I don't know if this has been proposed before, but maybe it would
be interesting or viable.

Let's say I want a driver (for instance, the LS-120 driver for IDE
systems).  I don't probably want it enough to fund the whole cost
of development.  It may be that no one does... But it's quite possible
that, together, all of the people who want it developed could afford
to fund the development.

What if you could place bounties on given pieces of code?  For instance,
I could place a $100 bounty on the LS-120 driver.  (In fact, if one
gets added, I will happily pay the contributor $100...)  But, what if,
once I announce that, other people could contribute to the bounty, in
whatever quantities they feel comfortable with.

Then, a web page somewhere could list what code people want, and how
much it's worth to complete it.  People looking for projects, or needing
some spare cash and willing to give away code for money, could look at
the list, volunteer to provide one of the things in question, and then
write it.  If core accepts the proposed changes, the people who pledged
money to that cause send the author the money.  (Alternatively, money
is sent to the web page maintainer, who can keep track of who pays and
who doesn't, etc.)

Would this work?  Would anyone be interested in using such a system, from
either end?

I'd certainly be interested in contributing money towards a few projects,
and I might even be more motivated to try to write some productive code,
if there were an incentive scheme.  ;)

Comments?  Feedback?

-s