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OS2 World.Com Bounty System => General Discussion => Topic started by: kim on 2008.03.25, 17:12:11

Title: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: kim on 2008.03.25, 17:12:11
About the bounty system; one suggestion that has been made on how we can improve the bounty system is that we actually asks the developers to set a fixed price that can be guaranteed if the task is fulfilled. This would actually be a way of prioritizing among the several tasks available and as well, it might be more clear for both private and corporate users where to put their money.

Above is a suggestion that has been made and I'm sure that there are several other ways that we can improve the bounty system; but we need you to post the thoughts and ideas - now is the time and not tomorrow! :-)
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: saborion2 on 2008.03.25, 19:40:22
Hi "kimhav, You wrote "About the bounty system; one suggestion that has been made on how we can improve the bounty system is that we actually asks the developers to set a fixed price that can be guaranteed if the task is fulfilled. This would actually be a way of prioritizing among the several tasks available and as well, it might be more clear for both private and corporate users where to put their money..."

Questions that come to mind are as follows:-

1. Who are these "developers" being referred to and in which countries do they reside.

2. If IBM is unwilling to provide access to the OS/2 Source-Codes how then will these
    "developers" in question be in a position to port the respective applications to the
    OS/2, eComStation Platforms.

3. Will/can there be a "central repository" (country) for the resolution of all the OS/2
    Enhancements, Porting issues.

4. What are guarantees on the "life" of an application developed/ported by a
    "developer" or company for that matter.

5. Are there any future engagements/contact planned between IBM and the OS/2 World
    Foundation towards the future of the OS/2 Operating System.

Thanks.

Just my few cents.  ;)
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: kim on 2008.03.25, 21:21:06
Quote from: saborion2 on 2008.03.25, 19:40:221. Who are these "developers" being referred to and in which countries do they reside.

Ah... the developers, well you're guess is as good as mine ;-) To be honest; we could use more but looking at utilities released it seems that we can find a few of them in Germany, US, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary.. guess that I missed out a few countries there. But, what this shows is that the "resources" that we have are scattered out all over and Netlabs and Warpstock are among other two forums that you'll find a few of them. I also hope that OS2 World is an inviting hang out for developers. But, we sure could use more and therefore I also think that we should figure out how we can make the best of the situation that we have. As well, if we could add a few bucks into the whole master plan I think that this could make it all a bit better. Also and I know that this has been a topic earlier, but creating some kind of developer kit or at least proper documentation how to get started might be a good approach as well. There are still a steady flow of software releases (http://www.os2world.com/content/category/1/13/2/) for OS2 and I think that we all can agree that it's needed to keep this OS alive.

Quote from: saborion2 on 2008.03.25, 19:40:222. If IBM is unwilling to provide access to the OS/2 Source-Codes how then will these
    "developers" in question be in a position to port the respective applications to the
    OS/2, eComStation Platforms.

I don't think I'm the right person to answer above question; but what kind of ports are you talking about that one needs the source code for? As far as I know, porting generic Linux applications doesn't have the need for this; but of course I could be totally off here. Are there any specific ports that you have in mind?

Quote from: saborion2 on 2008.03.25, 19:40:223. Will/can there be a "central repository" (country) for the resolution of all the OS/2
    Enhancements, Porting issues.

Well, among other there has been raised suggestions to set up ticket and bug reporting system to support the bounties and gather everything under the same roof. Primary this will be offered for those who don't want to set up their own ticket system to support a small application.

Quote from: saborion2 on 2008.03.25, 19:40:224. What are guarantees on the "life" of an application developed/ported by a
    "developer" or company for that matter.

Well, in one way we can't; but the rules to be able to claim a bounty clearly states that the code has to be open source. One could then suggest that OS2 World Foundation should be the holder of the source together with the developers to be able to support the continuity of the development. If this is an approach we should go for; I don't know; but I'm very interested of getting input regarding this topic.

Quote from: saborion2 on 2008.03.25, 19:40:225. Are there any future engagements/contact planned between IBM and the OS/2 World
    Foundation towards the future of the OS/2 Operating System.

Yes, there is and we will approach IBM and send them a reply on the letter that we received with suggestion that hopefully should be of benefit for both parties. This among other why OS/2 World.Com now is maintained by OS/2 World Foundation which is registered society in Sweden. Suggestion regarding the petition should be posted in the OS2 Petition (http://www.os2world.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,63/board,42.0/) board.
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: Paul Smedley on 2008.03.25, 22:04:59
Quote from: kimhav on 2008.03.25, 21:21:06
Ah... the developers, well you're guess is as good as mine ;-) To be honest; we could use more but looking at utilities released it seems that we can find a few of them in Germany, US, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary.. guess that I missed out a few countries there.

