Re: [HACKERS] Raising funds for PostgreSQL

I like most of the wording, but the idea behind a pledge is to provide a
pool of money, dedicated towards a particular feature, that we have
reserved, on hand, to be able to contract out. If a "feature" gets $100
in pledges and someone pops up, says I'll do it, pledging for that feature
will freeze at that point, and the programmer will get paid after his code
has been submitted, approved and entered into the repository...

A pledge is record/valid when, and only when, the pledge has been
received...

On Tue, 7 Dec 1999, Kyle Bateman wrote:

> The Hermit Hacker wrote:
>
> > Here...
> >
> > http://www.pgsql.com/features/
> >
> > Have to get it format'd and need to build up the CGI, but this is what you
> > asking for? :)
> >
>
> That looks great. You don't waste alot of time, do you...
>
> For what its worth, here's the language I would suggest for the page:
>
> "This page enables you to help the Postgresql project move along more
> quickly and at the same time it will help you get the new features you
> want and need the most. Below are a list of enhancements under
> consideration by the development team. However it is not known when
> each will bubble up to the top of the priority list and actually get
> done.
>
> If one of these features is important to you, you can pledge a certain
> amount of money ($100 minimum, please) toward that feature. If you
> want to help build the pool, tell others about this page and encourage
> them to pledge toward those features they feel are needed the most.
>
> When the accumulation of pledges on any feature reaches the level
> preset by the development team, you will be contacted at the email
> address you supply. You will then have 2 weeks to actually send in
> your pledge. If the pledges actually received are still high enough
> to justify the project, your feature will be completed and you will be
> notified of the next release which includes it.
>
> If the development team does not successfully complete your feature,
> or if an insufficient amount of the pledges are actually collected,
> you will be given the option of getting your money back or applying
> the amount toward another feature. If you make a pledge and then do
> not honor it, you will not be eligible to make future pledges or for
> support through PostgreSQL Inc.
>
> Of the funds collected through this mechanism, 10% will be used for
> administrative purposes. The remaining 90% will go directly to the
> developer(s) working on your enhancement.
>
> To get an item added to this list, please send email to Jeff
> MacDonald. If the item is not already on the TODO list, it will get
> brought up, discussed, and if entered onto the TODO list, will also be
> entered here. You will then be contacted to let you know your entry
> has been added, so that you can make your pledge.

> 1. Exclude items from the list which will be completed in the next 2-3 months anyway

why? if someone feels that WAL is important, and wants to pledge towards
getting that completed, so be it...most of the TODO list is currently
under someone's responsibility (WAL == Vadim)...if ppl want to pledge
$100+ for Vadim to work on this, so be it...when its released, we send
Vadim a cheque for $100+ - 10% ... I don't think he'd refuse, now, do
you? :)

> 2. Take bids from the development team in advance on each feature.
> In other words, how many dollars would they need to start on the
> enhancement today.
> 3. Do not disclose these bids to the public
> 4. Do not disclose the received pledges to date to the public

I don't like this ...

> 5. Show on the page how much has been pledged toward the feature only
> as a percentage of the amount needed to start the work

The pledges are, IMHO, an incentive for a developer to develop that
feature...if 10 ppl pledge $100 for WAL (sorry, so much talk about it
recently its what first comes to mind), and the 11th person feels its
worth another $100 to get done, why put a cap? Or, if feature X is
something that none of the developers really care about, but 15 admins do,
the higher the pledges go, the more incentive there is for it to get
done...I think its up to those doing the pledges to determine what they
thing a feature is worth in the scheme of things...if the pledges to get
$1000 for a feature, and none of the developers feels up to doing it,
should we cap it?

> 6. Include a buffer (20%?) to allow for uncollectable pledges

As mentioned above...a pledge isn't listed if not-collected...

> 7. When the pledge is made, bring up a page with an electronic
> contract with Accept and Decline buttons. This contract should
> contain language which is legally binding and which would hold up in a
> small claims court. That way if someone makes a pledge and you
> complete the feature, you could actually collect your money from them
> if you wanted to. I can probably help with the language of this if
> you want.

More headaches then its worth, really...see above...

> 8. After a feature has been funded and completed, publish all the
> details (bids, pledge amounts, who donated, who flaked on their
> pledges, etc.)

Not in my life time...what are we trying for, guilt trips? :(

> 9. Include prominent information about how to participate in this
> program on all the web page headers/footers and in the distribution
> README's. A catchy link might be "How to get your favorite feature
> added into PostgreSQL" You should probably throw something into these
> mailing lists from time to time too.

Agreed...

> 10. Are you set up to take credit cards? This would be nice but I
> think you can do without it.

Definitely...

> 11. You probably should probably choose US Dollars as the standard
> interchange format. However, this should appeal to an international
> market. If you get set up with a web credit card vendor, they can
> probably handle exchange issues for you automatically.

We do all our values in Canadian, actually...with a link to one of the
online Exchanges for translating values...if I can somehow figure out how
to tie into one of those, where I pass it something like:

?from=canadian&to=us&value=###.##

then I wouldn't be adverse to adding that to the web page...anyone?

Marc G. Fournier ICQ#7615664 IRC Nick: Scrappy
Systems Administrator @ hub.org
primary: scrappy(at)hub(dot)org secondary: scrappy(at){freebsd|postgresql}.org