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Subject: Re: [LAZY] Apache Flex and 360|Flex shirts
From: Justin Mclean <justinmclean@me.com>
In-reply-to: <CF71F66C.1F661%aharui@adobe.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 15:49:44 +1000
Message-id: <0445B418-9F6B-44AC-AFFB-9B1DAB408C5F@me.com>
References: <CF719ED4.1F616%aharui@adobe.com> <534C9D92.7070707@gmail.com>
 <CF71F66C.1F661%aharui@adobe.com>
To: dev@flex.apache.org

Hi,

Just my 2 cents and probably a little off topic.

> So, the economics have to change.  Some of you are employed by companies
> that have saved significant time and money by using Flex.  Some of you are
> independent consultants who are hopefully at least surviving and longing
> for days past when Flex gigs were more plentiful.

While there may be less Flex work about there are also less experienced Flex developers so in some cases Flex gigs may actually be more plentiful - especially if you have good experience with Apache Flex. And being a committer, PMC member or release manager probably doesn't hurt.

> My goal is to do what I can to try to increase demand for Flex mostly via FlexJS.

No t everyone wants to cross compile to JS and you can use AIR to target desktop and mobile quite  well for most types of applications, but I'm hoping that having that option will attract new developers who wouldn't otherwise use Flex.

> Of course, I'd also love to have companies donate developer time as well.

That what I'd like to see more of. Of the 5000+ users who installed 4.12.0 there must be a few who can contribute back to the project who aren't currently.

> And there is a similar need for a change in the economics for the 360|Flex
> conference.  It will likely continue to be the only Flex-only conference
> and one of the few times you can discuss things with me in person.

There's quite a few other PMC and committers and experienced Flex developers going to 360 Flex as well. If you're developing Flex application there's really no reason not to go :-)

Thanks,
Justin