Cough... Australia.. Cough

:)
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: saborion2 on 2008.03.25, 22:21:43
"Ah... the developers, well you're guess is as good as mine ;-) To be honest; we could use more but looking at utilities released it seems that we can find a few of them in Germany, US, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary.. guess that I missed out a few countries there".

How about the holding of a Developers Conference (international in nature  ??? ) that would enable the compilation of a listing of all the countries in which "developers" are located/can be found.  ::) . If the memory still serves me very well there used to be it is believed an conference named "WarpCon"; and, if such an event is planned for the very near future; and, it is being held in the United States of America then our company will be the first in line to register for this event. ;D

Also, is there any information on the number of "active" OS/2 User Groups around the world?  :-\

BTW, aren't there not some "developers" in a North American country called "Canada". Also, what about the country in South America called Brazil :)

Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: kim on 2008.03.25, 23:25:32
Quote from: Paul Smedley on 2008.03.25, 22:04:59Cough... Australia.. Cough :)

Oups! How could I miss Australia? Well, I was thinking Paul in my head when writing the post; but guess that it stayed there and never came down to the keyboard :-)
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: kim on 2008.03.25, 23:33:10
Quote from: saborion2 on 2008.03.25, 21:59:57Here is a quick response for you; and, this "Bounty" (which is very much likely to be increased once we can get in contact with the "right' folks so that this can be negotiated) was posted by yours truly. ;D

"Native Port of Lotus Notes 8.0, Lotus SameTime... to OS/2"

Right, well true; above bounty need a bit more work; and getting in contact with the right people is of course a need as well. Problem is that we could need some more people to help out with the bounty activities when it comes to contact companies and document our needs. Both Martin and Björn are doing quite a bit and as well we now also have Jan-Erik Lärka who's working on getting some other software open sourced. But, as with all activities, everything takes time when it's a few individuals tied up with loads of activities.

But, having said that; no one would be more happy to get more people to help out with this kind of activities. So anyone open to help out with this; well you know where to find either Björn Söderström who's Bounty Manager or Martin Iturbide and Jan-Erik Lärka who's working with getting software open sourced.
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: kim on 2008.03.25, 23:40:40
Quote from: saborion2 on 2008.03.25, 22:21:43
How about the holding of a Developers Conference (international in nature  ??? ) that would enable the compilation of a listing of all the countries in which "developers" are located/can be found.  ::) . If the memory still serves me very well there used to be it is believed an conference named "WarpCon"; and, if such an event is planned for the very near future; and, it is being held in the United States of America then our company will be the first in line to register for this event. ;D

Well, there are both the Warpstock USA & Europe conference once per year and as well Netlabs Developer conferens in Europe. But, I'm quite sure that if it's possible to rally together more people in different parts of US i'm sure that it's possible to arrange developer conference in US.

Quote from: saborion2 on 2008.03.25, 22:21:43Also, is there any information on the number of "active" OS/2 User Groups around the world?  :-\

Nothing up to date what I know about. I can only speak from the point of view how it is here in Scandinavia and the Swedish OS2 User Group foundet 1991 is now OS/2 World Foundation and user group in Denmark and Norway aren't responding anymore to e-mail sent to them. They do have their sites up still; but saddly now response anymore.

Quote from: saborion2 on 2008.03.25, 22:21:43BTW, aren't there not some "developers" in a North American country called "Canada".  :)

Sure, you'll among other find http://ecomstation.ca/ that I guess would be a good site to start from.
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: chennecke on 2008.03.26, 16:31:14
The most important improvement to me would be to reorganize the handling of money. Basically, this needs to be more transparent and practical.

Currently, you donate the money immediately when you sponsor a bounty. This money is not available to you anymore even if nobody works on that project for a long time. The transfer from the credit card / PayPal account should take place when the task has been completed.

If this way of handling payments turns out to be not viable I suggest placing the money on some bank account where it earns an interest so no actual value is lost due to inflation. This would require some kind of report to the sponsors.

