I think its kind of crappy that the author was doing us a favor by setting up a pool first only to get undercut by someone else. Especially when the author isn't pre-mining. Then again I'm guessing his pool will start first so we will see.
Well, 4% is not a favor. It's gouging. Had he gone with 1-2% I would support his pool in principle. But 4% is almost unheard of. Also, a diversity of pools is useful when some will inevitably go down.
I agree with this if it was at 2% I would donate 1% just to help out...but forcing 4% is out of my comfort zone. I would rather donate to the op via address than mine on that pool.