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Gnome.org Desktop Integration Bounty Hunt

Posted by michael on from the power-of-the-purse dept.

tempest303 writes "In order to help improve integration between apps on the Gnome desktop, Gnome.org is offering bounties for the completion of a variety of integration tasks. Bounties range from $15, for submitting new .ical files for Evolution 2.0's multiple calendar view, to $2500 for allowing synchronization between Evolution's addressbook with Gaim's buddy list!"

21 of 329 comments (clear)

  1. Nice but by grennis · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Doesnt the open source model succeed by encouraging people to collaborate and work together? It seems to me that this bounty concept will only motivate people to hide information from each other and work against each other in the name of money.

    1. Re:Nice but by Spider[DAC] · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, its on a tight timeframe, the rules state that it has to be officially accepted into CVS, follow clean code and be nice.

      People may cooperate, but unite behind one front-man.

      This means that a lot of hacking will go on in the shadows, then pour out "when its done", Just like usual. Since the code has to pass the module maintainers eyes, form and correctness will be ensured.

      Overall I think this is a great incentive. (Compare this to Abiword and the patchbounty, for example )

      --
      I didn't do this, now did I?
    2. Re:Nice but by Daverd · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, once they actually release their code and claim the money prize, their code is now open-source and anyone can look at it. It only motivates them to hide their work until the point where anyone uses it. But I think it's the same way in the current (unpaid) model of contribution... individuals' work is generally not available to anyone until they release it.

    3. Re:Nice but by SlashdotLemming · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wouldn't we prefer to think that the people who can solve these problems will be the same people who wouldn't want money for it?

      Skill != Morality

      Just because some righteous programmer jumps on the open source bandwagon doesn't mean he's any good.
      Being the greedy bastard that I am, I prefer to use my skills for evil rather than good. That $2500 bounty ain't worth my time.

  2. Great initiative by MikeCapone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's all good and well to program for love and pride, but these rewards will help the project move over some of the less glamourous problems.

    Consolidation is important in the Linux world; if coders spent more time on it instead of creating new competing apps (not that there's not a place for that), the world would be a better place.

    --
    Treehugger? Treehugger... Treehugger!
    1. Re:Great initiative by MikeCapone · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The downside of course is the only big Fondations (Apache, Gnome, etc) have money to spend because they get it from the industry (like Intel, IBM,...)

      Small donations are the way of the future!

      A fund should be set up where people can donate money that would be allocated to bounties, and they could either select on which task they want their money to be allocated to drop it in a pool of ressources that would be allocated through some kind of more or less democratic process (secure online polls/surveys?)

      As far as I know this thing doesn't exist in the open source world. Correct me if I'm wrong.

      --
      Treehugger? Treehugger... Treehugger!
  3. Interesting concept by daserver · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is very interesting concept, image someone setting up a bounty server for free software (in general) where people could donate money to bounties on any free software project and hackers could claim the money ones they've solved it.

  4. What an excellent idea... by D-Cypell · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If there is one clear area where microsoft leads the field its application integration. Obviously the centralized control make this much more achievable.

    In the long-term it may be more effective to build a high-level API to allow this integration. Perhaps some kind of built in RDBMS with a well defined schema for commonly shared application data. Several static tables to provide an area for common data (Contacts, Favourite websites/ftp servers etc) plus an extensible area for application specific data.

    If the open source community had a well-defined process (shock horror!!) to request changes to the schema we could begin to provide the kind of application integration currently on offer by MS.

    Integrating Gaim with Evolution is great but surely a strategy for integration email clients with IM clients in the general sense would be much more valuable.

    Definatly a move in the right direction though!

  5. Slashdot GNOME icon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe the GNOME Foundation should offer a bounty for changing the old Slashdot GNOME icon.
    Plueeeease, it can't be so difficult, can it?

    rubinstein

  6. Re:Slashdot GNOME Logo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    Slashdot's gnome Logo is outdated

    trying... to... care... but... can't...

  7. Gnome human-computer interaction evaluation by torian · · Score: 4, Interesting

    While there is no doubt that Gnome is visually attractive, has there been any empirical evaluation of Gnome from a human-computer interaction perspective, i.e. a usability study? I've certainly never come across any such testing in relation to Gnome, which is worrying.

    1. Re:Gnome human-computer interaction evaluation by LNX+Flocki · · Score: 5, Informative
      There has been a usability study two years ago. It was funded by Sun and based on Gnome 1.4 - this study is the base for the Gnome HIG and Gnome 2.x
      It would be interesting to do a follow up on that test though and see what has actually been implemented since.

