Freelance Library Development

XverhelstX

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Freelance Application & Library Development

Hello,

Some of you might know me, some of you don't.
I have created a couple of free-to-use libraries for the Basic4Android community, including ACL (Advanced Camera Library), RSImageProcessing, Zooz Mobile Payments, OSLibrary, BroadCastReceiver, etc and ported a couple of libraries.

I am offering my library development skills to other Basic4Android users.
You can request a new application/library on our new website.

After payment, You will receive a zip file containing:
- The library files
- A sample project with instructions
- Readme file

A couple of interesting libraries:
- StandOut: StandOut Shares Library to Help Devs Create Floating Apps – xda-developers
Create floating apps!
- SocialAuth 2.0: socialauth-android - Android library for authenticating, updating status and getting contacts with social networks - Google Project Hosting
SocialAuth Android is an Android version of popular SocialAuth Java library. Now you do not need to integrate multiple SDKs if you want to integrate your application with multiple social networks. [PORTED]
- MailSender: Send emails programmatically without an intent or external activity!
- SpeechRecognizer: Recognize text from a service! No popups or anything else!
- SmartImageView
- LineGraphView & BarGraphView
- ZXingCoder (Encode and decode barcodes in different formats. PDF-140, QR, etc)


If you are interested in a couple of android features, port a library or anything else, please pm me or send me an email.

Kind regards,
Tomas
 
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warwound

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Where does a library developer stand when they have successfully developed a library...?

Say a client pays you to develop a library, now can you publish that library for free on the forum?
I've created a few libraries for clients - some of them forum members - and as time goes by see requests for such libraries.

Does a client pay you for your time to develop a library and your library code belongs to you so you can (if you wish) make it available on the forum for free.

Would a client be pi**ed of to see that they'd paid you to develop a library and after they'd paid you for the library, they see you offer the library for free on the forum?

It's obviously a vague area but i'm interested in any comments.
(Maybe 'sponsor me to develop a library' would enable us to create and get paid for creating a library, and also leave us free to make it available on the forum for free - once it's developed?).

Martin.
 

Informatix

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There's no definitive answer to your questions, because it depends on the national law to apply, and on the contract you signed. As a general matter, a freelance worker who has not signed a contract transfering his copyright to the buyer (in the USA, I think it's called a "work for hire" contract) retains all the rights on his work.
 

XverhelstX

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Where does a library developer stand when they have successfully developed a library...?

Say a client pays you to develop a library, now can you publish that library for free on the forum?

The library developed for the user will not be distributed on the forum. If the ported library is open-source, then the client is free to choose whether to distribute it on the forum or not.

Does a client pay you for your time to develop a library and your library code belongs to you so you can (if you wish) make it available on the forum for free.

A client pays me by the effort i put into it. I'm not charged by hour. I put a price on it which i think feels good.

Would a client be pi**ed of to see that they'd paid you to develop a library and after they'd paid you for the library, they see you offer the library for free on the forum?

I will not put my sold libraries on the forums for free. However if the ported library is open source, then the client can redistribute it on the forums (which i discourage).

I hope this cleared some things up

Tomas
 

vb1992

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I like the Kick Starter Model, where you set a price
to build a library, and everyone chips in to see it come
to life for free on the forum.

So if you said, $99 EURO to build Xyz Library,
and 2 people chip in $50 Euro's each to see it become
public, everyone wins.

Maybe that's how I would/will approach it.
 

thedesolatesoul

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So if you said, $99 EURO to build Xyz Library,
and 2 people chip in $50 Euro's each to see it become
public, everyone wins.
Its a good approach but its not a completely fair approach.

Rather than making private libraries (anticompetitive closed wall gardens) I prefer VB's approach more. The people who NEED the library will chip in. But the rest of the community should also be allowed to benefit because if not, then this void will not be able to be filled ever.
No matter which way you go, someone will feel screwed over.