Another thing is the way that things are handled when a bounty is claimed. This also needs to be more transparent. I know that there's the supporting thread in the forum. However, there needs to be some clear way of determining which criteria have been met and - if so - which haven't and to what extent. Unfortunately, this will add some level of bureaucracy but that is better than losing potential sponsors due to distrust.
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: saborion2 on 2008.03.26, 17:27:53
Talking about "money and "banking" (the home of OS/2) - This "crazy" idea (indecent proposal ::)) has popped-up in my head having read "chennecke's" - "The most important improvement to me would be to reorganize the handling of money. Basically, this needs to be more transparent and practical.

Currently, you donate the money immediately when you sponsor a bounty. This money is not available to you anymore even if nobody works on that project for a long time. The transfer from the credit card / PayPal account should take place when the task has been completed.

If this way of handling payments turns out to be not viable I suggest placing the money on some bank account where it earns an interest so no actual value is lost due to inflation. This would require some kind of report to the sponsors..."  ::)

Here it is: Since IBM cannot release the Source-Codes for the OS/2 Operating System for the reasons IBM has stated - how about mandating the OS/2 World Foundation to solicit funds from anywhere in the world (Venture Capitalists, Sponsors, Pre-Paid Subscriptions...) for the specific purposes the enhancements to the OS/2 Operating System and to enable this Operating System to run on Modern Hardware and the creation of Automatic Updates Features of the Operating System for download and installation to users' computers whenever the updates become available (six-monthly...). Overall responsibility for the Management of Funds, Operating System Updates, Maintenance, IT Road Map... will rest with the OS/2 World Foundation. And , those are just the "crazy" ideas (indecent proposals) to be taken to Wall Street and IBM under mandate by the OS/2 World Foundation. ;D ;D ;D

 
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: saborion2 on 2008.03.26, 20:02:02
Oh, Oh! "Talking about "money and "banking" (the home of OS/2)" Now, just what is this "guy" up to (think that you can figure out who the "guy" is from the below article and what he will be saying to this particular banking community?  :-[ )

"Government and Business Leaders to attend IDB Group Annual Meeting in Miami, April 4–8"

"Microsoft's Bill Gates and IDB President Moreno will hold special session" (If "Gates" is going to be there shouldn't the OS/2 World Foundation be there too to *monitor* things  ::) ::) ::)?  ;)

http://www.iadb.org/NEWS/articledetail.cfm?artid=4477&language=En 

So, from "chennecke's" perspective regarding "Improvement of the Bounty System" it may not be all about the "money" management; but, the "technological development aspects/strategies" of/for the OS/2 environment; also, the indomitable will of the Kim Haverblads of the OS/2 World Foundation - moving forward.  :-X

Just my two cents.
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: warpcafe on 2008.03.27, 00:43:14
Quote from: chennecke on 2008.03.26, 16:31:14
The most important improvement to me would be to reorganize the handling of money. Basically, this needs to be more transparent and practical.
I agree!!

Quote from: chennecke on 2008.03.26, 16:31:14
This money is not available to you anymore even if nobody works on that project for a long time.
...yep. I remember that we had been talking about that one year (or more) ago and I also suggested that the bounty admins should check a deadline after which the bounty expires. In return, a bounty sponsor could perhaps include a note "I agree that if the money is not claimed, it might be used for bounty xyz..." or in a pool, whatever....

Quote from: chennecke on 2008.03.26, 16:31:14
Another thing is the way that things are handled when a bounty is claimed. This also needs to be more transparent. I know that there's the supporting thread in the forum. However, there needs to be some clear way of determining which criteria have been met and - if so - which haven't and to what extent. Unfortunately, this will add some level of bureaucracy but that is better than losing potential sponsors due to distrust.
Again, I agree. At least, a checklist of the requested key features should be available, if things are not self-explaining like in "porting bla-bla to eCS". This would be of benefit for the developers (clear targets) but also for those who need to check if the final claim is OK.

Regards,
Thomas
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: warpcafe on 2008.03.27, 00:49:57
Quote from: saborion2 on 2008.03.26, 17:27:53
Here it is: Since IBM cannot release the Source-Codes for the OS/2 Operating System for the reasons IBM has stated - how about mandating the OS/2 World Foundation to solicit funds from anywhere in the world (Venture Capitalists, Sponsors, Pre-Paid Subscriptions...) for the specific purposes the enhancements to the OS/2 Operating System and to enable this Operating System to run on Modern Hardware and the creation of Automatic Updates Features of the Operating System for download and installation to users' computers whenever the updates become available (six-monthly...). Overall responsibility for the Management of Funds, Operating System Updates, Maintenance, IT Road Map... will rest with the OS/2 World Foundation. And , those are just the "crazy" ideas (indecent proposals) to be taken to Wall Street and IBM under mandate by the OS/2 World Foundation. ;D ;D ;D   

Well, for the "enhancements..."-part: Feel free to set up a bounty.
For the "taken to Wall Street and IBM"-part... you named it: Crazy.