      By the way, the study can be found here

    2. Re:Gnome human-computer interaction evaluation by dominator · · Score: 4, Informative

      Sun spent a bunch of time and money toward usability studies and such, which ultimately contributed toward the GNOME "HIG" (Human Interface Guidelines). More info available at:

      http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/

      There's a wealth of information under there. The Sun studies, conducted in March 2001, can be found here. I wouldn't be too "worried" if I were you.

  8. What about icalshare.com? by mccalli · · Score: 4, Informative
    No need for the $15. Head off over to icalshare.com instead. It's an excellent resource for shared calendars, and I'm making use of a few from there (using Apple's iCal).

    Cheers,
    Ian

  9. Re:Bounty server... by pVoid · · Score: 4, Insightful
    While I applaud your enthousiasm, I think this has very little chance of actually working.

    Why? because of a very dangerous thing called "scope-creep". I freelance, and get small contracts (< $20k). I've worked in big contract shops before, multi million dollar software being designed and implemented a la carte for our custommers, and yet, despite all that experience in large shops, it's extremely difficult with even the smallest project to first nail a solid technical spec document, and then to stick to it.

    Now this is when I'm dealing one on one with the client, over phone etc... Imagine what this scenario would be like on an online forum...

    Unmanageable to the nth degree, methinks.

  10. Why synchronization?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful


    Wouldn't have been more easy for Evolution, Gaim and other programs to share a single addressbook?!




    Learn from KDE, where Kopete is now dumping it's own contact list in order to share the same Kaddressbook with Kontact, KMail and any other KDE program.




    Why making things more complicated instead of making them simplier?

  11. YES! by kuzb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    FINALLY, someone out there is getting the idea! You can't eat a "thank you", and while the amounts paid may or may not be worth the effort put in, it's something! Great incentive.

    With even a little bit of cash out there for developers to earn, projects like gnome can go a lot farther, a lot faster IMO. My hat is off to you guys at gnome.org!

    --
    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  12. Re:Bounty server... by Saeger · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I think you've come up with another way to make money with free software.

    This is just a variation of the Street Performer Protocol: People pool their money to fund the scarce CREATION of a unique work they want put into the public domain (rather than paying for artificially scarce COPIES of data).

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    --
    Power to the Peaceful
  13. Why would that be sad? by Inoshiro · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My time isn't free. I've had to spend a lot of money to get my education, as well as a lot of personal time I could've been using towards something else. As any economics student could tell you, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

    This provides a nice feedback mechanism that allows non-programmers to reward programmers for "filling in" and doing what the non-programmers wanted to be done. It's a natural balance, and I consider it progress in how opensource is developed. One of the few sustainable ways we could keep Linus Torvalds working on the kernel 40 hours a week is by having IBM, Red Hat, et all contributing to his work, just like Red Hat employs Alan Cox, or any number of other examples.

    --
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    Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
  14. Financing an Open Code Market... by danharan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As others mentionned, this sounds a lot like the Open Code Market idea that has been discussed here previously.

    For $25k, Novell just bought amazing publicity. Perhaps an Open Code Market could attract such financing?

    Big companies could even offer matching funds to any/certain types of OS software, letting users direct where the money goes. This would not only help finance and promote projects, but publicize the company and the Open Code Market.

    And since I'm giving away business advice... it seems to me trade associations would also be a good funder for many targetted projects (I imagine that would be a good way to get funding for things like accounting systems, specialized database packages, etc...)

    Someone please try those ideas out. I'd much rather make a living selling code that will be open :)

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    Information: "I want to be anthropomorphized"
  15. Where is Jabber? by axxackall · · Score: 4, Informative
    Four IM-related bounties and all of them are for Gaim, the open-source IM client, which primary protocol is AIM, which is proprietary one, rather than XMPP/Jabber, which is "pure" open-source. What a shame on Gnome!

    I understand that Gaim supports XMPP, but it does as for a secondary one. For example, when it starts it request you to login to AIM.

    Why not support Gossip or even Tkabber instead? Why Gaim?

    Well, if you think it's just a flame war about IM clients, then take this:

    In addition to three GAIM-related bounties, the fourth one is "purely" related to AIM protocol: Handle aim: links in Epiphany. When I read this I begin thinking that Gnome management team has been sold out to AOL. Otherwise why wouldn't the include also Handle JID: links in Epiphany.

    What's wrong with Gnome team?

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    Less is more !