VML FAQ & HOWTO¶
What kind of money are we talking about ?¶
The goal is to raise approx EUR 13.000 every month, so I can work on varnish 120 hours every month.
Really, you’re that cheap ?¶
Yes, but only when I do things I really, really like to do, from the comfort of my own house.
I’ll be happy to send you a quote if you want me for something else, drop me an email.
What do we get in return ?¶
A Moral License to make any kind of big or small money running Varnish on your website, without feeling the least bit bad about the poor sucker who created the software, his two kids, his old cat etc etc.
On a more concrete level, the Varnish project gets more of my time and attention which I use to improve the tool which makes your website work so well.
If you contributed more than EUR 240 in the past 12 months, you will be on the Very Important Varnish Users list, and receive early warning when we release security advisories.
What do we not get in return ?¶
A moral license is not a service- or support-contract of any kind.
Isn’t this more a sort of sponsorship than a license ?¶
Somebody started the rumour that the name was chosen to sneak this expense into your IT departments budget, along with other software licenses, rather than put it under your marketing department, where all sponsorships properly belong and where it would compete with the local soccer team.
That rumour is very possibly true. I might even have started it myself. Right here even.
Can I pay for a sponsorship instead ?¶
Absolutely, I’m game.
As long as your marketing department does not expect me to hang around at “events” or dump thick binders, full of proper logo placement and Pantone colors on me, we can call it anything you prefer.
Send me an email.
I have a contract with Varnish-Software, do I also need a VML ?¶
No.
Nobody needs to buy a license, Varnish is Free and Open Source Software, and paying a VML is entirely voluntary
Second: Varnish-Software already supports Varnish development, so you already contribute to the project that way.
Third: Thanks, your support is much appreciated.
How do we know you are not buying a tropical island for the fortune you are going to make this way ?¶
Dude, seriously ?
I have red hair; I get sunburns from the blue LED on my phone-charger!
Why would I ever wan’t a tropical island anyway ? I’ve heard most of them have lousy internet connectivity.
All VML accounting is public, on these very webpages, you and everybody else can check it.
Also I’ve been doing this for eight years now and by the way I didn’t do that last time either
Wait, does that mean you’re the same Poul-Henning who ?¶
Yes, FreeBSD, MD5crypt, jails, nanokernel, timecounters, scsi-ping, tcl_snmp, the Bikeshed, it’s all my fault…
So how does a VML work in practice ?¶
You send me an email, and tell me:
How much do you want to pay for your license ?
Do you want to pay it monthly or quarterly ? (or onetime ?)
What name should appear on the web-page ?
What name should appear on the invoice ?
Email address and PGP key for security warnings (optional).
Then I send you an invoice via email, which does not yet shows up in the accounting here (to save everybody the embarrasment if your boss changes his mind.)
When the invoice is paid, it does show up in the accounting here, along with the name you picked.
But we don’t want our name on your webpage¶
Give me a ficticius company name or secret token to use on the public page, as long as I have the real one for the invoicing, the public side of this can be pseudo- or anonymized.
Do we get an invoice ?¶
Yes, the Varnish Moral License is bought from my registered danish corporation, and you will receive an invoice in .pdf via email.
Danish customers and EU citizens will have to pay 25% danish VAT.
EU companies avoid the VAT by providing me with their VAT/tax-ID.
People and companies outside EU pay no Danish VAT.
Can we pay with credit-card ?¶
Only via PayPal and their eye-watering fees.
Do we get fancy license certificates ?¶
That can be arranged.
Are you interested in small amounts of money ?¶
As long as I make more money than the bank fees on the transaction, I am interested.
Rule of thumb: amounts less than approx 100 EUR/USD per payment benefits the banks more than it should do.
The company I work for make a fortune with Varnish, but The Mgt. does not want to buy a moral license. What should I do ?¶
Don’t worry about it, they probably have their reasons.
I cannot afford a license, but I want to thank you for Varnish¶
A kind & happy email is always nice to receive.
There is also my Amazon Wishlist
Hey we should post this to Reddit, and 742 other sites, you have never heard about, so everybody in the world hears about this!¶
Please don’t.
Such exposure to people who don’t know what Varnish is will not help me in any way, quite the contrary, it will probably just end up wasting my time.
But feel free to forward this to other Varnish users you know: They are the proper audience.
Why don’t you use Kickstarter/Patreon/IndieGoGo/… ?¶
Because they were not around when I started the VML.
I also don’t think that “Maintaining the current and developing the next version of Varnish” is hip enough to be a good crowdfunding buzz-generator.
Seriously, is this crappy web-page written in HTML4.01 Transitional in vi(1), by somebody who knows nothing about webdesign ?¶
No, but my previous webpages were.
This one is written with Sphinx and RST, and that’s much nicer isn’t it ?
You did not answer my question here…¶
Just a sec, let me find it…
… Sorry, can’t find it and NSA says they don’t have a copy of your question either.
You’ll have to drop me an email.
phk
