The New MT Developer Network
June 7, 2004 01:16 PM
Its only the developer network that's keeps MT from being relegated to dark corners of the web. For a company which is so heavily dependent on this community, alienating it should be sacrilege. Yet, the Movabletype.org developer forums remain deserted by the company. To actually experience that, try posting a question to the forum and look at the responses you get. You can hardly find a 6A employee on the forum. Its only the community all over the forums. So this time, they are setting up an ‘official’ developer network and giving away free developer licenses in the hope that developers keep working on MT. I might too, if I am ‘accepted’ as a developer. Apart from this, I am really groping for an incentive to develop a plugin or maintain existing plugins on MT. Ok, so does that mean I'll work for MT only if I get it for free? I never said that. Earlier, I was thinking of buying the discounted MT 3.0D. But then how long does that license last? What when I need to buy a newer license? Will it be cheaper? No, I predict. My only issue is the high cost for a basic version of the software, which is still not solved by the free licenses. Beyond my reach and beyond the reach of most Indians. Ok, End of rants on MT3.
7 comments have been added.
Add your comments.
1.
codey said...
I think SA has bitten way more than what they can chew with the new things.
We've been evaluating various blogging platforms for a large scale deployment here (mblog.com type) and had written to SA asking them for a qoute.
A week later, I get a message saying they are dying under the load of enquiries and that I'd have to wait.
Three weeks on, I get the same message again.
Talk about missing biz ops.
2.
Nilesh said...
Hmmm...quite sad. Even before the MT3.0 boom, these guys were very slow to respond to alpha testers discussions on the mt-dev yahoo group and the forums.
3.
Srijith said...
As far as I can see, the only reason why SA wanted a Developer edition released is so that they can promote the developer contest and get plugins developers' attention. I guess they hope that when the final public release is made, they will be able to bundle it with good plugins with almost no cost to them. Look carefully at the rules of the contest and you will see words like "perpetual, no-cost license to all submitted plugins". $20,000 is nothing if they can get about 10 ultra cool plugins that agree to the no-cost license.
4.
Nilesh said...
Ya, I saw the license. I don't know if they are that evil, but yes, I do feel that they are piggybacking on the community success to further develop the product. With no apparent effort from their side. It could be possible that the financiers want it that way. I don't see them appreciating the efforts of even a handful of developers like Brad Choate, David Raynes, Tim Appnel, etc., who have put in so much of effort to improve the product. I have read on many blogs that due to the absence of an anti-spam system like that of Jay Allen, many people do not want to switch to other blogging tools. Now shouldn't that be commended? If they are , it is not quite open enough to make me feel comfortable about their support to developers.
5.
Anil Dash said...
Codey, feel free to email me directly (anil at sixapart dot com) if you want to talk about licensing MT for a hosting situation.
Srijith, if you look carefully at the license, we are just asking for the right to distribute the plugins of the winners of the contest. We're still encouraging people to distribute their own plugins, we're not taking any ownership of their work, we want people to charge for their work if they desire, we're potentially increasing their distribution, and we're giving away some pretty damn nice prizes for them doing the work. I think that's a better deal than you get with developing for almost any platform.
I think we're putting a ton of effort into Movable Type, but I think we'll wait until the general release of MT3 and then it's upt o you to judge. I totally agree that devs like the ones you've mentioned (and many more) have helped us tremendously, and I'd (1) encourage you to ask any of the guys you mentioned if they feel unappreciated and (2) sign up for the developer network and see if you appreciate the benefits of it.
Any of you can email me or IM me at "anildash" if you have any other comments or concerns, as we're really trying to get this right. I think MT is the most compelling tool to do development work for, and I think I can make a pretty good case for that being true for you as well.
6.
Srijtih said...
Srijith, if you look carefully at the license, we are just asking for the right to distribute the plugins of the winners of the contest.
I am confused.. bullet 7 of the
"Terms and Conditions for Entries" states (as of 09:44, 11th June 2004)
Six Apart will retain non-exclusive, perpetual, no-cost license to all submitted plugins.
It states *all*, not just winning plugins. That, I still maintain, is not a "better deal".
