Re: [HACKERS] Increased company involvement

pgman wrote:
> Kris Jurka wrote:
> > One thing that definitely would be nice would be to be able to combine
> > funds from various sponsors for various features. Alone a company can't
> > spring for it, but by pooling resources it could get done. This is a lot
> > tougher to coordinate and unless there is a complete spec in place
> > different sponsors will pull in different directions. Other bounty type
> > schemes don't seem to produce results, largely from a lack of cash.
> > (Here's $500 for two weeks of work).
> >
> > Anyone care to shed some light on how it works now?
>
> I can tell you how I have done it. If a company contacts me to add a
> feature, I find the person I think is most qualified, check their
> availability, and then get them in touch with the donor. In some cases,
> I coordinate the work, and actually funnel the money and guarantee that
> the developer will be paid. I can do that because I often have an
> existing relationship with the funding company and the developer.

Also, there has been some discussion that there should be more
centralization. We have thought of that in the past, and many folks
have talked to me and other community members about this.

The thing that limits centralization is that it is critical that any
individual or company feel free to join the community efforts. When
centralization happens, there is often an _in_ and and _out_ group that
is very bad for encouraging new members. Even the core group tries to
do as little as possible as core members, for exactly this reason. We
created core only so we had a limited group that could make quick
decisions and allow confidential discussions with companies or
individuals. We don't want core to steer development anymore than we
want a centralized group to do that, because if we did, the next company
that comes along and wants to enhance PostgreSQL or offer technical
support services will feel they have to get approval/buy-in from the
_in_ group, and that isn't a productive setup. The fact that new
companies getting involved can't find a central authority is a _good_
thing, if you think about it. It means that we have succeeded in
building a community that allows people to join and feel a part right
away, and they don't have to buy-in or play politics to do it.

--
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