This is a thought that came to my mind no more than a moment ago and i really think its a great idea, but please discuss it here.
the basic idea works like this:
THE PROBLEM
1) i see a module i like, but darn it has bugs and i cant use it. but i really need to use it!
2) i decide to hire a developer to fix it for me, but darn i have not enough money to spend on it.
THE SOLUTION
I, some one that is interested in a particular module, decide to 'pre-pay' some amount of money to a particular module. other people that are hopefuly interested in this module will also 'pre-pay' some amount of money. Drupal.org (or a trusted 3rd party) will hold all that money untill some developer comes along and decides that enough money accumulated that is worth his time, he works on the module, fixes it all, submits back to drupal. drupal team or specially designated team of people approve this module at which point the developer will be able to retrieve the money that was allocated to this module through 'pre-pay'.
also the "specially designated team of people" could be those people that pre-paid some of the development fees.
depending on urgency and importance people could prepay $1 or $10 or $100 or more.
also maybe i dont even need the module but i want to support some module, then i will also pre-pay it.
I think that this will not only help drupal community by speeding up module development support, but it will also help those lonesome developers that dont work and need some extra cash to survive. perhaps this will create a steady stream of revenue for some people.
please discuss this idea. some questions i have are: how does this impact the "open source" or the "free" community. how realistic is this idea in general? how or who will play the role of a "bank" for those modules. who will be the "testing and approving" team for the completed modules. and so on.
please discuss.
Comments
I think with the new Drupal
I think with the new Drupal Association should be able to eventually coordinate such efforts. The hard part is the accounting and accountability.
This exact method is used by charities and other non-profits who take money for designated projects, and when they have enough, they execute the project as defined. A Drupal example would be http://drupal.org/node/77562, to update the release system of modules. There is also check http://groups.drupal.org/projects-needing-financing.
-Greg
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I don't know that the Association would coordinate such efforts but there is a page in the handbook on reverse bounties.
http://drupal.org/node/110998
Generally this relies on those interested in funding the module to coordinate on getting the work done.
-Steven Peck
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Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain
-Steven Peck
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Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide
Ubuntu uses a similar model
Ubuntu uses a similar model to this for their bounties. I don't know exactly how they run it internally, but if you donate to them, you can specify a bounty or feature to which you would like the money allocated. If you just send money with no specific message, they will send you an e-mail back asking if you would like for it to be allocated to a specific project.
Perhaps a "bounties" module that integrates between Project and E-Commerce would be in order?
yes bounties it is! such a
yes bounties it is! such a simple word descrives my whole paragraph and that is exactly what i meant.
Sometimes something interesting appears on http://litwol.com
a shameless bump to
a shameless bump to encourage discussion.
Sometimes something interesting appears on http://litwol.com
bounties and reverse
bounties and reverse bounties have been used on drupal.org for quite a few different projects.