Hi, On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 08:10:56PM +1200, Gregory Plummer wrote:
> Hi all, I would like to offer a small cash incentive for tasks needing > to be completed. It would be great if the Hurd could support file > systems greater than 2 GB in size. How would I go about sponsoring > this feature? Some input on the best way to do this would be > appreciated. First of all, please don't get me wrong: We greatly appreciate your offer! :-) However, I don't think that bounties for completed tasks are the best approach. The main problem with bounties is that they usually greatly undervalue the necessary work: In this case, as Michael explained, it's not quite clear, as the code is already there, and "only" needs to made ready for upstream acceptance; however, if it was to be implemented from scratch, the cost of a developer at a typical salary would easily amount to $10000 or more... Now one could argue of course that the bounties are not meant to attract professional developers, but hobbyists etc. -- however, anyone who can complete such a task -- even if he is a college kid still -- should have no trouble finding a much better paid job... Thus the money itself is hardly motivation enough -- it can only be considered symbolic, only a fraction of the real value of the work... So if we indeed have people willing to do it at this symbolic price, there must already be enough other motivation to cover all the rest -- some genuine interest and willingness to contribute to the project. Isn't it a better investment then, to try to further these kinds of motivation, so they fill also the missing bit; by making the project more interesting, more visible? For example by sponsoring developer conferences, or some small PR work perhaps?... -antrik-
