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I've build BlueRetro [1] an universal Bluetooth controller adapter for nearly all pre-USB gaming console. I made a gross income of around 3K a month last year

I've build BlueRetro [1] an universal Bluetooth controller adapter for nearly all pre-USB gaming console. I made a gross income of around 3K a month last year out of Royalties on the soft for each device sold. It's Apache 2.0 software so people can do whatever they want. I started making money when I decided to list on the GitHub README the list of manufacturers/makers that where sponsoring the project. (Only one person at that time) Soon after the others offered to give royalty as well. I even got a Chinese company, notorious for selling "clone" of OSHW projects, to support the SW development as well via GitHub sponsor. I've been working on it for the last four years. I entertained the idea to make and sell the hardware myself. But in the end I learned that's it's not something I'm interested to get into. What I really like is working on the software. It naturally pivoted into a more community driven project where multiple makers are selling various variations of the HW. I wrote a retrospective last years [2]. [1] https://github.com/darthcloud/BlueRetro https://github.com/darthcloud/BlueRetro [2] https://github.com/darthcloud/BlueRetro/discussions/289 https://github.com/darthcloud/BlueRetro/discussions/289

dom96 3y ago
If it's Apache 2.0 how are you getting royalty payments from it?
- darthcloud 3y ago
  People are nice? But most likely they want a good relationship with me in case they get problems. Also they benefits from being able to tell their customer they support the project.
  - dom96 3y ago
    Ahh, I see. So you are receiving donations. Royalties to me mean payments that are required not voluntary.
    - darthcloud 3y ago
      I consider donation what random user give me on patreon/gh sponsor/itch.io I talked with the makers or manufacturer and we reached an agreement. So to me (and them) it's royalties.
      - dom96 3y ago
        What you consider and your manufacturer considers doesn't matter. The definition of royalties is what matters, it doesn't fit in this case as far as I can see. They aren't paying you money so they can use your software, they are donating money because they are nice, they could stop paying at any time and continue to use your software.
        wahnfrieden 3y ago
        Ad.
        dom96 3y ago
        ?
        wahnfrieden 3y ago
        They get ad placement for the money paid ie a commercial transaction not donation.
- shlant 3y ago
  Pretty sure the license means you do not have to pay royalties, not that you are disallowed from paying royalties
  - kube-system 3y ago
    Royalties are typically a contractual payment, though. Calling a voluntary payment a royalty is kind of an odd use of the word, if not plainly incorrect.
    - taftster 3y ago
      You're right, these are donations. But they are donations that are determined based on the number of units sold. I believe that's why the parent is using the term royalty. It's not a contract, as the term "royalty" implies, but it is a royalty in the sense that it's determined per unit sold.
- phkahler 3y ago
  >> If it's Apache 2.0 how are you getting royalty payments from it? It sounds like acknowledging the sponsors is "the right thing", good Karma, or simply advertising for them. Not everyone wants to just rip off open source and not give back, they're willing to share the wealth if you make it easy and let people know they're doing it? I need to set up github sponsors myself. We get the occasional request "how can I contribute money to you guys" and we always say stuff like "just spread the word". I keep telling myself I don't want to feel obligated by money, but I also know that I'd love to make enough to work on open source full time.
  - hnarn 3y ago
    You’re not obligated by money when the money is coming from donations. That’s what donations mean. The people giving them to you are not your customers. Also I can recommend OpenCollective; I’m sure there are other similar solutions as well. It’s nice to be able to “expense” stuff and I’m sure donors appreciate transparency.
  - darthcloud 3y ago
    I think it's really important to make it clear that the contribution is for what is currently there. I get often ask "Will $$$ make you work on that issues" and I always answer no. What will help fix that issue is my wife going shopping with the kids long enough for me to figure what is wrong. ;)
    - HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
      So the obvious answer is to take the $$$, give it to your wife, and ask her to take the kids shopping with her :-)
      - lylejantzi3rd 3y ago
        Creative workarounds like this is why I love hacker news. :)
FloatArtifact 3y ago
What controllers you would recommend for retro games with a great d-pad and buttons? I can't find anything that's even remotely close to native controllers especially for Super NES.
- darthcloud 3y ago
  Nintendo Switch SNES controller? Otherwise personally my daily driver is PS5 DualSense
- yamtaddle 3y ago
  I've never managed to find a Wii-connector-to-USB adapter that wouldn't inexplicably die within six months, but the 1st-party SNES Classic controllers are basically perfect clones of the original. Ditto the NES versions they have. Wii Pro Controllers are also great and have a similar feel & quality, but with modern ergonomics (no rumble, though, so not great for e.g. Playstation games, and IIRC the triggers aren't analog, which is limiting) You can connect Wiimotes to PCs over Bluetooth and use any of those Wii-connector controllers through them, which would make them wireless and solve the finding-a-reliable-adapter problem, but I've never managed to make that kind of set-up sufficiently stable. Always having to screw with re-pairing and such. In the end, my go-to for BT emulation controllers is usually a PS3/4/5 controller. I haven't tried the XBone but I found the d-pad on the XB and XB360 controllers unusably inaccurate, and the face buttons weirdly slow when trying to play old-school Nintendo-hard games. Playstation controller d-pads are much better, and the face buttons feel quicker to switch between, for whatever reason.
  - roflchoppa 3y ago
    For d-pads on Xbox controllers, you can cut a cross out of an old plastic folder and wedge it between the plastic and the membrane for better feel. It makes the pad crispy. 10/10 all my old controllers have it, too bad no one to play halo3 with. :(
- comptrollers 3y ago
  https://www.8bitdo.com/pro2/ https://www.8bitdo.com/pro2/ The ps2 and the SNES had a baby and it is a marvelous baby. (They sell them at Best Buy as well) It has: Turbo key function for SNES games, Vibration, Macros, Pressure-sensitive triggers, Multi-system support (there is a switch on the bottom that changes the signal from windows to Mac to Linux mode and so on), And it just werks.
NicoJuicy 3y ago
This actually made me happy, considering all the bad news lately: > I even got a Chinese company, notorious for selling "clone" of OSHW projects, to support the SW development as well via GitHub sponsor. I suppose that's RetroScaler?
Havoc 3y ago
Interesting that people voluntarily pay. Write-up of bloggers doing the "buy me a coffee" button suggested to me that nobody pays like that. I guess software is a bit more tangible than a blog post even if both have value.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
  One difference I can see is the "buy me a coffee" button isn't a "these are the people who bought me a coffee" list. I imagine most of these sponsors (from their perspective) are paying for advertising.
  - Havoc 3y ago
    Ah good point
- HomeDeLaPot 3y ago
  Sounds like good advertising! If these companies are trying to sell hardware corresponding to this software, then having a callout right in the software's README is a great way to attract people who are discovering the project through GitHub. This wouldn't work as well if the product was oriented toward non-technical people (not discovering it through GitHub) or if the software wasn't directly related to the hardware (most OSS projects are probably run on general-purpose hardware).
heywhatupboys 3y ago
does this work with steamlink? I have bought all these different supposed "PS3" controllers but BT doesn't connect!
b20000 3y ago
sponsoring is not licensing and royalty income great that you got this result, btw

