Need feedback regarding posting a custom ROM

[ardchoille]

I will be uploading my very own custom ROM for the Evo 4G today and wanted some advice/feedback on the forums thread.

File Hosting
I was thinking of going with MediaFire for free file hosting until I can gauge how popular my ROM will be. I can always buy file hosting later if it turns out to be popular. Thoughts?

Donations
What is the general consensus on donations in forum threads? Some folks see donations as "begging" while others see them as a necessity. Granted this is only my first ROM, but donations can help as far as incentive to continue development. Thoughts?

 

[karandpr]

First of all

From what I read it's a themed ROM .
The catch about themed ROM is you are never satisfied and thats why go in for faster update cycles .
That limits the popularity until serious kernel mods come in (That said evo4G is 200 times more popular than my phone. My sub-sampling wont hold ground . ).
Mediafire will be perfect for now(Free account also let you know no. of downloads) .And yes if it turns out to be popular you can always buy hosting.

Donations
Personal issue in my opinion .I dont accept donations .Do donations act as incentives or motivators .Cant say really .
I suppose it acts as the same motivator as the number of thanks at AF.
it's a varied issue IMHO

some developers may think monetary benefit is a right for their work
some donators may think that they have a right over the development since they donated .

In contrast
some developers dont work for monetary benefits
some donators genuinely believe they are encouraging the development of a project .

It's a long debate I guess.

 

[ardchoille]

First of all

From what I read it's a themed ROM .
The catch about themed ROM is you are never satisfied and thats why go in for faster update cycles .
That limits the popularity until serious kernel mods come in (That said evo4G is 200 times more popular than my phone. My sub-sampling wont hold ground . ).
Mediafire will be perfect for now(Free account also let you know no. of downloads) .And yes if it turns out to be popular you can always buy hosting.

Donations
Personal issue in my opinion .I dont accept donations .Do donations act as incentives or motivators .Cant say really .
I suppose it acts as the same motivator as the number of thanks at AF.
it's a varied issue IMHO

some developers may think monetary benefit is a right for their work
some donators may think that they have a right over the development since they donated .

In contrast
some developers dont work for monetary benefits
some donators genuinely believe they are encouraging the development of a project .

It's a long debate I guess.

What's the difference between a custom ROM and a themed ROM?
Here are some features of my ROM:

ROM Features
* Added Bash shell
* Added Busybox
* Added Facit font
* Added Personal Portal (more below)
* Better battery life
* Custom boot animation
* Custom wallpaper
* De-Odexed
* Percentage battery mod with numbers
* Removed bloatware
* Rooted
* Tweaked the stock theme
* Useful apps pre-installed
* Working 4G
* Zipaligned

I'm starting to think I shouldn't even bother if it's not going to be welcomed as a custom ROM.. anyone can theme a ROM.

 

[karandpr]

Well it will be totally your choice
There is a difference between galaxy 551 and EVO 4G community
Arkas is the first custom rom for phone,we have no working clockworkmod recovery,no gingerbread ,no cyanogenmod and we didn't have any competition .the rom was gauged against samsung stock rom.And the difference is phenomenal.that gives me a plenty of scope and time to experiment.

The Evo community is huge and so is the developer communtity.
Your rom will be gauged with respect to cyanogenmod,villian rom and dozens of other custom roms.(i have no idea of actual number)
On plus side your rom will get a nice numbers due to huge community and your reputation as a friendly AF guide.
On minus side people wont gauge it against htc stock but against the big guys .
You have created the rom from scratch .that is a known fact to you
But against the big guy ,yours will be a themed rom.
It's the plane of reference that people use to gauge.
To make the rom more popular you will to work more harder.unlike me.
There are dozens of custom roms on xda .
Usually people give up after first attempt due to poor response.
Apart from keeping with other custom roms you will have to also dish out something special of yours.it means constant research and lots of sleepless night.

So it is totally upto you on how far you want to take then ROM.just ardochille's rom or something huge and awesome.
And people will criticize .thats our nature.doesnt mean you have to hold back.

 

[ardchoille]

Well it will be totally your choice
There is a difference between galaxy 551 and EVO 4G community
Arkas is the first custom rom for phone,we have no working clockworkmod recovery,no gingerbread ,no cyanogenmod and we didn't have any competition .the rom was gauged against samsung stock rom.And the difference is phenomenal.that gives me a plenty of scope and time to experiment.

The Evo communty is huge and so is the developer communtity.
Your rom will be gauged with respect to cyanogenmod,villian rom and dozens of other custom roms.(i have no idea of actual number)
On plus side your rom will get a nice numbers due to huge community and your reputation as a friendly AF guide.
On minus side people wont gauge it against htc stock but against the big guys .
You have created the rom from scratch .that is a known fact to you
But against the big guy ,yours will be a themed rom.
It's the plane of reference that people use to gauge.
To make the rom more popular you will to work more harder.unlike me.
There are dozens of custom roms on xda .
Usually people give up after first attempt due to poor response.
Apart from keeping with other custom roms you will have to also dish out something special of yours.it means constant research and lots of sleepless night.

So it is totally upto you on how far you want to take then ROM.just ardochille's rom or something huge and awesome.
And people will criticize .thats our nature.doesnt mean you have to hold back.

Ah, I understand now. Very good points, thank you. I am going to hold off until I am able to "bring more to the table" as far as system tweaks.

You've given me a lot to think about

 

[xmr405o]

Congrats, Ardo! I was gonna post something in your other thread but didn't get a chance to.

As a custom ROM freak, I have respect for all developers, themers and modders. I respect all the work that goes into a custom ROM because frankly I don't know crap about where to even begin haha. However, not all people are as respectful as I am. I've seen devs/modders/themers get run out of the community because of "haters". Most of the time trouble starts when donations are involved. Some people think that devs are working for them since they "donated" to your ROM so if you don't answer them right away...you'll hear it. I'm sure you've seen posts like that before anyways...few things to remember

Be humble, don't take things personal, give credit when credit is due and you don't need to oversell how awesome you may think your ROM is because you can let your ROM speak for itself.

Good luck, Ardo! Go get em!

I'm glad your a guide here in AF that can also make custom ROMS. I remember Fab did well with his custom ROM for the droid.