What's stopping clones from replicating your UI right now? Are you concerned with loss of IAP revenue to clones?
I would suggest you open source it under a non-commercial license. Also, take a look at how some successful android open source projects are run. In particular, I like XPrivacy (https://github.com/M66B/XPrivacy). This is an excellent app. Open source with optional purchase, similar to yours. Personally, I paid the $6 they charge because I'd rather not compile the src myself.
You've already had a lot of downloads and are an established app. Clones can't replicate that.. If you are a recognized dev on xda, with your own thread for discussion, feature requests, bug reports etc, no clones will be able to replace that aspect even if they can clone your app.
You should be able to get more downloads/purchases from privacy-aware users. And you can have donations for feature requests if you want.
I think the main part about being free software is not that the code could be reviewed or whatever, but that the software respects its users' freedoms. And for me, that alone is a good reason to respect the software and its developer.
XPrivacy is a great example. Another one would be "Conversations" XMPP client, that is FLOSS, but is a paid app on Google Play. Even though I wouldn't call it completely mature yet (it's 0.7.x and lacks some polish and minor features), it's a good app that does its job very well and 1-5k users (not bad for non-gratis app, I guess) seem to agree.
If you're using Android, I'd highly recommend using a combination of XPrivacy [1] and Android Firewall [2] (iptables frontend).
To make your life easier, disallow everything from accessing the net in Android Firewall. Then, for those apps which you've allowed net access, further tweak what they're allowed to access in XPrivacy. As a rule, turn off account info, clipboard, location, contacts, and storage.
Better yet, only use Android as a game console / YouTube viewer with no personal info or real Google ID. Web browsing only through Firefox that can use some privacy addons.
If you're using Android, I'd highly recommend using a combination of XPrivacy [1] and Android Firewall [2] (iptables frontend).
To make your life easier, disallow everything from accessing the net in Android Firewall. Then, for those apps which you've allowed net access, further tweak what they're allowed to access in XPrivacy. As a rule, turn off account info, clipboard, location, contacts, and storage.
Also, put a lock screen on your phone and never let anyone use/borrow it even temporarily because if someone installs an accessibility service, it is game over for your privacy in most apps regardless of whether the network traffic is encrypted.
I was in a situation very similar to yours. Also a game dev company, also lots of user data etc etc. We did have test/backup databases for testing, but some data was just on live and there was no way for me to build those reports other than to query the live database when the load was lower.
In any case, I did a few things to make sure I never ended up destroying any data. Creating temporary tables and then manipulating those.. reading over my scripts for hours.. dumping table backups before executing any scripts.. not executing scripts in the middle/end of the day, only mornings when I was fresh etc etc.
I didn't mess up, but I remember how incredibly nerve wracking that was, and I can relate to the massive amount of responsibility it places on a "junior" programmer. It just should never be done. Like others have said, you should never have been in that position. Yes, it was your fault, but this kind of responsibility should never have been placed on you (or anyone, really). Backing up all critical data (what kind of company doesn't backup its users table?! What if there had been hard disk corruption?), and being able to restore in minimum time should have been dealt with by someone above your pay grade.
It was a bunch of different tasks. For some, we did use a read only account. Other tasks (updating top 10 scores, updating the users table with their geo-ip based location etc) required write access.
Just to add some more thoughts based on other comments.. yes a lot of companies do stuff like this, particularly startups. The upside in these situations is that you end up learning things extremely quickly which wouldn't be possible in a more controlled environment. However not having backup and restore working is just ridiculous and I keep shaking my head at how they blamed the OP for this mistake. Unbelievable.
You make two very good points here and in your other post.
1) Kids are different. There is a whole spectrum of right and wrong decisions depending on what your kid is like. Would anyone suggest that the same methods would work with a kid who is stubborn and one who is easy going?
2) These decisions depend on a kid's age. A 2-5 year old is not logical or rational, and can do outrageous things just to see how you would react. Don't deceive them, let them be kids, yadda yadda are almost funny to read. Like you said, walk a mile in the parents' shoes.
Anyway, getting back to the original post, I do see an issue with this approach (to parenting, not the technical solutions): I'd rather solve the bigger problem of the kids not listening to what the parent is saying rather than fixing this single instance. On the other hand, it is easy for kids to get rowdy without realizing it and this method seems to fix that particular issue well.
Don't deceive them, let them be kids, yadda yadda are almost funny to read. Like you said, walk a mile in the parents' shoes.
