Interview with Jonathan Wainwright (AKA Waindigo)

[Wildcat Media]

Thanks.

I probably shouldn't comment on this any further, although it was pretty clear to me that they had spent some serious money on legal advice before sending the reference. It actually took quite some effort just to get a copy of the reference. So, as you can imagine, seeing how vBulletin were abusing the legal system to throttle the growth of XenForo touched a nerve for me.

I agree--that abuse of legal powers struck a nerve with me also. IB brought on a case they had no chance of winning, especially since all the testimonies and evidence fell apart on them. Sadly, it's a similar situation in the labor market here. Even if you are aware that your employment has been legally compromised, good luck trying to prove it in court. For a lot of jobs I've been turned down from, I could easily try to press charges for age discrimination, but the employers' excuse will always be that I wasn't qualified for the position.

I can see how a potentially bad person could end up in a new position with this law, also, but I know that in many industries, there are safeguards in place. For example, if a person is a stock trader and does something illegal in their line of work, they have to answer to the Securities & Exchange Commission. Attorneys have to deal with the Bar Association similarly. Sadly there is not something in place for the rest of us out here.

And in a tough labor market such as the Detroit area, it is pretty much an employer's heyday to hire the cheapest and youngest talent they can find that fits their assessment surveys. Those of us who are of, say, a more advanced age don't stand a chance here. Soon as I am able to move out, I likely will be leaving this area. And for a lifelong resident of this area, it's a bit hard to accept, but a person needs to keep a roof over everyone's heads and food on the table.

 

[Wildcat Media]

I don't think Jonathan is acting on a whim (or under the influence of "incense"). He believes in what he's doing and he's happy with the way things are - at least that's my take on it from what he wrote in his interview.

What I took away from the interview is the commitment. Even a paid developer could be something less than trustworthy (as one specific add-on I've been looking at...it is paid, but the support situation scares me). If I understand it correctly, Jonathan is contracted to write add-ons, and then asks a client if they would not mind sharing that add-on with the community. He is still paid for his work, but it seems like he considers any possible reuse of the add-on to be a donation to the XF community at large.

I can't even code my way out of a paper bag... I'd love to be writing add-ons myself, but at this age, I no longer have the patience to do so. I have had to take programming classes (JavaScript, C++, and now OOP Java) for the degree program I'm in, and at times they are a struggle. And I've gotten so burned out on I.T. in general that I'm seriously looking at switching to mechanical engineering, as I am now seeing a marked increase in opportunities looking specifically for that talent. That is more in line with my former line of work.

Hats off to anyone who can stick with coding--I've been there and I know how trying it can be!

 

[Digital Doctor]

I don't think Jonathan is acting on a whim (or under the influence of "incense"). He believes in what he's doing and he's happy with the way things are - at least that's my take on it from what he wrote in his interview.

Awesome. Happy is good.

Hey @Waindigo - can you get your Financial Advisor to log in ... I'd like to ask a few questions. p just kidding).

If Waindigo is getting enough business ... I think that's awesome !! But a few paid addons to stabilize his cash flow would benefit everyone ... IMO.

 

[Jon W]

Awesome. Happy is good.

Hey @Waindigo - can you get your Financial Advisor to log in ... I'd like to ask a few questions. p just kidding).

If Waindigo is getting enough business ... I think that's awesome !! But a few paid addons to stabilize his cash flow would benefit everyone ... IMO.

Are you sure my financial advisor isn't already logged in? It sure sounds like it.

But just to remind you again. Waindigo add-ons are not free. They are released under a non-commercial only license.

Regarding the kumbaya and incense, the decision is mainly commercial. I am looking for a return on my investment but that will happen when XenForo is big enough. Also, I'm not really a kumbaya and incense kinda guy...

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[Jon W]

If Waindigo is getting enough business ... I think that's awesome !! But a few paid addons to stabilize his cash flow would benefit everyone ... IMO.

Further to my above post, we have decided that it would be beneficial to the XenForo community for us to have a more stable income, although we are still committed to making all add-ons available free of charge to non-commercial sites and to make it easy for customers to try out or add-ons and for other developers to have easy access to our code.

We have, therefore, decided to introduce a monthly premium membership option for commercial sites. Except for the largest sites, the cost (£50* per month) is more than we would expect you to donate to the Waindigo Foundation for a commercial license, but we will be offering unlimited add-on licenses for unlimited sites and priority support.

We are only looking for a small number of members to sign up, but we hope that we can get enough signed up to ensure, for the benefit of everyone, that we will be able to continue to support XenForo for the foreseeable future.

Anyone interested, please PM me or subscribe here:
http://waindigo.com/account/upgrades

Thanks again to everyone for their continued support!

* excluding VAT.

 

[TheSalt]

WOW! What a great story!

 

[Jon W]

WOW! What a great story!

Thanks.

For anyone interested, this weekend is a year since I locked myself out and ended up going to church to pray for my friend.

Coincidentally, I am also being confirmed this weekend by the Bishop of Reading. I am being interviewed in the service, so will get a chance to share some of the testimony, which I have already been fortunate enough to have been able to share with you, with my church family and others.

Also, should anyone be interested in coming along, it is at St Marys Church in Maidenhead at 6:30pm.

 

[tyteen4a03]

@Waindigo , judging from the article you don't really make money on addons. How do you keep your family alive then?

 

[imthebest]

Last time I asked a few top programmers here for custom development Waindigo was way more expensive than the others and we're talking about his social share model because if I wanted the add-on only for me the price gets doubled.

I'm pretty sure the man is making money and living from what he earns as a XF add-ons developer which is perfectly fine and understandable, nothing wrong here.

I'm using some of his add-ons and those are top quality so he's a good coder for sure.