egghelp/eggheads community

Hey,

I too have noticed the increased number of requests for complete scripts to be written on the tcl forum. Maybe we should have a new forum for it, like Script Requests. People who post in there should be willing to trade something of value for the script to be written! Mods could move posts in the tcl forum to the new one when appropriate.

What do you guys think?

Personly I'm against the entire idea of "commercializing" eggdrop scripting, and I don't think it's appropriate that we as a community encourage it in any way or form.

gb wrote:Personly I'm against the entire idea of "commercializing" eggdrop scripting, and I don't think it's appropriate that we as a community encourage it in any way or form.

I agree in part but thats not going to stop people requesting scripts at the end of the day, so we either, Make a section for script requests or delete peoples posts that ask for full scripts. Something needs to be put into place tho.

In my opinion, people who ask for full scripts should be helped by being incouraged to checkout tutorials and try start with the scripts by theirselves. Then when they face problems, they can simply ask on this forum where there are alot of scripters who will help. If the requester doesn't want to learn, then he doesn't want the script and no one is obliged to assist him.

I agree people should write scripts for themselves but I also think people have valid excuses for not wanting to take the time to learn. At the same time, it's a fact that there are people in this community who would like to be paid once in a while. This isn't a religion, we're not saving the world or anything, so I don't think this is a violation of moral principles or anything inappropriate.

Other reasons why this might not be a good idea:

1. introduces some aspect of responsibility for quality of solution
2. possibly opens egghelp.org and its owner to liability claims
3. need an arbitration system to settle disputes
4. etc

I'm not a lawyer so I don't know for sure, but those seem like valid reasons we maybe shouldn't do this.

(I am for the idea, I just thought I'd point out the cons for discussion. I just don't think it would harm the community merely because it's commercialized.)

Since this is a helping community not a 'Make me this script' one I tend to agree with stdragon's 'Script Requests' section. Lazy people (or any other type of reason that 'stops' them from doing their own stuff, that don't even bother to check the TCL Archive or the Search function of the forum) should donate something to the coder or to the comunity in return.

I think that if it is classed as a 'Donation' then noone can be held liable for any reason!

I think it's not a bad idea. As ^DooM^ said it woudn't stop people making requests, infact they will increase. Take a look at it this way the normal posts you see in a week in the TCL scripts section definately have 2-3 script definate requests from users, to code scripts for them from scratch. Others have problems in debugging their codes, tweaking which is the general case for the section.

Obviously sometimes scripters do fulfil requests some time difficult pieces of code and mostly the easier ones. As for me depends it upon my mood, if I am willing in the day I would prefer to code the entire script, but due to my schedule, time and unavailiability am unable todo so mostly.

There should be a basis on which to fulfill a script request maybe if the scripter wants something in return, like a reward because of the time and energy he has devoted. Also full script requests on the forum as I've seen are generally ignored by all helpers unless they are a few lines of simple code just to get the basics. And the most basic one is, if you are having a problem with a tcl script you downloaded from the web best solution: Contact the author, because he would be the one knowing the code more better than anyone for that particular script.

I agree that requests for complete scripts don't belong in the scripts forum. The creation of a separate forum for such requests is something I'm less keen on. Without mutual obligation, it may just increase users' expectations about the amount of help they should get (the balance already being heavily in their favour). And while the idea of getting paid sounds good at first, if you're writing a script for someone from scratch, it is probably because you had some interest in the problem and felt motivated to whip up a solution for it on a whim. Paid scripts would mean spending time up front coming to some sort of agreement, and would create a sense of obligation that you'd probably start to resent given the few measly dollars you'd be getting.

But I'll go ahead and add a Script Requests forum if that's what y'all want. Won't cost anything to create it and see how it turns out. You mods will have to come up with an appropriate sticky for it yourselves though, since it's yout idea and I'm too lazy to do it myself

It's worth a go imo. I think that if we do go along the lines of 'Donations' for scripts there should be specific guidelines setout before hand to make clear what both sides should expect. Also that both parties agree that egghelp.org and its founder cannot be held liable in any way shape or form.

Any negotiation on payment would have to be independent of the forum (in PMs would be okay).

I still think it's a disaster waiting to happen.

I have agreeed on a 'donation to the community' not pay me for the writing of a script for someone from scratch or just a simple search for lazy people. Don't count on me too much, if I got the mood and time to write one from scratch I do it without asking something else than a 'thank you' in return.

gb wrote:I still think it's a disaster waiting to happen.

agreed.

I've created the Script Requests forum on a trial basis. Hopefully it will not be the disaster some are forecasting. No big deal to delete it if it doesn't work out.

What constitutes a "script request" seems to be unclear. Do they include trivial requests? What about where a user posts some code that could be considered a start, but the help they need means writing virtually the whole script for them? What if they're simply asking whether a script that does X exists? I'm not that fond of this new grey area as it feels as though distinction is going to be a bit messy, but I've moved a few topics from the first page of the old forum which could probably be considered requests for complete scripts.

Oh, and I took the opportunity to reorganise the forum categories. Hope the new configuration isn't too ugly