Looking to support Open Source FreeSK8 development? As an interim until the FreeSK8 Foundation non-profit is launched, we launched a Patreon site with some early beta access benefits for builders & eBoarding companies looking to sponsor our open source development efforts.
Each month, allocation and usage of the funds will be disclosed to our patrons so that we have transparency in how these funds are being used & distributed to developers on the project.
We also wanted to clarify that these patreon funds will go directly to open source development efforts which will in turn be used to publish code, hardware, & documentation. The FreeSK8 forums themselves are already funded so Patreon funds will not be used for that purpose.
We only launched our Patreon this month, but so far the support has been tremendous. Thanks so much for all of your continued support!
They do! Couple different benefits are available depending upon sponsor level. We’re also offering permanent discounts at the DRI shop + a sticker/swag bag for the first 50 patrons
We’re not really doing ‘first dibs’ on beta testing as we are scaling releases slowly as to not overwhelm ourselves with beta support, but there are invites to the private beta group on telegram which usually are tied to a hardware purchase.
It’s probably easier if we explain how we’re staging the beta- we are doing our best to not bite off more than we can chew while Renee & I are still in heavy development mode pushing FreeSK8 devices to beta-testing ready states.
We’ve been limiting the Beta Invitations to folks who have purchased FreeSK8 hardware (currently limited to just the NRF52 BLE modules) + those that have beta tested our OSRR remotes. We have a small dedicated FreeSK8 Beta Testing group on telegram + included access to the FreeSK8 Mobile App. This is mostly so we don’t get overwhelmed trying to keep up with user feedback. Eventually, all of this beta access will be public, so truthfully all you’re gaining here is some earlier access + input to the development process.
As we progress, we will be polling beta testers on certain features requests & their priority to users, so that will be another way to give additional feedback into development.
Higher support tiers also include a 'Beta Testing Hardware Kit" which will include selected free beta hardware (the first package sent out at 3mo will include a Robogotchi) + other access to prototypes.
Also putting together a pretty special ‘swag bag’ full of stickers + some extras for our Patrons across the board.
Let me know if you have any further questions! We wanted to throw some incentives there so that it’s not solely just a one-way street with folks funding development efforts.
This must have been changed recently, I thought I got free everything for just doing $5 a month. Ugh, guess I’ll give my money to Jason Potter’s new patreon.
