Hi folks. Solus would like to thank our backers, new and longstanding, past and present for your contributions. You have helped keep Solus running, we couldn't keep this distribution running without you.

We have been re-thinking our perks for the Open Collective membership tiers in light of our workload, as well as our team and our backer list having grown. We want to reflect what we can reliably deliver on a regular basis that gives backers something worthwhile. Here's the breakdown.

Donation amounts for the different membership tiers will remain the same. You will also still be able to do a custom one time or recurring contribution.

Three tier definitions had "early access to news/updates" listed as a perk. This fell by the wayside as we focused on bringing Solus packages and tooling up to date. We would also prefer to share news with the general Solus Community, to be more transparent. We are therefore removing early access to news as a perk from all tiers.

We will be adjusting the amount of ISOs we provide per tier. We feel this is something we can reliably deliver, and provides more value to our backers.

We would love to hear feedback from the Solus community, whether or not you have donated. The changes we propose to the perks would be:

  • Backers ($1): No change
  • Release Testers ($3):
    Old: "Early access to news/updates, Access to testing ISOs the week of Release"
    New: Release Candidate (RC) ISOs for all editions. This includes Budgie, Plasma, Gnome and XFCE.
    Difference: No change to ISO access, only removing early news.
  • Beta Testers ($10):
    Old: "Early access to news/updates, Access to testing ISOs the week of Release, Access to weekly “snapshot” ISO for the Budgie Edition."
    New: Snapshot ISOs for all editions monthly, as well as RC ISOs for all editions.
    Differences: Monthly ISOs for all editions in the new perk vs Weekly ISOs for Budgie only in the old.
    12 more ISOs every year (with the monthlies) for 3x the price vs the new Release Testers tier.
  • Crew ($25):
    Old: "Early access to news/updates, Access to testing ISOs the week of Release, Access to weekly “snapshot” ISOs for all editions"
    New: Snapshot ISOs for all editions every sync (usually weekly), as well as RC ISOs for all editions.
    Differences: No difference in amount of ISOs between the old and new perks.
    4x the ISOs vs. Beta Testers for 2.5x the price in the new perks.

Please let us know what you think! Do you like these perks or would you like to see something else? Feedback will be open for one week.

    Harvey stickied the discussion .

    TraceyC We would love to hear feedback from the Solus community, whether or not you have donated.

    I'm truly impressed by the number of ISOs that will be available to supporters, but I'd be even more impressed to find out that we'll be releasing up-to-date ISOs more often to users via the web page. As it is, our ISOs get pretty stale from one release to the next, and require hundreds of package upgrades after an installation.

    I run a server 24/7 that seeds Solus torrents for all four editions. I'd like nothing better than to be able to provide timely versions of all the Solus editions. Upgrading 800 or 900 packages on a low-budget or older computer should never be necessary in order to safely install Solus. Also, many other distros that I've explored provide both LTS and rolling versions for each DE they offer. I'd like to see Solus join that club.

    Are such changes to the public distribution of Solus editions being considered?

      My 2 cents: I contribute to Solus via Open Collective with a small monthly amount. I don't expect anything in return. I just wanna see Solus striving.
      I think I qualify as "Release Tester". But frankly, I don't get the whole concept here. If you have all these ISOs available, why create an artificial shortage combined with a capitalist model. The more you pay, the more you get.
      And if you order within the next 24 seconds, you get free delivery on top. First 10 callers only. Feels like I am watching a shopping TV channel.
      Seriously, having people willing to be testing ISO's is a good thing. Why do we expect them to pay for it.
      Shouldn't we pay rather them? 😂

      TraceyC I think it's a good idea. I hope it will more people to do a contribution.

      Edit, but wat @Sebastian mentioned is also valid, maybe the Beta and RC versions should be available in public to get as many people as possible to test.

      So I would say having the snapshots for contributors only is a good idea.

        Seems perfectly fine to me.

        i think is a good idea try to give something to those who donate.

        Yep seems to be ok. Like already said, maybe open RCs for public. Ultimate gift would say is still when you keep up your good work.

        This is great feedback so far. Keep it coming, folks.

        Regarding testing ISOs being a "perk" or unpaid work, I hear this. On the one hand, we want to give back to people who give us money. On the other hand, I have been paid, professionally, to do software testing. It's valuable work, and volunteering your time to do that is very much appreciated.

        Is there anything that people would want for their money, aside from ISOs? We're open to suggestions.

          TraceyC Is there anything that people would want for their money

          We already get the finest and best supported Linux distribution in the world, and I want to keep that happening. I don't contribute in order to purchase something. I contribute in order to reward those who are doing the work, and to support them with necessary resources.

          So, in answer to your question, I'm already getting everything I could ask for. I just don't want that to change.

