Funding my open source habit
I’ve been thinking that it might be time to start “development bounties” for all of my projects. I’ve gotten a few gift certificates, a hard drive, and some offers of cash, and I know that it really changes my prioritization when someone says, “Hey, I know you’re busy. Can I entice you to make time with a few bucks or some stuff?” And you know, it sure does change my priorities. I get right up off my butt and change my schedule. It’s a paying gig, and I think the more of them you do the more offers you’ll get.
If I could fund most of my computing and open source habit with bounties, I’d be pretty happy. A little back of the envelope shows that it could even be part of an ad-hoc career: a $50,000 a year salary is $1,000 a week. How many sub-projects are there out there that would take me about a week each, and be worth $1,000 to someone? Tons! How many could I land? Maybe not that many. Hmm.