Come on guys! Let's rally for NeHe!

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I mean we're talking about $14000, not many people even make that in their whole life.

If I take a look at my finances as a part time worker in college, I am slated to make about 12000 a year. Now of course, America is richer then other parts of the world; however, the guy over at nehe has taught me a lot. Its a much better cause then saving toby.

Out of curiosity, how did you incur a $14K debt?

I just bought a house so I'm in debt up the ying-yang, but seriously, you'd think that after, say $5K down you'd realize something is not right with the business, no? Don't get me wrong I love Ne-He and it would be sad for it to vanish, but also, aren't there enough smart opengl people around here to take it over in a zero-expense fashion?

Don't think of this as paying for his debt. Think of this as trying to repay the thousands of hours of time that he has donated to this site. NeHe is the kind of person who used to take all the donations and money from cd sales and his own personal money when donations were scarce and finance most of the constests on the site.

Please only make serious posts here. If you're just going to flame this attempt to help somebody who has helped the OpenGL community, at least make a different thread.

Thanks

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Tyderium Don't think of this as paying for his debt. Think of this as trying to repay the thousands of hours of time that he has donated to this site. NeHe is the kind of person who used to take all the donations and money from cd sales and his own personal money when donations were scarce and finance most of the constests on the site.

That is all fine and dandy, however your original post makes the impression that we owe it to NeHe to pay off his debts.

A better idea, although harder to make happen, would be to have the community plan, develop, market, and sale a game. And give NeHe a portion of the proceeds as a sign of thanks.

Asking people to donate money when it is scarce to begin with will recieve flames. Besides, NeHe is not asking for donations any more, he is asking for someone to buy the content on the site so that he can move on (my impression, may not be true).

Richard

Out of curiosity, how do you buy content if it's already public domain? Also, setting up server isn't that difficult either.

I'm not trying to sound greedy or ungrateful for his work, just trying to make sense of this. I certainly do like the idea of nehe receiving a small percentage of proceeds from a game though...

Just to make it clear, NeHe doesnt pay for the site, its hosted free by Gamedev.net and has been for some time now.

I'm not saying this to put people off donating, but also I'm sure he wouldnt want the facts misrepresented in this instance.

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superdeveloper how do you buy content if it's already public domain?

If I remember correctly, everything on his site is NOT public domain unless the original authors of some of the tuts made them so. Everything NeHe wrote (tut wise) is not public domain. He may have changed it recently but I don't believe so.

Rich

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Original post by superdeveloper Out of curiosity, how do you buy content if it's already public domain?

It is not public domain, it states very clearly that it is ©1997-2005 by NeHe productions, its free, but not public domain, basically what he is doing is selling that copyright, the right to publish it elsewhere, even charge for copies.

I think it's a better idea than what GameTutorials.com did (start charging for their tutorials), in this case NeHe keeps his image of being "the good guy".

I can't say I have had a lot of dealings with NeHe, but give the man a little credit. I have been around GameDev long enough to see a bit of what he has been through and what he has put into the site. If you want to be nice and make a donation, do it. If you don't want to - don't.

Just show the man a little respect. Try to respect those that teach others. They take their time and energy into helping others rather than furthering themselves (financially, socially, or job wise).

I hope that it does not mean you will soon have to pay for the tutorials(like www.gametutorials.com). I do not make the same mistake again, I have downloaded nearly everything, before something goes wrong.

FFS, the majority of you are a bunch of heartless barstards. I'm not going to say whether or not this cause is worth it, but the original poster went and made a donation out of his own free will, and is trying to do something for someone else, something I'm sure most of you have never even considered by the sound of it.

Grow up, if you don't want to make a donation, don't, no ones forcing you, but thats no reason to flame someone for trying to help someone else out, your an embaressment to the community, and I do mean that.

well in any case, when i first read about the issue (this was in another thread), i felt bad and donated $20. i don't think donating anywhere from $1 - $5 is gonna kill people here. He's part of the community and for some he's a big part of the community. So the same way I pay a annual fee to GD.net (because I appreciate all the info and members here), I give a little back him as well and I don't even use his tuts.

he could try to publish a hardcopy version of his tuts, like nehe's intro book for opengl. there is enough matterial there for at least 150 pages and he adds more code snippets and a little more theory there is enough for a standard intor to book

i dont even c the need to actually edit any of the tuts as they are mostly perfect anyway. i dont know how much the book will sell but i am sure he will get couple of grand from it at the end of the day.

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Original post by GregLoutsenko he could try to publish a hardcopy version of his tuts, like nehe's intro book for opengl. there is enough matterial there for at least 150 pages and he adds more code snippets and a little more theory there is enough for a standard intor to book

That's a pretty good idea, assuming he has time to write it. The 'NeHe' name has a prety good reputation IMHO, indeed it's what brought me to GDNet in the first place.

