[HTC Droid DNA] pio_masaki:
I don't do it for the cash, the donations are a great help as our situation is not the greatest, and getting extra income doing something I enjoy is obviously fantastic. I may make smart remarks and pick on users on occasion, I never bash an ignorant question, or if I am basing a user for an ignorant question, its likely because it's their 5th such question, I didn't get 2,000 thanks in a year and to be RC by bashing users. In fact bashing users would have prevented it. It was a year of helping users constantly with the smallest to the most crazy questions and situations possible, and giving plenty of contributions to any community I happen to be in here.

It would be impossible for me to support those groups, I simply don't have money to do so, and considering they aren't on a payroll, supporting them isn't anyone's responsibility, and I've never asked you to support me. That aside, if you mean have I donated to them and other developers on XDA, and some RIGHT HERE IN THE DNA FORUMS, then yes, sir, I have. It may not be much, or to many, but I have when possible donated to developers for making things possible on this device. Also, no, I haven't donated to Google, they have enough of their own money, so I won't give money to "aosp". I won't ask if you've donated as to me, personally, that's bad taste, who donated to who is between the donator and the person they wish to donate to.

As for my situation, and why donations are so important, let me explain a little about it. I don't work, I haven't worked in going on 5 years now, and neither has my wife. We have no actual income, we live on food stamps and government medical insurance, donations from my android work and computer repair side jobs. I've only recently gotten my high school diploma even though I'm in my thirties. I have a wife and a son turning 4 in a week. Why don't I go to work then, right? Until recently it hasn't been an option. My wife is diabetic, when she got pregnant she nearly went blind, as soon as my son was born she had to go in for multiple eye surgeries, each of which required at least a week to recover from, and she now has scar tissue over/under her retinas, she basically can't see anything in front of her, she can't drive, she can't measure her insulin nor count the various other pills and medications she needs, nor see the log sheets to fill out and keep track of her blood sugars, or her machine for checking them, prescription names on the bottles, everything she needs for her health, she can't do. I do it. I have for 5 years. I raised our son in this manner as well, and thankfully his one minor surgery went of without a hitch and he's been a perfectly healthy, intelligent, loving young boy. Now we live with my mom, and she can help my wife and watch my son, and I can go to work. I'm waiting on a response from verizon for a few positions, though the one I want is customer support, doing, guess what, helping people who call with ignorant questions. If you ever call to ask a question about billing or phone upgrades, you may even get me on the line.

So do I do this for cash? Nah. Do I need it? Yes. Badly. Am I the only one? Of course not. Is it a hobby? For sure. I won't bash you for your opinions, but I will ask you know what you're talking about before deciding if its a job or a hobby for someone besides yourself, or how important or needed donations may be. Now, knowing all of this, does your opinion of me remain the same? That possibly, asking users to kindly donate or that those donations are so important that it pays for diapers, clothes and bills, gas for doctor visits, schooling for my son, and a phone to do all of this business on, such a horrible thing? Or that on a given day, I can be having a day that's perfectly peachy, or a day where I get 3 hours of sleep because my wife crashes in the middle of the night, my son wakes up an hour or two later for the day, and then I get messages, posts and PMs from users talking trash, calling me names and asking things like "If you can't fix the BT, why did you bother releasing the ROM?" and other various questions like that. Repeatedly slapping me in the face with my shortcoming and failures, or lack of support, or in some cases, blunt answers to questions that didn't need asked again.

I understand your point of view, and I do agree with it to a point, it should be a hobby, not a job, well unless you work for a manufacturer or Google, and that's exactly what it is for me. A hobby I enjoyed.

Edit:

And all I had meant was what I said, my wife says I need to spend less time on android because it isn't bringing in as much money as it used to, that time could be better spent elsewhere. I never said "my wife will let me play if you guys pay my bills"