Oh, BTW: Do you actually try to link the OS2World bounty system with a global fund that should be used as an incentive for IBM to get back onto the OS/2 track?? Please tell me that I got you wrong...

Regards,
Thomas
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: Andi710 on 2008.03.27, 04:24:30
Quote from: kimhav on 2008.03.25, 17:12:11
Above is a suggestion that has been made and I'm sure that there are several other ways that we can improve the bounty system; but we need you to post the thoughts and ideas - now is the time and not tomorrow! :-)

I would like to be able to put a deadline on the bounty (with an option to extend it in case something moved into the right direction (or the sponsor believes it is still worthwhile to keep the bounty up)). I have quite some money invested in several projects and see only very little (=no) development with some of these (truecrypt for instance). Feels kind of uncomfortable to have a lot of sunk money when it could be used for better (more active) projects ) - or to pay my rent ;o)
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: kim on 2008.03.27, 10:44:34
Quote from: chennecke on 2008.03.26, 16:31:14
The most important improvement to me would be to reorganize the handling of money. Basically, this needs to be more transparent and practical.

This is going to be changed and in the near future we will be able to receive money via normal bank transfers; PayPal might still be needed due to that the bank fees to transfer money from countries outside EC is way too high and here PayPal looks like an alternativ; of course there are other services such as Moneybrookers; but we need alternatives way of handling it. Via MenSys is an alternative also and they've offered them self to help as well. But, as said, everything is going to be moved over to the Foundation.

Quote from: chennecke on 2008.03.26, 16:31:14Currently, you donate the money immediately when you sponsor a bounty. This money is not available to you anymore even if nobody works on that project for a long time. The transfer from the credit card / PayPal account should take place when the task has been completed.

It might be so that it's easier to raise the bounty if people only need to say that they support a bounty; but how would we then actually guarantee the bounty money itself?

And to summarize what several has said is that we need to follow up better on when to quit and end a bounty and in that case move the money to either another open and valid bounty or re-fund of the bounty money. This are the changes that we need to do and as Warpcafe said earlier this is also what we have been talking about earlier. So what it boils down to is that we among other needs to improve and clarify the bounty rules (http://www.os2world.com/bounties/rules.php) that we current have.

And the money handling is something that we're currently working on; there are a few papers that we're still waiting for before making the proper changes of transfering the funds to OS2 WF bank accounts, etc.
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: saborion2 on 2008.03.28, 19:56:00
     
Re: Improvement of the Bounty System

Have the following been considered if the OS/2 World Foundation it to be truly run as a "business entity" and with particular reference to the "Bounty System"!

1. The Financial Management.

2. The Economic Management.

3. The Technical Management.

Just my two cents (skill set) from previous working experiences.  ;)

Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: kim on 2008.03.28, 21:15:05
Well, about OS2 WF - we're are still in the starting process to get everything started up when it comes banking, etc. When it comes to financial and economic tasks we're obligated to follow the laws that apply to us - so in short - yes.

While speaking of different processes it, might in current phase sound a bit overkill to talk about implementation of enterprise-, risk-, information-, data-, technical management. But, yes, there are aspects as well there that we need to think about and already doing.
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: saborion2 on 2008.04.29, 05:24:59
Quote from: Andi710 on 2008.03.27, 04:24:30
Quote from: kimhav on 2008.03.25, 17:12:11
Above is a suggestion that has been made and I'm sure that there are several other ways that we can improve the bounty system; but we need you to post the thoughts and ideas - now is the time and not tomorrow! :-)

I would like to be able to put a deadline on the bounty (with an option to extend it in case something moved into the right direction (or the sponsor believes it is still worthwhile to keep the bounty up)). I have quite some money invested in several projects and see only very little (=no) development with some of these (truecrypt for instance). Feels kind of uncomfortable to have a lot of sunk money when it could be used for better (more active) projects ) - or to pay my rent ;o)

Just to repeat what was said by "Andi710"...
Quote

Above is a suggestion that has been made and I'm sure that there are several other ways that we can improve the bounty system; but we need you to post the thoughts and ideas - now is the time and not tomorrow!


Are there any recent developments with regards to the points mentioned/suggestions made by both "kimhav" and "Andi710" with regards to improvements to the OS/2 World Foundation's Bounty System?