            People who donate and contribute do it for various reasons they tend to be a little more
            focused and serious about things.
            And if they want help test Solus out to make it better I think its the proper way.
            Its not about people paying to get something in return (Its just a fact certain stuff costs money and somebody
            has got pay for it.)
            It should stay that way and if somebody wants the perks they should donate.
            You cant drive on a flat tire (Well for awhile then its history)
            Sorry if I rambled abit.

            Just a Note: It seems to me thats its about 1 to 1 what I mean about that even with donations The crew
            of solus listens to its users and Tech help plus gives back 2fold which I think is in short supply nowdays.

            Oh maybe a certificate or something showing donation that makes people all warm and fuzzy inside
            that they helped out.

            for a donation of any size, I would personally expect you 1) keep your focus on improving Solus like you are already doing and 2) keep me in the loop regarding events via email/email newsletter.
            And you girls/guys have been so good with communication this year that you could probably scratch #2.

            As far as testing, you recruit testers from the Forum on occasion and I've been involved with that from time to time, so I don't see that as needing to be condition of donation (perk).

            A Staudey framed autograph, on the other hand, would be a dealbreaker🙂.

            Prefix to sag that I'm not currently a contributor though I have recently been considering it.

            I can only speak for myself but contributing would be for any early access but because I want to help out and see Solus succeed.

            I've seen early access models from one or two Devs in the android space and I always just think... You're creating a false restriction/delay where there doesn't need to be one.

            I don't know if you have the option to do some sort of polling of your contributors to ask them for the reasons why they are contributing. If a decent number of them say for early access then sure, keep it. But if a very low percentage say it's for early access then that also gives you information to make an informed decision?

            I just want to put this out here
            https://github.com/getsolus/packages/issues/305#issuecomment-1837020785

            I subbed to the open Collective tracker for a few moth months after the 4.4 release and received no regular image releases unless this is a new thing. As far as I know the images provided were just testing releases not regularly updated images.
            The fact that the publicly available .iso images are not regularly maintained as been a barrier of entry for many people I've tried to onboard with Solus and has even caused driver related issues when attempting to boot the install media.
            I know that one point this crusade of mine has gotten me in trouble with the moderation teams in the past so I want to be as civil as possible in this conversation, but updated point release images should NOT be a pay walled feature.
            All I'm asking for is just the occasional image update for packages not a new shiny feature with each release.

            Once again I will offer donate the cpu time if thats whats needed to generate the images each week.

              I am bewildered at the moment.

              TraceyC Speaking for myself as a very minor backer, what I 'get' from donating is the assurance that Solus will continue and flourish (or will at least not be starved of financial resources to do so).

              As a Solus user, the maintenance and development of Solus in my interest, so the donation is its own incentive as it will contribute to this end. It's not the same as a voluntary contribution for a one-off item ('pay what you want'), nor a mercantile transaction (get what you pay for). It's easy to understand how financial contributions to a well-managed project help guarantee its success and future. If it isn't, maybe that needs to be emphasised. Not generosity so much as an investment.

              FWIW I think the rolling-release model and community involvement help build the idea of Solus as an active project constantly being worked on, encouraging participation and backers. We see that, like a living thing, it needs to be fed in order to grow. More blog posts and a rolling ISO would strengthen this.

              People with a financial investment in Solus would not be upset to see their 'perks' traded for these things. They would view it as a maturation, the investment paying off.

                10leej I just want to put this out here
                https://github.com/getsolus/packages/issues/305#issuecomment-1837020785

                I subbed to the open Collective tracker for a few moth months after the 4.4 release and received no regular image releases unless this is a new thing. As far as I know the images provided were just testing releases not regularly updated images.

                For transparency, we only got the necessary automation put in place during late August/early September.

                Before that, we were focused on sorting out and improving a bunch of other things that had piled up over time due to lack of manpower/attention/working infrastructure.

                Hence, the ISO generation process is just one of the many things we've improved behind the scenes in terms of process automation, even if part of it is still a semi-manual process requiring operator input and attention.

                The present topic is to sort out and agree on a policy for regular and routine delivery of testing ISOs for backers.

                Here is what the Crew tier ISO release folder looks like currently:

