We are creating Bribe.io for Startup Weekend. It is a service which allows users to pay developers to prioritize bugs that need fixing. We'd like to get feedback from users and developers who would use this new service. Please check out Bribe.io and fill out our survey.
by walshemj on 11/2/13, 8:36 PM
by rakingleaves on 11/2/13, 8:45 PM
Some of my colleagues wrote a research paper about a system like this a few years back:
http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/files/us-bacon/B...
They proposed a new notion of "software correctness" as an equilibrium in which there is insufficient economic demand for any further bug fixes. Cool to see such a system being built!
by x0054 on 11/2/13, 8:04 PM
I was considering starting a kickstarter like site for this as well. Some projects have stalled development. It would be interesting to have a system where people can create a road plan for a particular stalled open source project, and donate to the development. Once a given target is reached, developers can bid on the project, compleat it, and get paid.
There are some projects, like DoubleCommander, which I would pay money to make it move faster, as it's the only viable TotalCommander clone for MAC. However, I can't afford to hire anyone to work on it by my self, and can't expect the primary developer to work on it for free any harder than he already is.
by jetblackio on 11/2/13, 7:51 PM
Aka, extort users to pay for bug fixes :)
by jonperl on 11/3/13, 4:57 PM
For a side project I wanted to experiment with a very similar idea.
Due to other commitments I was not able to give the project the love it deserved. Perhaps some of the code or concepts will be useful for you guys:
https://github.com/codebounty/codebounty
codebounty.co
Let me know if I can help. @jon_perl
by whbk on 11/2/13, 8:38 PM
by QuasiAlon on 11/2/13, 8:24 PM
bribes, or bounties, or prizes, or whatever you want to call it work on the extrinsic motivations for people to act. In many cases, open source projects are a product of love, that is, intrinsic motivations. There's always a risk when introducing extrinsic motivations that they'll crowd out the intrinsic.
by lightblade on 11/2/13, 7:57 PM
I like the idea. But bribe has a negative feel to it. Why not bounty?
by 661016 on 11/2/13, 8:30 PM
This is amazing idea, but I'm wondering that how is transaction going to work? Will there be any amount of money that "staff" keep?
by adamlj on 11/2/13, 8:20 PM
Nice idea. I think it's extra interesting since I remember reading a debate here on HN about "bribing" OSS developers.
by bradp on 11/2/13, 8:02 PM
Not just bugs, but adding features too!