dom96 3y ago

If it's Apache 2.0 how are you getting royalty payments from it?

darthcloud 3y ago
People are nice? But most likely they want a good relationship with me in case they get problems. Also they benefits from being able to tell their customer they support the project.
- dom96 3y ago
  Ahh, I see. So you are receiving donations. Royalties to me mean payments that are required not voluntary.
  - darthcloud 3y ago
    I consider donation what random user give me on patreon/gh sponsor/itch.io I talked with the makers or manufacturer and we reached an agreement. So to me (and them) it's royalties.
    - dom96 3y ago
      What you consider and your manufacturer considers doesn't matter. The definition of royalties is what matters, it doesn't fit in this case as far as I can see. They aren't paying you money so they can use your software, they are donating money because they are nice, they could stop paying at any time and continue to use your software.
      - wahnfrieden 3y ago
        Ad.
        dom96 3y ago
        ?
        wahnfrieden 3y ago
        They get ad placement for the money paid ie a commercial transaction not donation.
shlant 3y ago
Pretty sure the license means you do not have to pay royalties, not that you are disallowed from paying royalties
- kube-system 3y ago
  Royalties are typically a contractual payment, though. Calling a voluntary payment a royalty is kind of an odd use of the word, if not plainly incorrect.
  - taftster 3y ago
    You're right, these are donations. But they are donations that are determined based on the number of units sold. I believe that's why the parent is using the term royalty. It's not a contract, as the term "royalty" implies, but it is a royalty in the sense that it's determined per unit sold.
phkahler 3y ago
>> If it's Apache 2.0 how are you getting royalty payments from it? It sounds like acknowledging the sponsors is "the right thing", good Karma, or simply advertising for them. Not everyone wants to just rip off open source and not give back, they're willing to share the wealth if you make it easy and let people know they're doing it? I need to set up github sponsors myself. We get the occasional request "how can I contribute money to you guys" and we always say stuff like "just spread the word". I keep telling myself I don't want to feel obligated by money, but I also know that I'd love to make enough to work on open source full time.
- hnarn 3y ago
  You’re not obligated by money when the money is coming from donations. That’s what donations mean. The people giving them to you are not your customers. Also I can recommend OpenCollective; I’m sure there are other similar solutions as well. It’s nice to be able to “expense” stuff and I’m sure donors appreciate transparency.
- darthcloud 3y ago
  I think it's really important to make it clear that the contribution is for what is currently there. I get often ask "Will $$$ make you work on that issues" and I always answer no. What will help fix that issue is my wife going shopping with the kids long enough for me to figure what is wrong. ;)
  - HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
    So the obvious answer is to take the $$$, give it to your wife, and ask her to take the kids shopping with her :-)
    - lylejantzi3rd 3y ago
      Creative workarounds like this is why I love hacker news. :)