Or, have had the luxury of having great parents who never bothered playing such mind games with you. Of course, since such gifted parents are rare, it's easy to simply dismiss such a high standard. But once you go non-bullshit, it's just hard to go back.
>Or, have had the luxury of having great parents who never bothered playing such mind games with you. Of course, since such gifted parents are rare, it's easy to simply dismiss such a high standard. But once you go non-bullshit, it's just hard to go back.
It's interesting that you're responding from the perspective of a child to a statement from the perspective of a parent.
It's interesting that you're responding from the perspective of a child to a statement from the perspective of a parent.
Yeah, it's almost as if it's a relationship between two humans, instead of a one-way input pipe.
Do you have children?
What makes you ask? That I respect kids more than quite a bunch of folks who are actually raising some? Or is that just an attempt to dismiss what I said without addressing it? That shit is getting real old.
I don't know why @incision asked, so I can't speak for him or her. However, I know why I would ask you the same question: I would be curious whether you were simply speaking out of profound ignorance and entitlement or whether there was actually any credibility to back up your stance.
That I respect kids more than quite a bunch of folks who are actually raising some?
This has nothing to do with respect and a lot to do with hard-earned experience, which you don't have. And I say hard-earned because there's no decent parent out there that doesn't regret a whole lot of mistakes they made while they were bringing up their kids. Your attitude of moral superiority is not only undeserved, but it's also quite insulting.
Or is that just an attempt to dismiss what I said without addressing it? That shit is getting real old.
Is it? Funny, from where I stand, it looks like you were coming up with criticism and theories you never bothered to verify in any way, just because you feel entitled and I can tell you: that shit has been ancient before I was born.
I suggest you read Steve Yegge's "Have you ever legalized marijuana?" [1] or, if you're short on time, a relevant XKCD [2].
from where I stand, it looks like you were coming up with criticism and theories you never bothered to verify in any way
?
"have had the luxury of having great parents who never bothered playing such mind games with you"
And I run into PLENTY of adults who just tried to use their privilege, or lies, for shortcut solutions. I know how they fared. So what exactly don't I have experience with, other than doing it to someone else?
"I suggest you read Steve Yegge's"
I suggest you actually address the content of my posts.
You haven't said anything. No content, not even an anecdote. You just spat out a couple of emotional, condescending quips, likely in hopes of teasing out another abstract argument [1].
Maybe stop thinking that for a second and pretend you are actually supposed to give me an actual answer. I mean, it's neat and easy and all that, I understand, but you're flat out wrong and that you are just looking at an exit while being unintentionally ironic. I am not teasing these abstract arguments, I am time and time telling you stop with the logical fallacies and generalities, give me the argument for this situation. I also love how you hold exactly the BS responses I complain about, including yours, against me.
You haven't said anything. No content, not even an anecdote.
So you would rather talk about the messenger, than the message, also ignoring that some people with kids say the same fucking thing. Well, I already established that, too, the question is how often are you going to repeat proving it?
Nicely done! Tried it out and will definitely be keeping it. I like the website as well, the utility of the app is obvious from one quick glance.
I think it'll be useful in convincing yourself to do that 15-60 min task that you've been putting off.. or just to get you motivated (I'll fix this bug quickly in 15 mins... and before you know it you've fixed a few).
Unfortunately it doesn't seem like there is a way to achieve both. If you want a reasonably sized keyboard, the screen will end up being too large (as is the case with Surface). Or if you want a more traditional tablet sized screen, the keyboard will suffer (for e.g. the Transformer Prime).
The e420 is of the 'Edge' series. What you want to get is a T, X, or W series thinkpad. The E series is just thinkpad in name, so its no wonder that you had a bad experience.
Ofcourse, you are not to blame since Lenovo still markets it as a ThinkPad..
I have a working arch install. I don't touch it unless I have to reboot for some reason and then I read for known issues, do the upgrade and then reboot. Otherwise, no touchy.
I would suggest you open source it under a non-commercial license. Also, take a look at how some successful android open source projects are run. In particular, I like XPrivacy (https://github.com/M66B/XPrivacy). This is an excellent app. Open source with optional purchase, similar to yours. Personally, I paid the $6 they charge because I'd rather not compile the src myself.
You've already had a lot of downloads and are an established app. Clones can't replicate that.. If you are a recognized dev on xda, with your own thread for discussion, feature requests, bug reports etc, no clones will be able to replace that aspect even if they can clone your app.
You should be able to get more downloads/purchases from privacy-aware users. And you can have donations for feature requests if you want.
Just some thoughts.. best of luck with the app!