Funding Espruino

I hadn't heard of the Redbear Duo before, but I see:

JavaScript - Yes. If you know JavaScript already, you are ready to go! We are porting an open source JavaScript interpreter for microcontroller to the Duo

I'd be interested to see which one - I guess it could be Espruino already, given it's an ST chip? Although there's enough RAM that it might not be.

RedBear contacted me just over a year ago about using Espruino:

Just want to inform you that we are porting your code to an ARM M4 platform and if successful, we will sell a board using the ported codes.

So I guess this could be it. At the time I asked if they'd contribute something to help support the project (in return for me listing the board on the site and helping to support their users), and it went quiet soon after.

And I just realised - the copyright case I'm fighting at the moment is with Beijing Red Fox (a translation from the legal firm) from Sept. 12, 2014 - one week before I was contacted by Red Bear Labs. It could well just be coincidence at the moment though, especially as Red Bear seem to be based in Hong Kong - I've asked the legal firm for confirmation.

... so basically, I have tried to get some manufacturers to support it and will continue to do so. The problem is really that very few people value the actual software (or the documentation/support) - and because it's Open Source many companies think: "Why should I pay for this if my competitors can use it for free?" (that's an actual email I got).

About all I've got that I can convince them with is the fact that I own the copyright and control the website - so can choose whether I advertise their product or not.

Of course the other side of this is say I did manage to get a $1/board royalty in return for providing support on the website. I don't think that would actually pay for the time I spend - I'd have to start providing significantly less support per user if that were the case.