Is a KickStarter campaign something we should look into?
There are operational costs you shouldn’t have to cover, so yes… beyond that what are you looking to fund?
I have been looking with a lot of joy at the intensifiying contributions on GitHub and on this site lately. I would say we have considerable mileage right now in the small group which has gathered here (plus it should grow). We can entertain financial support anytime, possibly in personal communication. A Kickstarter would be fine too, just we need to agree on goals and write plan and proposal so that people know what they invest in. They later we do this, they more concrete and ambitious it can be. Should we collect ideas for the goals in a document or first wait till the first bunch of builds is finished and there is firm ground for discussions from this side?
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Linux build, Raspberry Pi build. I can only float the bill for so long before I am broke 
Viability will require keeping the lights on, so some form of fundraising is inevitable. Your generosity thus far is beyond laudable and much appreciated.
Given the history of the code base, crowdfunding may encounter what we could politely call insufficient enthusiasm.
However, HyperXTalk enjoys a messaging advantage the copyright holder doesn’t: as a GPL fork, it can’t ever be anything other than GPL.
This is similar to how Nextcloud was born, a fork of OwnCloud after the OC funders tried to make some sort of propriety scheme from it. The founder strongly believes that FOSS is needed for a tool like that, to keep developer contributions flowing. Funders were looking for shorter term return, not content with a service play. So the founder split, the community manager and most devs went with him, and today Nextcloud employs more than a hundred people, all funded by services, and growing steadily.
Or course there are many factors in the business environment contributing to Nextcloud’s success that aren’t relevant here (not the least being a push across Europe and the world toward digital sovereignty), but the useful common element is that forks can’t change licensing, and that can answer questions raised by this code base’s history.
But associates remind me of the Kickstarter veteran advice: it’s a platform you bring your mailing list to, less useful for building new contacts.
This represents a bit of a chickens-and-eggs conundrum, since of course the work to build up the following needed for a successful KS will itself require funding.
Grants are a possibility, but uncertain, spotty, and often require 501c3 (or local equivalent to that US nonprofit vesting type). Same with corporate donations.
So among available options, crowdfunding may be the only one actionable without forming a corporation.
To make that work, perhaps a way fans here can help move things forward is getting the word out about the project.
But there’s an aspect of this which may be gloomy:
I spent a little time recently prowling around the web looking for the sorts of posts expressing lament that there is no FOSS xTalk.
And what I found was very little conversation about xTalks at all, and most of that just retrospective nostalgia.
I still believe that this code base offers the easiest way to build a wide range of apps for multiplatform desktop deployment.
But where are the use cases for that value proposition where those with that need aren’t already using something else?
Well, xTalks are friendlier and easier to use than most of the competitors, so we got that going for us. I didn’t think the Kickstarter would pan out, but it’s always something to try out - even if all we manage to pick up is a couple of interested people (who like submitting bug reports hehehe)
It may be helpful to have a table of current and projected costs posted so folks can better understand that wrangling a million-line code base across multiple platforms doesn’t just fall out of a tree, and perhaps donate a little more than they might otherwise be inclined once they understand the scope of the undertaking.
Well, it’s about 150 CAD a month, that’s not including the cost of additional software (which is thankfully a one time shot)
We have 353 CAD in the bank, for this project. DMG Canvas is 35 USD so that’ll leave us with around 300 CAD left. So we’ll have to work quickly on this project.
I don’t think it’s inappropriate to include at least something for you time. Work on this project represents an opportunity cost.
Good remuneration for all the tedious work would not be inappropriate for sure. Just given the state of the project there is a strong argument for keeping the costs to a minimum at the moment. @Emily-Elizabeth should fix an amount that should be in the bank for a comfortable buffer to keep things afloat (like the 300 now or maybe 500 or more?) and then give a monthly report what gap we have that everybody can fill. If there is an overshoot the better, next monthly report looks good then and emergency donations can be postponed. The sums noted here look doable. Whoever is able to should consider a standing order so the curve of budget is not so volatile but smoother. I would sure do that.
The 300 CAD will keep us afloat for a couple of months, which is why I’m hitting it as hard as I can. The actual script work I can do pretty easily (after deciphering what LiveCode did) but the engine work is a little harder. Right now I am trying to fix a bug with the browser widget on Windows and it has taken three days and with no real headway made. I have no job or source of income (just keeping it real) but will continue to work on HyperXTalk the best I can given what I have. I keep track of everything coming in and everything going out and am transparent with it and can post a running total on here if that makes people feel better about where the money is going (no wild parties I can guarantee that 
)