FloatArtifact 3y ago

What controllers you would recommend for retro games with a great d-pad and buttons? I can't find anything that's even remotely close to native controllers especially for Super NES.

darthcloud 3y ago
Nintendo Switch SNES controller? Otherwise personally my daily driver is PS5 DualSense
yamtaddle 3y ago
I've never managed to find a Wii-connector-to-USB adapter that wouldn't inexplicably die within six months, but the 1st-party SNES Classic controllers are basically perfect clones of the original. Ditto the NES versions they have. Wii Pro Controllers are also great and have a similar feel & quality, but with modern ergonomics (no rumble, though, so not great for e.g. Playstation games, and IIRC the triggers aren't analog, which is limiting) You can connect Wiimotes to PCs over Bluetooth and use any of those Wii-connector controllers through them, which would make them wireless and solve the finding-a-reliable-adapter problem, but I've never managed to make that kind of set-up sufficiently stable. Always having to screw with re-pairing and such. In the end, my go-to for BT emulation controllers is usually a PS3/4/5 controller. I haven't tried the XBone but I found the d-pad on the XB and XB360 controllers unusably inaccurate, and the face buttons weirdly slow when trying to play old-school Nintendo-hard games. Playstation controller d-pads are much better, and the face buttons feel quicker to switch between, for whatever reason.
- roflchoppa 3y ago
  For d-pads on Xbox controllers, you can cut a cross out of an old plastic folder and wedge it between the plastic and the membrane for better feel. It makes the pad crispy. 10/10 all my old controllers have it, too bad no one to play halo3 with. :(
comptrollers 3y ago
https://www.8bitdo.com/pro2/ https://www.8bitdo.com/pro2/ The ps2 and the SNES had a baby and it is a marvelous baby. (They sell them at Best Buy as well) It has: Turbo key function for SNES games, Vibration, Macros, Pressure-sensitive triggers, Multi-system support (there is a switch on the bottom that changes the signal from windows to Mac to Linux mode and so on), And it just werks.

NicoJuicy 3y ago

This actually made me happy, considering all the bad news lately: > I even got a Chinese company, notorious for selling "clone" of OSHW projects, to support the SW development as well via GitHub sponsor. I suppose that's RetroScaler?

Havoc 3y ago

Interesting that people voluntarily pay. Write-up of bloggers doing the "buy me a coffee" button suggested to me that nobody pays like that. I guess software is a bit more tangible than a blog post even if both have value.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
One difference I can see is the "buy me a coffee" button isn't a "these are the people who bought me a coffee" list. I imagine most of these sponsors (from their perspective) are paying for advertising.
- Havoc 3y ago
  Ah good point
HomeDeLaPot 3y ago
Sounds like good advertising! If these companies are trying to sell hardware corresponding to this software, then having a callout right in the software's README is a great way to attract people who are discovering the project through GitHub. This wouldn't work as well if the product was oriented toward non-technical people (not discovering it through GitHub) or if the software wasn't directly related to the hardware (most OSS projects are probably run on general-purpose hardware).

heywhatupboys 3y ago

does this work with steamlink? I have bought all these different supposed "PS3" controllers but BT doesn't connect!

b20000 3y ago

sponsoring is not licensing and royalty income great that you got this result, btw