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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I agree that it would be really nice to find a way to help
support Isaac and other key contributors to open-source projects for their
time. </span></font></p>
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font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Isaac, if you are not comfortable taking donations from
strangers, maybe you would consider spending the approximately $40 to set up a
sole-proprietorship so that you could be considered your own business within
the city of Cleveland (or maybe it's setup through the county) and then
you could consider money paid through Paypal as payments for services rendered
and then claim the payments as actual income from your business. Of
course, you would have to pay taxes as you would for any other income, but it
would be a legitimate business venture from which you could possibly make some
profit for yourself. </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>You have donated much of yourself to this project; you
shouldn't feel uncomfortable having some financial means come from
it. Maybe if you start to consider this project as a business venture in
some ways, you could figure out a business model that could be profitable for
you. Heck, if you figure out a way to support yourself through MythTV,
you would be providing another service to the open-source community by showing an
example of how to manage an open-source project and make money! </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Be willing to be flexible; you don't have to work for
someone else to make money. For example, recently, I have been helping
friends and family with computer problems a lot. I don't feel
comfortable having friends/family pay me for my time, other than in beer, but I
was taking time off from a paying job to help them out. What I did do was
get a sole-proprietorship, printed some business cards, and started asking
friends and family that I help to hold onto a couple business cards and
recommend me to their friends. In the last two months, I have started to acquire
paying customers. I don't make a lot, but it at least pays me for
the time that I take away from my other job. And in the process, I get
some flexibility in my lifestyle and in a portion, get to work for
myself! </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>In short, I just wanted to offer some advice and suggest
that you look for ways to provide for yourself doing the things that you
love. Contrary to what many of us think, your time is worth something.
Just be willing to let people compensate you for that time; you may find out
that people consider your work more valuable than you think. I for one consider
your project valuable to me and I think many others out there do as well.</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Best of luck and Thanks!</span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Jeff</span></font></p>
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font-family:Arial'> </span></font></p>
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