My business runs completely on slackware, and I was stunned to hear this was the financial situation.

I agree with everyone else, please, please set up some means for getting funds directly to you,
I know I'll donate to reflect the value as I am sure many others will.

In addition to the others mentioned, GoFundMe has worked well for other people I've donated to in
the past, and they do take business donations.

4 members found this post helpful.

I was able to "cancel" my order today. I had not yet received an email confirmation of my order this afternoon. So I dumped the remainder of the pre-paid card elsewhere. That purchase succeeded and there are no funds now for the store order. (One reason I love pre-paid cards -- zero is zero! )

I still would like a Slackware mousepad Pat. Now with this news, a t-shirt too. Let us know if you decide to sell merchandise elsewhere.

Bad people. People should not treat others like this and expect not to suffer consequences. Hopefully the store owners suffer with all of the cancellations. Vote with our feet and our wallets and purses.

3 members found this post helpful.

Cancelling my subscription. Thieving rip-off f***ers!
Set up a Paypal account, Pat. Eric has one, that's how I donate to him when I can afford it.

2 members found this post helpful.

Cancelled my subscription today as of today

3 members found this post helpful.

Pat,

Very sorry to hear about this! My thoughts and prayers go to you and your family!

A few thoughts:
1) Setup a paypal business account in the name of Slackware (that you control)
2) Via paypal account, setup the option for "recurring payments", this is the same as subscriptions, I do this on our site for "members". You could do the same. Keep merchandise only for those who are Members and for new releases...or ditch the merchandise.
3) setup a donate button for PayPal
4) setup a gofundme account for the house repairs, although with the above setup you may not need it
5) Benefit to the above is, you control it, patreon has a habit of changing the terms to frequently.
6) Place the links on Slackware.com to the above options.
7) Increase Slackware transparency by posting annual Profit/Loss, or Donation/Expenses lists, then have a "wishlist" etc...
8) ask the community to step up and assist with the above things. WE are here for you as you have been here for us.
9) Trust that all of this happens for a reason that will make you, Slackware and the community even stronger!

PS: I will PM you links to see how it looks on our site.
PSS: Consider legal action if there is documented proof of this theft/deception etc...

18 members found this post helpful.

I sent my email to sales@store.slackware.com. I'll send another to info,etc. Just to make sure.
EDIT:
I hope they "SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE."

4 members found this post helpful.

Good tip. I will do the same. Thanks for the heads-up.

Wow - what a punch in the gut. I hope an account can be setup with PayPal, Patreon or something that gets donations directly to Patrick.

2 members found this post helpful.

I like the wish list idea.

awful news. will be monitoring this thread for an update with how to contribute.

1 members found this post helpful.

I think blender has a nice setup where there are multiple subscription donation options with paypal.
https://www.blender.org/foundation/donation-payment/

Patrick you are a good person and you didn't deserve to be mistreated so badly. I think this story needs to get out. I hope you do what is required for you and your family to survive comfortably.

Edit: I think it would be fine if you got out of the physical media business.

2 members found this post helpful.

Agreed. Other issues aside, the physical media business is dying anyway. You're better off just giving away physical media and charging for service. But that market is already so dominated by the big enterprise players.

I've always seen Slackware's greatest advantage to be as an educational tool. One only needs to look at Slackware and its tools, almost all written in shell script, to gain an understanding of what it means to build a Unix-like system from the ground up.

I could almost see Slackware.com being rebranded as the Slackware Foundation, or something like that. It could be set up as a registered charity or non-profit to promote education in Linux, and free OS development in general. After paying Pat's salary, the remainder of the funds (if any) could go towards those efforts.

It could then be fully funded by donations, and with charity/nonprofit status, Pat could get a tax break and donors to the project could get a tax receipt to be used for their own tax deductions.

My small business runs on Slackware as well. I'd be happy to pay double or more than what I pay now in the Slackware store. I and many others have our own selfish (and selfless) reasons to make sure Slackware does not die due to financial constraints.

This present situation is absolutely unacceptable. I think we as a community can agree on that. We need to do something about it. As soon as I see a legit way to donate, I will.

10 members found this post helpful.

I havent used slackware since about 2000/01, the address was listed as concord,ca. Which was why I used it. Learned a lot from Pat's contributions. I saw the address in the other post listed as brentwood, which is 10 min away... but that's the store address... I don't have much, but I'm available to help pat, I can give you time and/or physical assistance.

Here I'm, a happy user of Slackware and really feel bad hearing your story Mr. Volkerding. When you have decided about the donation stuff, I will definitely support you and Slackware. Thank you for the hard-work for Slackware even during on your hard time.

1 members found this post helpful.

I agree with the others. Pat should create an avenue for donations and let us know what it is.

I express my sympathy to Pat about how he and Slackware have been treated and my outrage to those who betrayed his trust.

3 members found this post helpful.