                $ ls -golthr *.iso
-rw-r--r-- 3 2.3G Jun 24 17:00 Solus-4.4-Budgie.iso
-rw-r--r-- 3 2.5G Jun 24 17:20 Solus-4.4-GNOME.iso
-rw-r--r-- 3 2.4G Jun 24 19:29 Solus-4.4-Plasma.iso
-rw-r--r-- 3 2.3G Jul  1 00:01 Solus-4.4-MATE.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.6G Jul 30 01:17 Solus-4.5-Budgie-Snapshot-2023-07-28.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.8G Jul 30 01:17 Solus-4.5-GNOME-Snapshot-2023-07-28.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.8G Jul 30 01:17 Solus-4.5-Plasma-Snapshot-2023-07-28.iso
-rw-r--r-- 2 2.4G Sep  1 23:41 Solus-4.5-Budgie-Prerelease-2023-09-02.iso
-rw-r--r-- 2 2.6G Sep  1 23:54 Solus-4.5-GNOME-Prerelease-2023-09-02.iso
-rw-r--r-- 2 2.5G Sep  2 00:07 Solus-4.5-Plasma-Prerelease-2023-09-02.iso
-rw-r--r-- 2 2.4G Sep  9 01:58 Solus-4.5-Budgie-Prerelease-2023-09-09.iso
-rw-r--r-- 2 2.6G Sep  9 01:58 Solus-4.5-GNOME-Prerelease-2023-09-09.iso
-rw-r--r-- 2 2.5G Sep  9 01:58 Solus-4.5-Plasma-Prerelease-2023-09-09.iso
-rw-r--r-- 2 2.1G Sep  9 01:58 Solus-4.5-XFCE-Prerelease-2023-09-09.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.4G Oct 29 02:46 Solus-4.5-Budgie-Prerelease-2023-10-28.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.6G Oct 29 02:46 Solus-4.5-GNOME-Prerelease-2023-10-28.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.5G Oct 29 02:46 Solus-4.5-Plasma-Prerelease-2023-10-28.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.1G Oct 29 02:46 Solus-4.5-XFCE-Prerelease-2023-10-28.iso
-rw-r--r-- 2 2.4G Nov 11 02:41 Solus-4.5-Budgie-Prerelease-2023-11-11.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.7G Nov 11 02:46 Solus-4.5-GNOME-Prerelease-2023-11-11.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.6G Nov 11 02:51 Solus-4.5-Plasma-Prerelease-2023-11-11.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.3G Nov 11 02:54 Solus-4.5-XFCE-Prerelease-2023-11-11.iso
-rw-r--r-- 2 2.4G Nov 24 23:57 Solus-4.5-Budgie-Prerelease-2023-11-25.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.6G Nov 25 00:02 Solus-4.5-GNOME-Prerelease-2023-11-25.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.5G Nov 25 00:07 Solus-4.5-Plasma-Prerelease-2023-11-25.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.2G Nov 25 00:11 Solus-4.5-XFCE-Prerelease-2023-11-25.iso
-rw-r--r-- 2 2.5G Dec  5 21:20 Solus-4.5-Budgie-Prerelease-2023-12-05.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.7G Dec  5 21:25 Solus-4.5-GNOME-Prerelease-2023-12-05.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.6G Dec  5 21:29 Solus-4.5-Plasma-Prerelease-2023-12-05.iso
-rw-r--r-- 1 2.3G Dec  5 21:33 Solus-4.5-XFCE-Prerelease-2023-12-05.iso

                The dates from the beginning of September and onward will more or less match sync dates, though some ISOs weren't generated due to tooling issues related to our GH migration etc. during the months of September and October.

                There have been more regular ISOs being put out starting from around the end of October, which is when we reached a point where we could start to breathe a little again in terms of backlog on various fronts.

                10leej The fact that the publicly available .iso images are not regularly maintained has been a barrier of entry for many people I've tried to onboard with Solus and has even caused driver related issues when attempting to boot the install media.
                I know that at one point this crusade of mine has gotten me in trouble with the moderation teams in the past so I want to be as civil as possible in this conversation, but updated point release images should NOT be a pay walled feature.
                All I'm asking for is just the occasional image update for packages not a new shiny feature with each release.

                Once again I will offer donate the cpu time if thats whats needed to generate the images each week.

                The backer ISOs aren't a substitute for a "proper" release. A real release takes a lot of validation and testing. You can check the 4.5 task to see all of the combinations that have to be verified as working; there'll actually be more than that this time around. That's why Solus has historically been slow at releasing.

                We've recently begun thinking about how we can speed the process up to reduce the time between releases. No news on that front yet.

                Our goal is to find a way to give something back to our backers, and early access to ISOs is one of the few things we've been able to come up with, because we already deliver a reasonably solid rolling release to everyone -- backers or not.

                All that said, we do appreciate your feedback. Thank you!

                    7 days later

                    Maybe I'm the odd one, but propably not. I usually read all dev/releases to the end, not this one. Perks don't enticed me at all. I just want to support, take me my monthly money and run 😉

                    TraceyC I donate because I use Solus as my daily driver and want to see it succeed. It's a real breath of fresh air in the linux world and my forever distro. I don't really expect anything in return, but I dunno, are stickers out of the question? I'd love to cover up the windows logo on my super key, or put the Solus ship on my water bottles/laptop, but I don't want to go and buy a sticker from a third party site since I'm not sure if they're using the logo with permission.

                    To reiterate, this is just an idea, the primary reason I donate is to support all the amazing work you guys do.

                      6 days later
                      TraceyC unstickied the discussion .