Xyg

The developer of Dali Clock and Tip Calculator is seemingly very, very ticked off at how Palm deals with its distribution of applications, doesn't like being required to have a verified paypal account, and doesn't feel that he should pay the yearly developers fee.

jwz - My ongoing Kafka-esque nightmare of dealing with Palm and their App Catalog submission process.

Is he over reacting, has Palm dropped the ball, or is it a little of both?

SharonW

Has he never heard of Home Brew? Sounds a bit hysterical to me, in both senses of the word.

ShadowGod

He's a whining b*tch.

Here's one of my favorite quotes:

"They had all kinds of ridiculous requests and requirements, like, 'It's a corporate policy that all of the applications use a version number less than 1.0.0', even though Dali Clock is already at version 2.31. But whatever. I jumped through all their hoops."

And he's afraid to get a "verified" Paypal account, well get over it. Why don't you charge for your "Dali Clock" and your "Tip Calculator" if they're so great?

Regarding his tip calculator, it sucks. Here's what he says about it:

"Look, it only does whole numbers because if you insist that your tip be accurate to the penny you are a cheapskate weirdo. Here in the Colonies, we use paper money, not coins. If your bill is $44.22, just enter $45. Don't go all Scrooge McAsperger's on us, ok?"

Can you believe that? We don't need his apps and who cares what he thinks about Palm, plenty of developers who are serious will follow the rules.

s219

He's definitely whining, and about the wrong things. There are far bigger issues than this.

jbg7474

I tried the Dali clock a long while back, and we're really not missing out on anything by not getting it in the app catalog. The interesting thing is this guy seems to feel that he has a right to have his apps distributed on the platform. If he was really serious, he could make his own installer that would only require the user to enter the Konami code on the Pre. And, based on the couple hundred apps in the homebrew catalog, Palm wouldn't have anything to say about it. Perhaps this guy is not aware of the over 2 million downloads of homebrew apps. With WebOS Quick Install, Filecoaster, and Preware, it's really not that hard (except for the aforementioned Konami code).

Having said that, it would seem that Palm could pretty easily have an Open Source section of the catalog where the rules are a little different. Perhaps they'll get around to it. Perhaps they won't. They're under no obligation to make it easier to install open source applications on the Pre. This is about making money. Serious developers would get that, and would deal with the "ridiculous hoops." This guy is just a tinkerer, but sometimes tinkerers are valuable.

Chuq, if you're paying attention, it would be interesting to get your take on this situation and on the place for open source applications on the Pre.

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NOLApre

this is the same guy who refused to add a decimal to his tip calculator in the beginning of the homebrew scene even though people were asking for it.

haiiro99

For a minute there I thought his Tip calculator was something that let you know when to take the junk in your backyard to the rubbish dump...
Seriously.. Why do you need an Ap to do this? Don't most phones have some kind of rudimentary calculator into with you can type the price of the item followed by x (or *) and the percentage (10% = 0.1 or 15%=0.15 etc for those hard of mathematics)…
He calls people who don't round their bills to the nearest 0 a "cheapskate weirdo" but then complains about having to pay a developers fee… Curious…

DrHeathenScum

percentages aren't that difficult to estimate in your head... just sayin'.



$62 bill... $6.20 Is 10%, add $3.10 To that and you got 15%... double it and you got yourself 20%

kesne

Just finished reading it, wow. The "hoops" are tiny things to keep apps consistent, and this guy is SO annoying, I just want to send him a strongly worded angry email now.

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jhoff80

Not only did he refuse to add a decimal, he got so annoyed that he ranted and raved about it, calling people cheapskates in the newer version of his app, etc.

I'd trust the opinion of someone rational way before I'd trust this guy's opinion.

smnc

So then lets all agree to ignore this guy instead of giving him WAY more more attention then he deserves?

So no more talk about the dink... Agreed?

Goyena

The maker of early homebrew "Tip Calculator" and "Dali Clock" is on the front page of Reddit. Any one care to chime in?

reddit comments:
I think it's safe to say that I won't be developing any more software for the Palm Pre. : programming

developer's blog:
jwz - My ongoing Kafka-esque nightmare of dealing with Palm and their App Catalog submission process.

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jbg7474

There is already another thread about this, though I don't think it was on reddit. Search for kafka.

Goyena

Ah, but that was indeed the point of my post: to direct people over to Reddit, no elicit such a discussion over here.

Our fine editors here at PreCentral also wrote a nice open letter (article a while back) regarding the how they believed the WebOS platform would be best be served by a sensible app distribution process.

Today, over at Reddit, you have a single person's view, experience and reaction, followed by knee-jerk comments like "well, I guess I'll not be buying a Pre then", whereas I know that lots of homebrew developers have had more agreable experiences than that. Perhaps they care to reddit the post and educate the blind masses.

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Shadavis08

just set up a new checking account and b done with it already

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scrupul0us

Lime green text on a black background, whats up 1991?

Kasracer

Erm, why? Why should you have to setup a verified paypal account and, possibly, pay a yearly fee to give software away?

DeathsArrow

If Palm is going to be like that with the app catalog, then maybe the developers that want free reign with their distribution should be using alternative methods of distribution like Preware, Preload, filecoaster, etc.

scottitude

Not surprising; his "killer" app is, after all, a tip calculator.

ZATZAi

I would guess Palm wants to use verified PayPal accounts for the *official* app store for security reasons. To ensure each developer is a real and different person and be able to get in touch with them if need be down the line. Something a little more secure and less anonymous than the "Click here if you're over 18" buttons on a **** site! ;-p

I can understand not wanting to have to pay $100 a year. But in a sense that's a distribution fee for Palm to disitribute your app in their catalog. Palm is embracing homebrew and there are lots of homebrew catalogs people can use at no cost.