Hi All,
I wanted to get some feedback on something I?ve been contemplating recently. With places like Kickstarter showing the power of crowdsourcing for funding I can?t stop thinking about the possibility of getting the masses behind the accelerated development of the open source Linux graphics drivers. I understand that this is a little different from funding a game where the users are willing to pay for something they might purchase anyway, but I think this is something the linux community would be willing to get behind, the fact that linux users pay more for Humble bundles is proof they are willing to do just a little bit more if they think it will help support their beloved OS.
The idea:
My idea is fairly simple at its core, to take a sponsorship approach to hire (a) programmer(s) to work on the open source graphics effort. A sponsor (you or me) would first pledge an amount starting from a minimum of $10 to get the project rolling and then pledge to continually sponsor the project with (automated) weekly donations minimum of $1 (that could be unsubscribed to at any time). The project would kick off once there is 10,000 sponsors (or a monetary target has been met) as this should be enough to employ one developer for a year. If 10,000 people support the project for 1 year at the minimum of $1 a week (or 5,000 at $2) we will have acquired $520,000 enough to possibly hire as many as 5 developers.
Developers could be hired over odesk.com or via a company such as www.intelligraphics.com or through applications (open to ideas)
Development:
To make the project applicable to as many people?s needs as possible the development work would start with the implementation of more OpenGL functionality in Mesa as this would benefit all the open source drivers. Afterwards development could be based on sponsors preferences.
Justification:
I?m hoping most Phoronix readers won?t need much of an explanation of why open source drivers are a good thing but this is something that will need to be expanded on if the idea is to grow, so welcome feedback here.
One interesting read on the Linux Foundations website: http://www.linuxfoundation.org/publi...graphics-essay
Hype:
For this to be successful there needs to be a good hype around it e.g a good website explaining the details of the plan why it?s considered necessary etc.
Also it would need to be broadcast on all major Linux news websites:
www.phoronix.com, www.omgubuntu.co.uk, www.ubuntuvibes.com just to get the list started.
Feedback:
Anyway that?s the gist of my idea. I?m looking for feedback so that I can document more ideas around the subject and possibly put together a more complete proposal.
I wanted to get some feedback on something I?ve been contemplating recently. With places like Kickstarter showing the power of crowdsourcing for funding I can?t stop thinking about the possibility of getting the masses behind the accelerated development of the open source Linux graphics drivers. I understand that this is a little different from funding a game where the users are willing to pay for something they might purchase anyway, but I think this is something the linux community would be willing to get behind, the fact that linux users pay more for Humble bundles is proof they are willing to do just a little bit more if they think it will help support their beloved OS.
The idea:
My idea is fairly simple at its core, to take a sponsorship approach to hire (a) programmer(s) to work on the open source graphics effort. A sponsor (you or me) would first pledge an amount starting from a minimum of $10 to get the project rolling and then pledge to continually sponsor the project with (automated) weekly donations minimum of $1 (that could be unsubscribed to at any time). The project would kick off once there is 10,000 sponsors (or a monetary target has been met) as this should be enough to employ one developer for a year. If 10,000 people support the project for 1 year at the minimum of $1 a week (or 5,000 at $2) we will have acquired $520,000 enough to possibly hire as many as 5 developers.
Developers could be hired over odesk.com or via a company such as www.intelligraphics.com or through applications (open to ideas)
Development:
To make the project applicable to as many people?s needs as possible the development work would start with the implementation of more OpenGL functionality in Mesa as this would benefit all the open source drivers. Afterwards development could be based on sponsors preferences.
Justification:
I?m hoping most Phoronix readers won?t need much of an explanation of why open source drivers are a good thing but this is something that will need to be expanded on if the idea is to grow, so welcome feedback here.
One interesting read on the Linux Foundations website: http://www.linuxfoundation.org/publi...graphics-essay
Hype:
For this to be successful there needs to be a good hype around it e.g a good website explaining the details of the plan why it?s considered necessary etc.
Also it would need to be broadcast on all major Linux news websites:
www.phoronix.com, www.omgubuntu.co.uk, www.ubuntuvibes.com just to get the list started.
Feedback:
Anyway that?s the gist of my idea. I?m looking for feedback so that I can document more ideas around the subject and possibly put together a more complete proposal.
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