Bounties, ports, software... How much.

[stustaff]

Ok so I am new to the scene and I know such things as competitions with prizes for software and devfunds exist etc.


However does a 'private' model make sense?


Eg a dev or someone capable of porting states that they will port or create title X


People interested in the title 'buy' a copy of the software in advance and the funds are held by a third party until the work is completed. The funds are then paid when the software is to the spec originally advertised by the dev.


So basically dev goes "I will start create/port GAME X once the fund total reaches £200"


Could this be a central site? Does this already exist? Wouldn't even need to be pandora specific.


I got thinking about this as I would like to help create software for the pandora but have no skills or inclination to learn, but I would be happy to directly pay for something I wanted.


EgI went out and spent £60 on two games last week, but why not be able to 'buy' a pandora game or piece of software.


I know there is unofficial fund but think people would be more likely to 'buy' a specific title.

 

[Blue Protoman]

You know, this is actually a pretty good idea.

 

[stustaff]

You know, this is actually a pretty good idea.

I thought so but I'm slightly biased on it.

 

[rabidpoobear]

The problem with this is that


1) you force the dev to make a requirements that everyone agrees on


2) you take away his autonomy


3) he is tied to the original requirements and can't make changes that he wants


4) if the project fails he gets no money


so you're basically turning it into a worse version of a job.


Think of it like this: I'm an entry-level programmer, and I make around $25-30 an hour for the work I do. Someone who is higher up than me (I really should be making more but my company doesn't acknowledge my Masters degree) would make significantly more. My company bills our customers $185 an hour for the work I do.


Just writing requirements for a project that's even a little bit extensive is going to take at least 5-10 hours. And the time they take to agree on the scope and argue every little point with the 100+ people who contributed to the fund (i'm sure everyone who donates si going to feel like they have a say in what the program should do) is going to eat up another 10-20 hours at least. SO you've more than overshot your budget just for getting the software specified.


A much better way would be to foster in the community a concept of "donating" for good software. I'd much rather people vote with their wallets on finished software than have to be bound to a contract with the community, and not even for a lot of compensation at that. The freedom to do what we want is 90% of why we do this work for free.


Just my 2 cents.

 

[Austin25]

The problem with this is that


1) you force the dev to make a requirements that everyone agrees on


2) you take away his autonomy


3) he is tied to the original requirements and can't make changes that he wants


4) if the project fails he gets no money


so you're basically turning it into a worse version of a job.


Think of it like this: I'm an entry-level programmer, and I make around $25-30 an hour for the work I do. Someone who is higher up than me (I really should be making more but my company doesn't acknowledge my Masters degree) would make significantly more. My company bills our customers $185 an hour for the work I do.


Just writing requirements for a project that's even a little bit extensive is going to take at least 5-10 hours. And the time they take to agree on the scope and argue every little point with the 100+ people who contributed to the fund (i'm sure everyone who donates si going to feel like they have a say in what the program should do) is going to eat up another 10-20 hours at least. SO you've more than overshot your budget just for getting the software specified.


A much better way would be to foster in the community a concept of "donating" for good software. I'd much rather people vote with their wallets on finished software than have to be bound to a contract with the community, and not even for a lot of compensation at that. The freedom to do what we want is 90% of why we do this work for free.


Just my 2 cents.

Right, a contest rather than an agreement. How is the current dev fund set up to be used?

 

[Gerix]

There was this thread on the old forums about development bounties. It's pretty old, though. I don't know if any of it is still relevant. Also, there are games you need to buy for the Pandora, like Quake or Baldur's Gate. Check gog.com or steam. Actually, it would be nice to have a thread or wiki posting that showed all the games that need to be bought in order to get the data files.

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

Ok so I am new to the scene and I know such things as competitions with prizes for software and devfunds exist etc.


However does a 'private' model make sense?


Eg a dev or someone capable of porting states that they will port or create title X


People interested in the title 'buy' a copy of the software in advance and the funds are held by a third party until the work is completed. The funds are then paid when the software is to the spec originally advertised by the dev.


So basically dev goes "I will start create/port GAME X once the fund total reaches £200"


Could this be a central site? Does this already exist? Wouldn't even need to be pandora specific.


I got thinking about this as I would like to help create software for the pandora but have no skills or inclination to learn, but I would be happy to directly pay for something I wanted.


EgI went out and spent £60 on two games last week, but why not be able to 'buy' a pandora game or piece of software.


I know there is unofficial fund but think people would be more likely to 'buy' a specific title.

Hmm i have thought about this too.If for example a developer took preorders on their game/software and used this to fund the software at least or make a little profit.I think a central location like the appstore is critical to facilitate paid for software.Then at least more ambitious software could be made.I dont think it will be long before there are 4000 plus pandoras out there and a standard sd card image or dowload with a select few programs that are optimised for pandora is needed.Eg one music player,one mediaplayer with pandora specific hotkeys and made to fit properly on the screen.(some programs dont fit right)Too many opensource choices leads to fragmentation.Choice is good but standardisation is essential for the pandoras progression.

 

[XxionxX]

So where do I put my money? There are two threads talking about this and neither one has any real ideas yet. I want to help but this seems so fragmented. I would like to be able to pool our money, it makes more sense.


What about having one website where people could choose their method of money intake. People could post their wants and projects and developers could choose to have a donate button, a bounty button etc. That way even if people disagree on the method of funding or projects that need doing, everyone could find all of the projects located on one place. Does a place like this already exist?

