Do you support your custom ROM developer?

[pyroscott]

Migrated from Original Forum. Originally Posted 27 January 2012

 

I was buying an app on the Android market, and it got me thinking about the custom ROM developers. They go to great lengths to basically “re-invent the wheel” for us to cut out some of the “bloatware” and have a more customizable and better suited operating system than factory stock for our android phones. I know that we appreciate the work they do, and if you look on XDA or other developer sites, there are pages upon pages of people thanking the developer. I want to know how many people donate to the cause. I don’t give that much, but I figure if I can pay $4 for a new keyboard or $2 just to remove the ads from a free game, I can throw some cash the way of the developer of the most crucial program my phone is running, the operating system. Currently I am running Calkulin’s E4GT 2.8.1. I love the ROM and although I have tried out some other ROMS, I decided that Calk’s was the ticket for me. After I decided I liked that ROM best, I sent a donation to the developer. You might call it a “thanks for the hard work, go get a buzz at the bar on me” donation. I know these developers don’t expect to get rich off of their efforts, and they mostly do the work voluntarily, and many of them are just making a ROM for their own benefit, but they put it out there for others who don’t have the programming knowledge to do it themselves. I had some friends help me build my garage, and even though I have helped them with their own home projects, I bought them each a case of beer and cooked up some NY Strips as a “thank you” gesture. I think that instead of acting like these developers owe us something (see all the people whining that ICS is not in a ROM for their device yet on XDA), we should show them that we appreciate their work. If the manufacturers haven’t worked out all the kinks for an ICS release on the devices they built, how can we expect some developer who works on their ROM in their spare time to have it figured out? Just my thoughts, what about you?