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GnuPG Gets Back On Track With Funding
jones_supa writes: Soon after the poor state of the GnuPG was unveiled, the online community has rallied to help Werner Koch. He wanted to hire a full-time programmer to work on the project alongside him and to ensure that he's not living on the brink of bankruptcy all the time. Immediately after the article was published, it was revealed that he got a one-time grant of $60,000 from the Linux Foundation's Core Infrastructure Initiative. Also, the community donated over $150,000, and Facebook and Stripe have each pledged to provide $50,000 per year. All in all, it looks like Werner Koch won't be worried about funding for quite some time. The problem remains: it's very likely that other projects just as important as this one are probably facing the same kind of issues, but it would be nice to hear about them before they get in trouble, and not after.
Funny how these projects are crypto-related. As in: so shockingly important crypto, they form the basis for most of the security we enjoy on the Internet.
Funny, that. Just saying.
The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
Why would he mysteriously need money when everything is free?
Your misunderstanding of Free software is... staggering.
are we sure he's not pocketing the money?
I'm sure that he is pocketing it, then quickly depocketing it for mortgage/rent, food, heat, transportation, etc, etc ad nauseum.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
Well, write one that becomes ubiquitous, quality, and that people depend on, and you too can probably hover near-bankruptcy for a decade before people decide to reward you with five-figures.
In all seriousness, some of those funding systems like Kickstarter seem like they'd be a good fit for many open-source projects. Pay a programmer for a couple of years or pay two programmers for a year to get a fresh major release version paid-for.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Occam's Razor: he knows perfectly well what's going on and is taking the piss.
Software in the Public Interest is in a unique place to act as an information clearing house, conduit and "amalgamator" for this problem.
"I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
I think part of the problem is, I wouldn't trust a company that said it's product was based on GnuPG, but wouldn't let me look at the source code for the encryption bits. How would you know they hadn't given the NSA a backdoor of some sort?