 

[tsh]

So where do I put my money? There are two threads talking about this and neither one has any real ideas yet. I want to help but this seems so fragmented. I would like to be able to pool our money, it makes more sense.


What about having one website where people could choose their method of money intake. People could post their wants and projects and developers could choose to have a donate button, a bounty button etc. That way even if people disagree on the method of funding or projects that need doing, everyone could find all of the projects located on one place. Does a place like this already exist?

I'm not really a dev, but bounties are kind of secondary to the choice of what is interesting to work on for each individual. You'll struggle to encourage someone to work on a project just because you like the idea. I think this is why a competition works well - it's more about the recognition than the cash. Some devs will have a donate link on their website...

 

[Norfen]

The bounty idea seems pretty good. People put money into a fund, someone submits software, community votes whether to award the bounty or not. This ensures good software, and if it's something alot of people want a good dev gets paid well.

 

[XxionxX]

I'm not really a dev, but bounties are kind of secondary to the choice of what is interesting to work on for each individual. You'll struggle to encourage someone to work on a project just because you like the idea. I think this is why a competition works well - it's more about the recognition than the cash. Some devs will have a donate link on their website...

That is just it, I don't know all of the devs, I don't know where their websites are, and I don't know how to award my money in an efficient manner. I don't want to post a bounty on something I know nothing about. I want to donate to the most productive projects/devs. I would like for certain things to get done, so I would like to donate to those projects which I prefer. My idea is for all of this kind of stuff to be available on one website so I don't give funds to the wrong people. I don't really like hunting for devs, but I do have some extra cash I would like to throw their way.


I would like for my money to go twards specific things.I don't really like to give blanket donations. I used to work for a non-profit, and I know how the process of donating money works. Some money comes with too many strings attached and so no one wants it. On the other hand, when people just give money away it tends to get mis-appropriated in ways that the original donor would not want. A happy medium is best for everyone. I want my money to go in a particular direction, but I am not to picky about much after that.


This whole process of devs and projects is so disjointed that I have trouble making sense of it all. We have all kinds of info in the forum but it is so difficult to find. I find projects that I like totally by accident and I am sure there are many more that I am unaware of entirely. How many projects die because no one can see them? I bet there are tons. Is there no way for this process to be streamlined?

 

[Austin25]

Hmm i have thought about this too.If for example a developer took preorders on their game/software and used this to fund the software at least or make a little profit.I think a central location like the appstore is critical to facilitate paid for software.Then at least more ambitious software could be made.I dont think it will be long before there are 4000 plus pandoras out there and a standard sd card image or dowload with a select few programs that are optimised for pandora is needed.Eg one music player,one mediaplayer with pandora specific hotkeys and made to fit properly on the screen.(some programs dont fit right)Too many opensource choices leads to fragmentation.Choice is good but standardisation is essential for the pandoras progression.

Open source philosophy is entirely about choice. Choices may lead to fragmentation, but standardization leads to corruption.

 

[myownlittlworld]

So where do I put my money? There are two threads talking about this and neither one has any real ideas yet. I want to help but this seems so fragmented. I would like to be able to pool our money, it makes more sense.


What about having one website where people could choose their method of money intake. People could post their wants and projects and developers could choose to have a donate button, a bounty button etc. That way even if people disagree on the method of funding or projects that need doing, everyone could find all of the projects located on one place. Does a place like this already exist?

XxionxX, development bounties already exist. As I mentioned in the other thread, bounties, the development fund, and the Pandora donations page are probably good places to give money to. Whether they're the best places to give money to is an entirely different question. Best is quite subjective.

 

[Blue Protoman]

I wonder how much ports of every ABA game would go for...

 

[Gren]

I wonder how much ports of every ABA game would go for...

Money, money, money.....

 

[stustaff]

Very clever


Luke VP does make some good points however I don't think they are show stoppers.


Wrath of khan puts a nice point to it.


Basically it's a dev selling a preorder.


My suggestion fits in so that the dev advertises on the site and then people 'pay' money to that site which holds the money until the project is completed.


The dev can always change the spec and if they do the site couldmbe update son buyers could cancel and have the money back. Or if the dev gives up then money would be refunded.

 

[gosse]

You could use services like Kickstarter or RocketHub to get such crowd funding.


Usually works by setting incentives for tiered funding, with some having limited spots.


Ex:


5$ will get you access to the source code once finished.


25$ will get you access to the source repository as soon as I start.


500$ will get you a hard copy of the code with my face printed on the cover page.


2500$: I'll show up to your place worldwide and we'll go out for a pint.


Also, if the funding isn't reached until the set limit, everybody gets their money/points back and the project failed funding, and the submitter doesn't receive a dime.

 

[XxionxX]

Those would work if we started to use them but I have a feeling that people may be biased against those sites (whatever their reasons). I could be wrong, but I would like to donate to something like that. Do any devs have a project they would like to make into a fund? Or maybe some kind of team effort?

 

[Blue Protoman]

Or, do any people want a game ported that they'd be willing to pay for?

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

Those would work if we started to use them but I have a feeling that people may be biased against those sites (whatever their reasons). I could be wrong, but I would like to donate to something like that. Do any devs have a project they would like to make into a fund? Or maybe some kind of team effort?

i guess a pandora developers site would be useful,with creators posting about their projects with paypal donation links.Then everyone would know what they were paying for.If something like this linked from the appstore or such.