gEDA-user: Re: google checkout buttons to implement SW development bounties

[Stephen Williams <steve@xxxxxxxxxx>]

al davis wrote:
> Why all that overhead?
> 
> The people who made the software have already established a 
> track record.  Anyone funding it will do so based on that.  We 
> don't need the middleman.  They can just send a check.

An advantage of electronic payments is that they can be done
internationally with little fuss by credit card.

> I can't see paying just anyone who comes along for enhancements 
> to an active project.

Well, that's up to the client to decide, isn't it?

> The only place I see for broadcast bounties I see is to get 
> something new.  I have been considering offering a bounty for 
> someone to make a good quality replacement for autotools.  It's 
> even on GNU's list of needs, but they want to do in in guile 
> which is a mistake.  It must be written entirely in "make" 
> and /bin/sh.

Client says: "I need bug #123456 fixed and I'm willing to pay
you $250 to get to the head of the line."

Or Client says: "I want intrinsic support for imaginary numbers,
and I'm willing to pay $475 to get this working."

> Steve:  At a OSEDA dinner you told me that you have had some 
> paying customers, who paid you for Icarus Verilog improvements.  
> You said it was not enough to quit the day job, but it sounded 
> like a lot of money to me, compared to average salaries where I 
> live.
> 
> What arrangements do you have?  How do you negotate? Etc....

That has dried up and I haven't got new work along those lines.
I was basically hired on as a consultant, with a consulting
contract and 1099s. It worked for a little while because it was
ongoing so didn't require a fresh contract for each little task.
But it did bind me to them as I have finite time to enter into
multiple time commitments.

That sort of thing is really only practical if people can get
their company to enter into a contract. It requires negotiations
and approvals and legal department's sign off -- Phone calls,
paper mails back and forth for signatures, etc. Not at all conducive
to impuse buying:-) A boiler-plate contract helps somewhat.

The market I'm hoping to tap into is the little one-offs that can
be expensed without all these negotiations. There are plenty of
$200 tasks that a client can just expense with only the sign-off
of a supervisor after the fact. All they need is a receipt.

If someone wants to contract me (er um geda developer) for ongoing
support, that's a separate path that doesn't need this kind of
lubrication.


-- 
Steve Williams                "The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
steve at icarus.com           But I have promises to keep,
http://www.icarus.com         and lines to code before I sleep,
http://www.picturel.com       And lines to code before I sleep."



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