[CydeWeys]

I understand worrying about burn rate and all that, but when the entire service costs the same as a single cup of coffee per month, it might just not matter. How well it works, what features it provides, and how well it interfaces with the rest of the cloud services you're using are much, much more important concerns than saving a buck a month.

[kuschku]

Well, not always. As a student, you don’t want to spend 4$ for a cloud console, plus 4$ for cloud IRC, plus 20$ for a VPS, plus 12$ for your phone contract, plus 120$ for a new phone every 2 years...

I – like most people – don’t let useless devices run on standby either, costing me upwards of 30$ a year for a TV on standby.

As a student, I don’t buy totally overpriced coffee that costs that much either.

[CydeWeys]

You're well past the point of diminishing returns where it makes sense for you to focus your efforts more on increasing income rather than reducing expenditures further. If saving $1 per month is significant to you then it sounds like you've already cut your expenditures to the bone, and there's no more blood to squeeze from that stone. Even working a single hour per week at a part-time job would have better returns than extreme penny-pinching on unplugging appliances and rewriting entire applications to save a few bucks per month. I'm a frugal person, but not illogically so, and I know that income has no ceiling but expenditures definitely have a floor.

[kuschku]

I’m a student, I have not much time to work during the day, and jobs during the night are not exactly growing on trees.

Also, I’d still cut expenditures equally. Even my parents – both of which have studied law – do this. Actually, most people I know do. Why waste money on useless devices if it takes only seconds to unplug them?

[CydeWeys]

If you're capable of rewriting essential subscription web-based services from scratch instead of paying a few bucks a month for them, you're basically do have a part-time job at night, except that your few-$-per-month savings aren't paying you anything close to what you're worth. Rather than spending your time doing this, you should be doing some programming that actually pays you a good wage.

[kuschku]

Yes, I should just get a job – but that is long-term more work, and still does not fix the issue of wanting to run FLOSS.

[anthony_d]

A sure sign of a weak argument is including the phrase "... like most people ..."

Do you really think most people unplug their televisions after using them?

[kuschku]

Most people use socket strips with switches for their TV, yes. At 40ct per kWh, no one can afford to let that shit run 24/7.

[zer0defex]

You really believe "most people" use socket strips and a remote control to turn their tv's on and off each time? In the words of respected philosopher Nelson (from The Simpsons), "Ha Ha"

[kuschku]

"most people" depends on where you live. In my region, obviously, this is the case.

[aianus]

Where is that? That's literally 4-6x more expensive than my electricity.

[kuschku]

Germany, for example (Where I live). Most people don’t live in the US, and for most people wasting 1.20$ for a product where you save one or two lines of code to integrate it is not okay.

I seriously rewrote several web products myself that I'd have to normally pay 4$ or so per month for. I took over development for the QuasselDroid Android client because I could not afford IRCCloud. I ended up rewriting all the features of Reddit Gold last night as a browser extension because I can’t afford wasting money on Reddit Gold.

It’s problematic wasting money in one place, but for a dozen services at once? Nope, that’s gonna bankrupt a student who has no income except for a small grant.

[i336_]

I followed this thread with much interest, and I'm glad I did.

I was just gilded this afternoon, and was able to confirm for the first time that new comment highlighting is not particularly hard for RES to pull off, it just doesn't do it for political reasons.

Hence, the only way would be to quietly develop an extension for the purpose... or, strike the jackpot, and come across someone who's done just that :D

Might I borrow your extension? =P

(My email address is in my profile if you prefer to respond that way)

[aianus]

> Germany, for example.

40c per kWh is outrageous. This certainly goes a long way in explaining the dismal failure of Tesla in Germany so far.

[Dylan16807]

Your TV uses 25 watts on standby?

[kuschku]

No, but electricity is 40 cents per kWh.

[Dylan16807]

Well, that's not typical of most of the world, and that's still a lot more watts than something on standby should be using.

[kuschku]

That’s typical for most of the EU. A group of 500 million people. More than the US. Meaning, there are more people unplugging TVs to save money than there people who are able to waste their money on Starbucks coffees.

And if more people are unplugging their TVs to save money than there are people wasting money on Starbucks coffees, then maybe, just maybe, saving 1.20$ per month on a VPS is worth it.

[Dylan16807]

I guess wikipedia needs an update because by its numbers the europe average seems to be half that.