[General Topics] BeansTown106:
First of all wow I didn't know [MENTION=335322]MikeChannon[/MENTION] was even real, I don't think I've seen one post from him/you other than the default posts that are in every thread dated like 2007 :p

Without a doubt developers should be allowed some sort of moderation tools, I am happy with opening/closing of threads that we are currently allowed but it would be nice to be able to delete some of the crazy off topic/flaming type posts.

This should be up to the mods, it's mostly too broad of a subject, an annoying user could be a flamer, a nothing-is-ever-good-enougher, or even someone that just pesters the developers when they have good intentions but don't know how to limit themselves.

Yes, this is gonna be a touchy subject but the initial response is yes; via Bitcoin, PayPal, Google Wallet, etc

Now on to the touchy subject. While a few "developers" might think donations are the one thing that is wrong with the Android community, I disagree. It actually encourages real developers to double check their code and put out a worthwhile product, and with the time some developers put into their projects (upwards of 30 hours a week at times) it is nice to get a little tip or recognition here and there.

There are however caveats to this

1. ROM developer A puts out quality work all the time, yet ROM developer B just tracks ROM developer A and cherry-picks pretty much everything and just edits a few small things and calls the project something else

2. Repo sync warriors just sync, build and post builds regardless of the ROM's release cycle with a donate link just hoping for donations

However I don't feel like this question should be up for debate, donate links should be allowed for proven developers no matter what. Let me clarify why this shouldn't be up for debate.

XDA and websites like it profit off of community driven development. Whether it be ads (which are horrendous and XDA charges users to turn them off), XDA and Jerdog's "Fastboot Mobile", by teaming up with community driven developers (XDA just teamed up with Nick & Syko from Substratum's newly formed company this weekend; and XDA facilitating the sale of SuperSU), there are honestly too many examples to count. Everywhere you turn, XDA and websites like it are making an enormous profit off of community and open source driven work and to take away maybe $20 a week from the people that they are profiting from is wrong in my opinion.

This all depends on if the code is closed sourced and not shared publicly, then yes permission should be required. If it's open sourced and taken by a reputable project that is not just a repo sync warrior, then no. If however it is just a repo synced ROM built and posted then yes they should require permission, and it should be addressed based on the conditions I stated.

Dev 2 isn't stealing code here, Dev 2 is compiling work from Dev 1 without his approval and posting it to the same forum as Dev 1 to garner thanks, praise and donations.

XDA should take it down because Dev 1 has already provided the code compiled and released in the same forum as Dev 2. Dev 2 is not going to grow as a developer if he just compiles a ROM someone made and posts it. Dev 2 should take the time to learn and modify things for his own personal use, then when he feels confident that his work is original and worthy of being shared then he can make a thread. But just because Dev 2 found out how to type 3 commands to build a ROM, that doesn't mean that Dev 2 is even a dev he is mostly just a leacher.

Then he is making small tweaks, string changes, toolchain etc and should not be allowed.

If Dev 2 is good enough to make big tweaks then those tweaks can be merged upstream into the project or Dev 2 would be good enough to compile and make his own ROM.

The Developer Relations Committee or the Moderator Committee should be educated enough to tell the difference between a repo sync warrior, slightly modified ROM and original work.

I'm sorry but a lot of these questions are completely common sense. If you want developers to stay around and have the forums thrive then these answers are pretty plain and simple, if you however just want as much traffic as possible, with no actual development and community driven work then let the repo syncers go wild.