View source for Bounties

{{stub}}

There are a few different takes on how to use '''bounties''' to encourage work on specific projects, or to share support from specific organizations.  

Specific ideas:
* [[Bounties for awesome]] (highlighting specific projects/problems)
* [[Summer of Content]] (projects and mentors)
* Bounties for coding projects needed

== Background ==

=== Past project experiences ===

Sources for bounty info: [http://www.google.com/search?q=trac+bounties Google for trac bounties]

* [http://www.libsecondlife.org/wiki/Bounties libsecondlife Bounties] - offers USD and Linden-dollars

* [http://trac.adiumx.com/wiki/Bounties Adium Bounties]

* [http://www.tinymail.org/trac/tinymail/wiki/Bounties Tinymail Bounties] (none currently)

* [http://www.drqueue.org/project/wiki/Bounties Dr Queue Bounties] (Wiki-based none currently)

* [http://trac.symfony-project.com/wiki/Bounties Symfony Bounties]

* http://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/dev/2007-April/thread.html#4186

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040605075206/www.gnome.org/bounties/ Gnome bounties] (archive, no longer done)

What to consider: rules, eligibility, project length, bounty size, incremental updates

This is something that's been done by CodeWeavers for the wine project, mostly by corporations who wanted certain features. Legal Aid Manitoba had CodeWeavers make their application Childview work on wine for $2,000. Walt Disney paid them for work as well. 

=== Issues ===
Mako has written [http://mako.cc/writing/funding_volunteers/funding_volunteers.html a paper] on the funding of volunteerism.

It is hard to gauge the effect offering bounties will have on a development community, especially one such as OLPC that relies on some sort of intrinsic motivation for development. Louis Villa wrote [http://tieguy.org/blog/2006/06/18/crowding-out-of-intrinsic-motivations-aka-the-bounty-problem/ crowding out of intrinsic motivations], a review of literature related to the effects of offering/charging money in certain situations, specifically in relation and response to GNOME's [http://web.archive.org/web/20040605075206/www.gnome.org/bounties/ bounty program] (Archive.org link, program is no longer active).

Maemo developers [http://www.mail-archive.com/maemo-developers@maemo.org/msg06814.html discussed bounties] (referencing Villa's blog entry).

=== Notes ===

* Pidgin: (from #pidgin on freenode):

 14:53 < erikg> is there a bounty program in effect for pidgin development?
 14:54 < ``Cube> erikg: I wouldn't go for that. A friend of mine once took one for 
                 1,500$ only not to receive the bounty after finishing the plugin
 14:58 < erikg> ``Cube: wow.
 14:58 < erikg> ``Cube: do you know anyone who's gotten one?  or is it just vapor.
 14:58 < ``Cube> erikg: vapor?
 14:59 < ``Cube> oh well no, I'm sorry, but I know there definitely are some 
                 bounties  for adium (I know that wasn't your question, but might 
                 help you out)
 14:59 < Err> I don't know what ``Cube is talking about (and have doubts that he 
              does, either), but pidgin does not have an official bounty program
 14:59 < ``Cube> Err: yea, that's the problem: not official
 15:00 < erikg> adium.  yes
 15:00 < Err> that's not the problem - the problem is that nobody ever draws up 
              contracts for these things, which is the only way you can 
              realistically expect not to get robbed

== Sources for Possible Wanted Items ==
* [[Projects_and_proposals|Projects and proposals]]
* [[Software_projects|Software projects]]