7. Reference from
TriNetre - The Third Eye
I just had to get this out of my system. Pardon my obsession. Four trackbacks to SA's post "More for developers". Trackback 1 - Anil comments. Trackback 3 - Anil...
Read more in
Strange Coincidence? » Reference from
printers blog
9. Reference from
designer handbags
10. Reference from
candles, linen, bath
Your Comments
* Please do not put off-topic comments. We reserve right to delete them at our discretion. You can post anonymously. If you are unable to see your posted comment immediately, it may have been queued for moderation. So do not submit it again. HTML formatting is allowed (only a, b, i, br, p, strong, em, ul, li & blockquote are allowed). Do not put paragraph tags. They are automatically inserted.
7 comments have been added. Add your comments.
1. codey said...
I think SA has bitten way more than what they can chew with the new things.
We've been evaluating various blogging platforms for a large scale deployment here (mblog.com type) and had written to SA asking them for a qoute.
A week later, I get a message saying they are dying under the load of enquiries and that I'd have to wait.
Three weeks on, I get the same message again.
Talk about missing biz ops.
2. Nilesh said...
Hmmm...quite sad. Even before the MT3.0 boom, these guys were very slow to respond to alpha testers discussions on the mt-dev yahoo group and the forums.
3. Srijith said...
As far as I can see, the only reason why SA wanted a Developer edition released is so that they can promote the developer contest and get plugins developers' attention. I guess they hope that when the final public release is made, they will be able to bundle it with good plugins with almost no cost to them. Look carefully at the rules of the contest and you will see words like "perpetual, no-cost license to all submitted plugins". $20,000 is nothing if they can get about 10 ultra cool plugins that agree to the no-cost license.
4. Nilesh said...
Ya, I saw the license. I don't know if they are that evil, but yes, I do feel that they are piggybacking on the community success to further develop the product. With no apparent effort from their side. It could be possible that the financiers want it that way. I don't see them appreciating the efforts of even a handful of developers like Brad Choate, David Raynes, Tim Appnel, etc., who have put in so much of effort to improve the product. I have read on many blogs that due to the absence of an anti-spam system like that of Jay Allen, many people do not want to switch to other blogging tools. Now shouldn't that be commended? If they are , it is not quite open enough to make me feel comfortable about their support to developers.
5. Anil Dash said...
Codey, feel free to email me directly (anil at sixapart dot com) if you want to talk about licensing MT for a hosting situation.
Srijith, if you look carefully at the license, we are just asking for the right to distribute the plugins of the winners of the contest. We're still encouraging people to distribute their own plugins, we're not taking any ownership of their work, we want people to charge for their work if they desire, we're potentially increasing their distribution, and we're giving away some pretty damn nice prizes for them doing the work. I think that's a better deal than you get with developing for almost any platform.
I think we're putting a ton of effort into Movable Type, but I think we'll wait until the general release of MT3 and then it's upt o you to judge. I totally agree that devs like the ones you've mentioned (and many more) have helped us tremendously, and I'd (1) encourage you to ask any of the guys you mentioned if they feel unappreciated and (2) sign up for the developer network and see if you appreciate the benefits of it.
Any of you can email me or IM me at "anildash" if you have any other comments or concerns, as we're really trying to get this right. I think MT is the most compelling tool to do development work for, and I think I can make a pretty good case for that being true for you as well.
6. Srijtih said...
I am confused.. bullet 7 of the "Terms and Conditions for Entries" states (as of 09:44, 11th June 2004) It states *all*, not just winning plugins. That, I still maintain, is not a "better deal".
7. Reference from TriNetre - The Third Eye
Read more in Strange Coincidence? »
8. Reference from printers blog
Read more in printers »
9. Reference from designer handbags
Read more in handbags »
10. Reference from candles, linen, bath
Read more in home furnishings »
Your Comments
* Please do not put off-topic comments. We reserve right to delete them at our discretion. You can post anonymously. If you are unable to see your posted comment immediately, it may have been queued for moderation. So do not submit it again. HTML formatting is allowed (only a, b, i, br, p, strong, em, ul, li & blockquote are allowed). Do not put paragraph tags. They are automatically inserted.