The way we deal with IP (and most larger companies do this), is that the developers keep all rights to the code and its distribution. You only LICENSE your IP (library/code) to the user. If they want it on your price, its fine. It they dont like your price, let them go else where. Its upto the developer how he feels he want to distribute his library (which should be treated as a compiled executable).
 

XverhelstX

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Here's a preview of the look of StandOut:

k5YEK.jpg


Edit: note that this is customized ui by editing the xml file and icons.

Kind regards,
Tomas
 
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XverhelstX

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Minimal xml stuff needs to be edited.
If i remember correctly, you won't need to make any xml changes, as I have fixed it to do this programmatically. (The close and hide button were general in the StandOut Window). I think the titlebar had to be done by xml.

All views and events can be added in Basic4Android.
There's only one drawback: All views must be constructed programmatically and can't be designed in the designer (loadlayout). I don't know why, but it doesn't seem to work.

Tomas
 

Cableguy

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Today i'm giving two cents all around...:sign0188:

Developing on demand is sometimes tricky and results ultimately in a compromise solution.
When i buy a customized item to suite my needs, i expect to have complete ownership.
In this case, of a lib, i would expect to:
-Get all files, which would include the source files and documentation.
-Have the right to allow/deny commercialization or distribution to others by the developer.
(You can take as example any lib developed by big software companies employees, wich have no rights to the software they develop)
The 'kick start' is also a faulty solution, since only a few would contribute with money to something that others would get for free. Still it is a much more fair approach than the previous one, as all involved payers would know their contribution would be for the community.
'Donate ware' seems to me the fairest solution. The developer could create a 'has donated version' and release it to those who had done just that, and have a limited version for those who hadn't... In this case, the developer could also include a 'time-bomb' to annoy those willing to use the limited version without donating.

Anyway.... just two cents....donated :sign0188:
 

thedesolatesoul

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When i buy a customized item to suite my needs, i expect to have complete ownership.
In this case, of a lib, i would expect to:
-Get all files, which would include the source files and documentation.
-Have the right to allow/deny commercialization or distribution to others by the developer.
I dont like this solution because:
- It is anticompetitive
- The developer cannot maximise his profits
- The rest of the community is unable to benefit even if they are willing to PAY
- In this case, I expect the developer to charge a very high fees

'Donate ware' seems to me the fairest solution. The developer could create a 'has donated version' and release it to those who had done just that, and have a limited version for those who hadn't... In this case, the developer could also include a 'time-bomb' to annoy those willing to use the limited version without donating.
I dont like this solution because:
- the developer will never know how much money he will make, therefore it is impossible to decide whether or not it is worth putting his time into the task

IMHO, the current way to deal with SW IP is licensing, not selling.

My Two cents (so now they have 4 cents :D)
 

Informatix

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- the developer will never know how much money he will make, therefore it is impossible to decide whether or not it is worth putting his time into the task

I sell softwares since the 80s and I can say that this sentence is true regardless of the license or paying model you choose. You will never know how much you will earn with a particular product because you don't know how many copies you will sell. You can sell your work for nothing and get rich, or set its price at several thousand dollars and sell just one copy.
Nowadays, when you set a price for your work, you have usually three choices:
- you calculate a rate per hour and you want to be paid for the time spent. That can be a lot of money for some projects. This way, you don't need to sell more than one copy. If you don't have a company or a rich customer ready to pay, it's the worst solution.
- you try to set a fair price. You must find the right balance between an attractive price and a price not devaluating your product (and your work). The price depends mainly on the potential customers (are they numerous ? wealthy?) and the time spent on the project.
- you sell your work for nothing, with the hope that millions of people will buy it. Outside of the Google Market or iTunes, where you can reach a very large audience, it's a complete suicide.
 

vb1992

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Outside of the Google Market or iTunes

Don't forget this sleeping giant:

"Amazon.com to Expand its Android Appstore Internationally"


Amazon Appstore is available to customers located in the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and United Kingdom
 
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