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javispedro's Avatar
Posts: 2,355 | Thanked: 5,249 times | Joined on Jan 2009 @ Barcelona
#11
Originally Posted by dukemagus View Post
in fact... offer a bounty works more like a symbolic act to say "HEY, I REALLY WOULD LIKE SOMEONE DO IT"... it's a good way to catch the dev's attention (and maybe sympathy for your request)
It surely is. In fact, I appreciate more the fact that he has shown he is really interested, the descriptive message of his request (including potential problems!), and the fact that he actually offers help for non-programming related things than the $20. Much better than your average request.

(On the other side, I'm sorry that port is not going to come from me)
 
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#12
The problems with bounties (the idea has been brought up before), is that it discourages something the open source model encourages: collaboration. Instead of having a couple developers work together to get something done, they'll fight against each other to be the first to get it done and get the money. This leads to projects that are completed poorly, and leaves out the possibility for beginning developers to learn how to port. Where a new developer might be interested in helping you out, if you place a bounty on it, the more experienced developers would be less likely to help the young developer out.

I think a list where people can vote on what should be done is a better idea. Also, developers should add paypal donate buttons. If you like a project, donate to it! That's the best way to get more development done.
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#13
I add a vote for a separate subforum for ports with bounties. I'm actually gonna go shopping right now for software I'd pay to see ported. There's been many a time I've come across something I've wanted and not been able to get to work (without scratchbox/porting that I'm currently incapable of)
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#14
Donation links are probably more feasible as TrueJournals said.

As Texrat knows first-hand, hardware-addon-related stuff has always been tricky. Does the dev ask to borrow hardware? Ask for donations? Come out of their own pocket?

I miss Google Answers (no, Yahoo Answers is no substitute, it's a totally different arena). People would pay for good, detailed answers to questions. I don't remember if they had software requests but that would have been nice (tricky to manage though).
 
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#15
Originally Posted by TrueJournals View Post
The problems with bounties (the idea has been brought up before), is that it discourages something the open source model encourages: collaboration. Instead of having a couple developers work together to get something done, they'll fight against each other to be the first to get it done and get the money. This leads to projects that are completed poorly, and leaves out the possibility for beginning developers to learn how to port. Where a new developer might be interested in helping you out, if you place a bounty on it, the more experienced developers would be less likely to help the young developer out.

I think a list where people can vote on what should be done is a better idea. Also, developers should add paypal donate buttons. If you like a project, donate to it! That's the best way to get more development done.
there are some tasks and projects which just wont get done without some form of bounty.
take this:
http://talk.maemo.org/showpost.php?p...7&postcount=68

its a feasible task, but complex.

having bounties for porting programs or whatnot doesn't make much sense and in that respect you would be right.
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#16
I reckon that would be done without a bounty though, it just needs someone who knows how to do it. No bounty is really going to pay me enough to sit down and learn that stuff for a single project unless I'm interested, and if I'm interested anyway the kudos from doing the work is probably as good as/better than a bounty anyway. IMHO of course
 

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#17
Originally Posted by lardman View Post
I reckon that would be done without a bounty though, it just needs someone who knows how to do it. No bounty is really going to pay me enough to sit down and learn that stuff for a single project unless I'm interested, and if I'm interested anyway the kudos from doing the work is probably as good as/better than a bounty anyway. IMHO of course
indeed, the example I gave is the hardest thing I have seen though and the few people who I do know with the skills and actual knowledge to get it running on their machine lose energy at the final difficult hurdle and leave the knowledge locked away in their install.
(perhaps because those same people are not so strong at creating a new package from scratch themselves and could do with talking with some folks that do?..)

Its not so much incentive to make use of their skills, it would just be a bit of a thank you to someone who went that little extra and made it available for everyone.

regarding kudos - thats a given, its the best part of community development
it would be foolhardy to not fully credit those that come up with cool things.
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#18
Wow, thanks for all of the replies. I did post it on Friday in the Games forum, but no responses yet. I can't figure out programming for the life of me, so unfortunately it's an itch I can't scratch for myself. Either way, Einstein is a fun little mind bender of a game. Give it a try if you have a little time to kill.
 
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#19
I like the idea of bounties -- and, I don't think they discourage collaboration (especially if the bounty-provider wants to be a part of development). If everyone goes into a deal that keeps the open source philosophy in mind, there shouldn't (imho) be a problem. Sometimes, all a project needs is an expert. I don't see an issue with giving that person the bounty. (Sure, it might not be a lot, but it might be just enough to motivate someone to work on something they've been putting off.)

Tim
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#20
jaem took me up on it. He's almost done! check out the thread $20 bounty for Einstein port in the "games" forum.
 

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