Demo or trial mode without sponsorship

[oliversheridanmethven]

I use mkdoc quite a bit and enjoy mkdocstring-python, it's great. I have a new project involving C and wanted to use the same tool, found this repo, but am now at the "sponsorship" and "Insider" block. Ideally I would like to see how easy it would be to get everything running first, and then if it works might be willing to sponsor. Is there any timeline for when a public version (I imagine a few releases behind the Insider version) might be made, or if there is any appetite for a license style model where I could test drive it first before considering committing to sponsorship.

[pawamoy]

Hello!

I'm still experimenting with the sponsorware model. Until now, it looks like putting new projects immediately under insiders doesn't let them get enough visibility/use. So, yes, maybe I should keep them free at first, and once they're robust add requested features under insiders. But that also means more new users, more maintenance, and no new sponsors. Sponsorship here shouldn't always be seen as "paying for a working solution" but instead "funding the maintainer to work on the solution". I'll think about all this and come back to you with a definitive answer 🙂

[pawamoy]

Is there any timeline for when a public version [...] might be made

It's in the $2000/month goal.

or if there is any appetite for a license style model where I could test drive it first before considering committing to sponsorship

X-days trials could be a solution. The current infrastructure doesn't allow that though. Not sure how much work it would represent, or if this is even feasible, since giving access once means you can easily clone and push the code somewhere else where I won't see it. That would mean users could easily game the system. I generally trust the users in the mkdocs ecosystem, but I'm not especially at ease with this risk 🤔

[oliversheridanmethven]

As an end user, my preference would be for a free basic but restricted package, and once I got it up and working consider the subscription for the bells and whistles and latest fixes. (Compared to the other option of a trial period or license). However, I am just one wannabe user, not the maintainer...

Of course though both are very common and popular models, as also is the model you're currently using.

[pawamoy]

Well, the C handler kinda is the bells and whistles 🙂 There's not enough in it yet to have a free version and an insiders one. Anyway, I'll let you know if anything changes here, or if there is any new features on the C handler.