Kindest regards.

SAB
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: kim on 2008.04.29, 11:24:58
On the last board meeting that we had last week we talked through the different suggestions that have been made; but the two major suggestion to improve the system and the flexibility of it are the following:

1) Ask developers for a bounty bid what it would take them to commit  develop and full fill a bounty. By this we would hopefully get a valid price tag on the bounty that should make developers interested of a project.

2) Commit to sponsor a bounty without having to pre-pay the sponsor amount directly. This will be done when the bounty is full filled and every body agrees that the bounty should be paid to the developer. This would hopefully make people to sponsor more projects.

Regarding payments we're currently today using PayPal. But in a week or two we will be able to have people to wire the funds directly to bank account and by that avoiding PayPal. This solution should at least be highly cost effective within EC, so we still need to figure out how to handle transactions from outside EC - meaning keeping the costs as low as possible.

Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: Saijin_Naib on 2008.04.29, 14:29:16
I like using Paypal for myself. It gives me protection that Bank Wire does not give. It also doesnt really cost me anything as far as I know. Maybe have both Bank and Paypal be payment options?
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: kim on 2008.04.29, 15:05:38
Quote from: Saijin_Naib on 2008.04.29, 14:29:16I like using Paypal for myself. It gives me protection that Bank Wire does not give. It also doesnt really cost me anything as far as I know. Maybe have both Bank and Paypal be payment options?

Both option will exist; so no worry. Making bank transfer from the States to a bank account within EC cost way to much and will make the money disappear in fees. A third option has also been proposed and that is to involve MenSys in the Netherlands to make use of their possibility to process credit cards. Clearly something that we will look into.

But, what I really would like some input on is possibility of making a bid on a bounty by developers and as well the option of committing to make payment for an bounty. As it works now, OS2 WF acts as a escrow between the sponsor and developer. The initial ideas was to guarantee that the developer gets the bounty money. But, we clearly needs to get more sponsors and increase the amounts for the bounties.
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: Paul Smedley on 2008.04.30, 06:00:50
Quote from: kimhav on 2008.04.29, 11:24:58
On the last board meeting that we had last week we talked through the different suggestions that have been made; but the two major suggestion to improve the system and the flexibility of it are the following:

1) Ask developers for a bounty bid what it would take them to commit  develop and full fill a bounty. By this we would hopefully get a valid price tag on the bounty that should make developers interested of a project.

2) Commit to sponsor a bounty without having to pre-pay the sponsor amount directly. This will be done when the bounty is full filled and every body agrees that the bounty should be paid to the developer. This would hopefully make people to sponsor more projects.

Some comments:
1) For me at least -this would make no difference.  I have a day job that consumes a lot of hours, and it's also often hard to judge how long something may take and hence what the bounty is 'worth'.  It could also unfairly raise the expectations of the sponsors.  Ie a developer says for $200 I'll make xxx work.  Bounty reaches that level and people want it right away, but to to time constraints it's not possible.

2) The big problem I see is that there will be people (hopefully a minority) that will promise $$$ and never be in a position to actually deliver.  Perhaps a deposit should have to be paid to at least show some level of commitment? Otherwise it's too easy to promise with no commitment.

Just my 0.02 worth...
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: abwillis on 2008.04.30, 07:23:55
Quote from: Paul Smedley on 2008.04.30, 06:00:50
Quote from: kimhav on 2008.04.29, 11:24:58
On the last board meeting that we had last week we talked through the different suggestions that have been made; but the two major suggestion to improve the system and the flexibility of it are the following:

1) Ask developers for a bounty bid what it would take them to commit  develop and full fill a bounty. By this we would hopefully get a valid price tag on the bounty that should make developers interested of a project.

2) Commit to sponsor a bounty without having to pre-pay the sponsor amount directly. This will be done when the bounty is full filled and every body agrees that the bounty should be paid to the developer. This would hopefully make people to sponsor more projects.

Some comments:
1) For me at least -this would make no difference.  I have a day job that consumes a lot of hours, and it's also often hard to judge how long something may take and hence what the bounty is 'worth'.  It could also unfairly raise the expectations of the sponsors.  Ie a developer says for $200 I'll make xxx work.  Bounty reaches that level and people want it right away, but to to time constraints it's not possible.

2) The big problem I see is that there will be people (hopefully a minority) that will promise $$$ and never be in a position to actually deliver.  Perhaps a deposit should have to be paid to at least show some level of commitment? Otherwise it's too easy to promise with no commitment.

