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Comment by stevekemp | Hacker News Reader

Looks like they raised money, and having received it used it on some questionable choices:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1313324524/hermes-eudor...

Paying for phone bill? Buying software licenses? Perhaps that's a fair use of cash, but it feels a little icky.

Jeez, that's awful. 2000 dollars on visual studio when community would suffice[0], 450 on incorporating and 900 bucks on his phone of choice. Couldn't he use email to communicate?

What an awful use of donations for an open source project.

He's also running another Kickstarter for the same project with no real goals... This screams cash grab to me!

[0] Probably - but if you're big enough to require Enterprise you don't need to crowd fund 3k

Get vs enterprise for free via the biz spark program.

Can’t support a guy with these kind of spending decisions with money or time.

You're not the first to raise questions...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1313324524/hermes-eudor...

Check out the response:

> It is my considered opinion that accusations like this, without positive evidence of attempted fraud, are scurrilous, ungentlemanly, dishonourable, morally suspect, and may very possibly constitute libel, given that they were made in a public forum.

I don't appreciate being called a "fraudster" by someone who hope onto the Eudora mailing list, writes that one message, and hops off. Without participating otherwise.

Not to mention the project description and update is phrased incredibly weirdly.

> So that the answer to these questions is meaningful, one must first have an elementary grasp of the manner in which microcomputer software in general, and HERMES Mail in specific, is structured. The current fashion in computer science is for all complex programs to be modular; software for Microsoft Windows follows this trend in that functions (such as mail retrieval or message composition) are grouped into so-called "DLL's" or dynamic link libraries, as well as the main executable containing the interface that talks to the user. Also, when writing code of any description, one may use either "native" functions included with the system or a "library" supplied by a third party for any fee or none.

Guy's bought himself an expensive phone to "communicate with the team" and the phone's not even available yet.

Phone is also only $570 on IndieGogo wtf.

The last time I funded a software development effort was neovim and those guys had stuff out super fast. A Github repo, plans, the binary. It’s a successful project. That is some gold standard development, imho.

Canadian and American dollars, remember. $570 US = $800ish Can. The Kickstarter is also in Canadian dollars.

Hmmm... interesting use of language:

  ..ab origine 
  ..de novo 
  ..fait accompli
  ..ipso facto
  ..ergo

Not sure if this is satire or genuine but he comes across as a complete idiot.

$170/month in mobile data - how???

I'm guessing that is DOA

looks like he's answering questions:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18854055

And then asking for (what appears to be) free help from experienced old-school Mac devs. I realize he didn't raise that much money, but it still makes the whole thing feel a little more sleazy.

"Hey I got all this money and spent on questionable stuff, does anyone want to help me finish it out gratis?"

Reply on news.ycombinator.com