Folks, you’re way off-topic here. Tiles’ fork has nothing to do with this thread. If you’d like to continue that discussion, please create another thread. Future off-topic posts to this thread will be removed.
Hello Guys,
some thoughts.
I sadly see that some of you attacks Andrew personally.
I think it is a very bad attitude. First of all, I’m not a fan of him, thanks to his ‘American sales-style’ (And not to the facts that sometimes he is wrong in his statements, what could happen to all of us).
But:
- I checked his tutorials and many other tuts from others. He makes 1st quality stuff in every measure, compared to other pack tutorials, too.
- He is a talented artist, not just a tech guru.
- He had heavy influence on why people now see Blender as an alternative tool for DCC.
So I think he deserves respect for his efforts.
About money, seo, etc.:
Maybe it will be a shock for some of the Blender community, but people live from money.
I know that Blender users are mainly hobby users or students (what mean that they have income from other sources or funded by parents), but it is very clear that none of those have the right to attack him because he would like to live from what he loves to do.
To be honest, it is what most of the people want to do. To achieve that luck is not enough: hard work needed.
So just do not be greedy. He built a brand step by step (with FREE tutorials) what is extremely successful in Blender terms. All of you could do that with the same skills and effort.
So, if any of you want to attack Andrew, make valid critiques on his work, based on facts, not emotions.
And I’ll step right up and say that I think he is an excellent instructional designer. It is perfectly all right for someone to create a high-quality product and to sell that product. I think that money spent for these products would be very well spent.
I hesitate to refer to the American pop song, “Single Ladies,” which has the line: “if you liked it, you shoulda put a ring on it.” Well, that applies to commerce, too. If you want the benefit of what a professional(!) is doing for you, then you’d better be mindful of the money. Everyone works for money. It can never be subtracted, nor neglected, in any endeavor. “Lack of a sensible financial plan” is the ruin of many worthy efforts.
Gratuitous volunteer efforts are a part of the open-source world but not the only part: the “F” in the “FOSS = Free Open-Source Software” acronym really doesn’t properly belong there. If someone, like Andrew, is producing a training product, even one that concerns an open-source tool, “you gotta put a ring on it.” A workman is worthy of his hire, and you can’t have anything of value unless you pay attention to the money angle.
Another thing: it is funny some way when users has problems with paid tutorials, pair add-on (as an example VRay), but they have no problem with paying 2-3 times more for a top GPU.