Yeah, so if life it's tough, let's start bashing at those who spend their time helping others. That would only make the life more fair, right?
Anyway, I donated 30 USD, not because I beleive this will pay off his debt, but because this guy helped a lot of people (including me) without asking for anything in return.
And FYI, I also had many periods in my life when I was broke, but that doesn't mean that when I see someone in a similar (or worse) situation I start lashing out at them.

Some of you people are just crazy. When a man does a good thing, that helps people, that stands on its own. If he later says, "I didn't manage my finances well, and could use some help" you should decide if you want to help, based on your personal beliefs in charity, fair exchange, and giving back to those who helped you.

Personally, I feel the value I gained from the first 10 NEHE tutorials benifited me more than the 2 of the first 3 graphics programming books I own. Personally I believe the intentions and execution of his past actions (creating and maintaining the NEHE site) are things I believe in a whole lot more than the actions and attitudes of the authors and publishers whose books I purchased (I love books, so don't take this the wrong way ... I'm saying he's even BETTER than them in my book, even though they are good). So based on my belief in helping those who need help, my current ability to part with $20 without batting an eye, and my desire to encourage people to PAY FOR WHAT THEY USE even when not forced to - ESPECIALLY when not forced to - I'm gonna pay NEHE $20.

You can view it as charity, but it isn't. It's much more like waking up one day and realizing that someone who tutored you for free in college, could have been making money elsewhere instead. So I'm paying NEHE less than half what I think his tutorials are worth in the open market (I would definately have paid $50 for a book/cd combo containing that information) - I'm paying him less, because I can, because I believe in people offering training and tutorials at the lowest cost they can resonably support (for the good of the world at large), and because I'm a little bit selfish and want to go buy a $20 PS2 game as well.

But dammit, I thank him for everything he's done for me. Period. He doesn't have to be a good guy. He doesn't have to be an altruist with no care of money or compensation. He's helped me even if he's secretly a neo-nazi terrorist (although I don't think I'd send him money if I knew he was gonna kill people with it).

Best Wishes to NEHE and everyone who ever tries to help others in any way they can.

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Original post by Anonymous Poster Quote: Original post by Raduprv Anyway, I donated 30 USD, not because I beleive this will pay off his debt, but because this guy helped a lot of people (including me) without asking for anything in return. Disagree. Ever since I have known about this site, Nehe has been asking for donations, pushing his CD, and posting ever-more-dire tales of woe. If you want to donate, that's your business, but you can hardly say he never asked for anything.

Disagree. The Donate button is simply there. The Buy My CD button is simply there. The tales of woe are just his way of unburdening and letting others know what's going on in his life. He has occasionally mentioned the low number of donations, but never in a "come on people! I need money!" way.

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Personally, I think he should work his way out of debt and not depend on charity. Sell more CDs. Write a book. Do OpenGL contract work. Whatever it takes. If this website is really costing him money, then he should quit operating it.

What makes you think that is not exactly what he is doing? I haven't seen a single post from him saying "please bail me out." He's doing what he thinks he needs to do to handle the situation. It's the community that has said "let's bail him out."

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Original post by Anonymous Poster Quote: Original post by Raduprv Anyway, I donated 30 USD, not because I beleive this will pay off his debt, but because this guy helped a lot of people (including me) without asking for anything in return. Disagree. Ever since I have known about this site, Nehe has been asking for donations, pushing his CD, and posting ever-more-dire tales of woe. If you want to donate, that's your business, but you can hardly say he never asked for anything. Personally, I think he should work his way out of debt and not depend on charity. Sell more CDs. Write a book. Do OpenGL contract work. Whatever it takes. If this website is really costing him money, then he should quit operating it.

Perhaps you shouldn't be a coward and hide under the Anonymous Poster account. You have an account on GDNet, yet you fear to post under your own name.

You may think very well what you think, however, posting it anynomous is very cowardous. Also, NeHe tried to give alot to the community here on GDNet, a little sign of appreciation is in place then. In this case, he didn't even ask for help, it was a community action.

Now, I never programmed in OpenGL, nor do I intend to. However, if I were a regular on the NeHe forums or his site, I would most certainly donate. Besides, isn't it his complete right to ask for donations and/or try to sell CDs/t-shirts/? I would most certainly try the same.

Toolmaker

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Original post by Anonymous Poster Toolmaker, ignorant enough to be blinded and not to see what would happen to someone who thinks differently among many who don't?

Ignorant or not, at least he posts using his account. If you posts on this forum, you should register an accout and use it.
If you already have an account, you should also use it, rather than hiding under the "Anonymous Poster" generic username.