keep this suggestion open, as we’re always open to ideas on how we can make it easier to help us with the development :)