Android-x86 dev offers $50k for proof of contribution by Kickstarted ConsoleOS

For the confused, ConsoleOS was successfully funded at $78,000 on kickstarter to release a version of Android that dual boots with Windows. After a year, nothing was released. The head of ConsoleOS, Chris, claimed the Intel dropping their Android project was the reason. He finally released code on github and it was just the Android-x86 project with the name changed. He claimed to have wanted to contribute significant code to the Android-x86 project but was refused and posted a single private email from a long chain as proof.

From Reddit, it has come to light that Chris has orchestrated numerous other crowd funding projects that failed at best or appear to be outright scams at worst.

Here, the head of Android-x86 is calling Chris on his bluff and promising to pay Chris $50,0000 if Chris posts code for just 10 of the 100 new features that were promised in the kickstarter a year ago. In the follow-ups to this request, Chris made a request to change venue for the discussion, a request to take the discussion private, and additional excuses. The head of Android-x86 stated again that no more discussion was required, just post the commits for any 10 features out of the 100 of Chris' choice publicly in the next 24 hours and get $50,000.

Hrm, so the Kickstarter said this:

* We're aiming to ship Console OS Developer Release 1 within about 30 days of the Kickstarter’s conclusion.

* From there, we’ll use Kickstarter funds to build out support for the devices that you vote for.

* Our goal is to implement all of the features listed here over the next year

But then said this:

* We have most of Developer Release 1 done. It'll include a starter version of our user experience and should work on all 25 devices we listed in the initial supported device list.

* The Console OS Pro feature set is largely what funds will go toward (in addition to expanding device support, based largely on Kickstarter backer votes).

Nobody should have contributed to this; they never said why they needed the money or what it was for. It's ridiculous to read about them working 18 months in the shadows to get "near" developer release 1 but then promise to build out a feature set in 11 months (since they want a month to finish what they started).

19 months -> dev release 1

11 months -> undetermined device support (no formal voting!), + a big ass list of features.

I love Kick Starter, and I've received every single thing I've committed towards. But people have to be careful and pay attention to what they're getting into.

Overall Context for the dispute: https://www.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/3y91d1/dram...

(if there's a better source, let me know)

Key quote/thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/3y6eqc/console_os_...

> After Christmas, we're getting back to coding, and yes - pushing to GitHub new content. We hope that this puts perspective to the situation - and why we decided to fork Android-x86 versus contribute to it.

I've been following this saga for awhile. I feel sorry for them. The best analogy is to liken it to a slow motion car wreck. The Kickstarter comments thread reads like an instructional manual on how to make your customers hate you.

The average backers perception is that most of their time is spent doing damage control for not being able to deliver on their promises by shifting the blame to Intel for stopping development of Intel-IA.

They should take ownership for fucking up. Blaming Intel is the last thing they should be doing. What does Intel have to do with it? Nothing, of course. Their dependency on Intel doing the work certainly wasn't mentioned in the Kickstarter's Risks and Challenges.

In a way I'd like to help them, but all their business decisions are just so awful that you just can't help but stand back and watch it unfold through the splayed fingers of a facepalm. I think they will somehow decline this offer, even though it will/would be a terrible mistake to turn it down.

This should be a good lesson to founders. You can't just punch up a menu of stuff you want, claim it's mostly done and then fail when the going gets tough. If you are telling the market you can deliver it, you need to be able to deliver it.

I saw this apparent response:

Chih-Wei,

We have repeatedly said, including in emails (both before and) following this that went unresponsive to afterwards, that we wanted to collaborate and contribute. We simply were not willing to pay money up front to do so.

You will be free to take any improvements we make to Console OS on GitHub and integrate them upstream. We didn't go to all this effort to make a bunch of empty device trees, and call it a day.

If you want to discuss this further, with a path to resolving it - my door is open.

But this list is not the place to do it. Continuing to repeat the same points here, only slows my ability to lead our team to deliver - attempting to stop a legitimate fork by these means, will not succeed.

Edit: Fix formatting

This sounds great, a lot of applications are already a better experience on my phone than my desktop in many ways. The notification system and DPI scaling on Android would be killer features for me in a desktop platform. And that's not to mention the number of games and other little trinket apps that are just better than web clients for banking and such.

I just hope they can find a good way to do multitasking - that's really the only feature I think is really needed to get Android usable on desktop and laptop hardware.

If the Console OS guys can't deliver then I hope this money will be made available to volunteers willing to implement these features. Some of this is stuff I'd already like to have - getting paid a bit for it would be a nice bonus. I'm sure other devs think similarly.

> However, about a year and a half later, he released the open source on Github- and surprise, it's a forked version of Android-x86, where literally only the name has been changed.

As opposed to what? What were people expecting here?

I'm assuming this "Pricetopher" is the same guy? http://pricetopher.com/ That's a bit disturbing.

Reminds me of this similar disaster of a Kickstarter project: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cloud-guys/plug-the-bra...

It's far too easy for these projects to take the backers for a ride either through malice or sheer incompetence, with very little scope for reimbursement.

Here is the screenshot of the email http://imgur.com/b7xousy

remix os x86 seems better than this console os thing, which is free, base on android x86 as well, but much better UX http://www.jide.com/x86

Anyone have the PDF of the email? Link is dead.

The worst part for me is this he said in kickstarter: "These moves also allow us to ensure Console OS will always be free, via GitHub. When we sell Console OS, we plan to commit most revenue right back into open-source development. And sales of Console OS will not be in place of our GitHub distribution - it will be right alongside them." So he might sell a fork? Wow, well that's silly.

Is there anywhere a list of probable or obvious Kickstarter frauds?

The challenge is on. I'm preparing some popcorn now.

Software projects can fail.