Just my 0.02 worth...
I would agree with Paul's assessment. 
1) I see why the desire for the approximate 'worth' would be desirable but I am not sure there is a way to overcome the expectations then (as that is the main reason for setting it). 
2)  For instance, today I have the money to commit to project X but it is then some months before it is completed and by that time I have hit hard times and am no longer in a position to fulfill the commitment.  Possibly a better option is, if the bounty exists for some period of time without any visible progress then the funds could be shifted to another project (i.e. I believe there is more than one Java bounty - one for Java 6 and one for GNU Java - if one were to suddenly start showing signs of life then someone sponsoring the other might wish to transfer from the one not showing any signs of life to the other in order to increase the incentive) or maybe there is just no longer any need for from the sponsor for some project Y but project L would be useful.
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: RobertM on 2008.04.30, 07:32:17

Paul, excellent points!




saborion2, the bounty system does not work that way. Bounties are NOT paid until the project is completed meeting all of the guidelines and reviewed to ensure such. Also, there is no way (nor is any planned) to allow potential bounty candidates to talk directly to bounty sponsors, as this may allow them to circumvent the bounty process for a product they never release. The possible worth of such a bounty can be suggested in it's supporting thread - but that does not mean that worth will be assigned to the bounty - nor does it mean that the bounty will ever reach that amount.

In numerous cases, the bounty winners are receiving a token amount of what their efforts are worth. If you visit Paul Smedley's Pages (http://smedley.info/os2ports/index.php), you will see dozens of projects he is active in - many of which we cannot live without (such as MySQL, PHP, ffMPEG, cURL, VirtualBox, Samba, Ghostscript, Perl, Gnash, CUPS, PostgreSQL, Python, WGet, Apache - to name a few) - yet he has only recieved bounties for few of them - and the amounts have usually been more "tokens of appreciation" than "payment for what his efforts were worth"


In some cases, we have been lucky to have dedicated programmers like Paul, who have actually completed and released the work to everyone - and then been rewarded with the bounty, as opposed to the method you are alluding to of seeing a bounty and getting paid for it to do the work (which will not happen). Bounties (in part - or in full) are not paid until the work is complete and reviewed and determined to be meeting the bounty requirements.


In addition, though not stipulated in the bounties themselves, the following additional requirements also apply: If the software is a port, the "porter" must have the rights to do both the port and the release. Inotherwords, as a for instance, when I was in contact with IBM and writing various bits of code, IBM provided me with source that I could incorporate and use in my applications - as well as ones I could not.

So, as another for instance, if IBM provided a business partner with code to allow them to port it and release it (or make it available to IBM for release), that would qualify when the other aspects of the bounty were released.

BUT, if IBM provided that code to a Business Partner to use for their own internal projects or a specific client list (such as "please port this for Customer A/Project A, who needs it") it would NOT qualify for a bounty - even if all other criteria were met, as any release/usage other than in the example would violate contracts, copyrights and other IP laws. OS2WF will not pay out a bounty to assist someone in the commission of a crime.

Another scenario that would not qualify is if someone was provided (or bought or acquired or whatever) a copy of a certain piece of software and "hacked" it, recompiled it (without permission) or otherwise modified it to run on OS/2 - which again, even if it met the other bounty criteria, would not be eligible for the same reasons as the previous point.


I hope that answers your questions... if not let us know.

Robert


Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: RobertM on 2008.04.30, 08:17:53
Quote from: abwillis on 2008.04.30, 07:23:55
...Possibly a better option is, if the bounty exists for some period of time without any visible progress then the funds could be shifted to another project (i.e. I believe there is more than one Java bounty - one for Java 6 and one for GNU Java - if one were to suddenly start showing signs of life then someone sponsoring the other might wish to transfer from the one not showing any signs of life to the other in order to increase the incentive) or maybe there is just no longer any need for from the sponsor for some project Y but project L would be useful.


Hi abwillis,

There have already been occassions similar to that. Any forum member can make such a suggestion in the appropriate bounty threads. We have already had a couple bounties that have been rolled together - or inactive bounties that have been moved to more relevant bounties of the same purpose (ie: similar to your example).

Robert
Title: Re: Improvement of the Bounty System
Post by: kim on 2008.04.30, 14:18:15
May I suggest that we split this thread to keep the original topic intact?

Update: Topic has been split and everything that was hopefully based on good intention but got OT has been moved to this new thread (http://www.os2world.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,63/topic,993.msg5827). Postings that go way off topic, will be deleted to keep the thread intact.