In message <199712220906.EAA01576@zippy.bernstein.com>, maximum entropy writes:
>I think this a very good idea.  I'd definitely pay money to get some
>things done.

Cool!

>The only concern that comes to mind is, would this mercenary twist on
>things distract people from freely contributing free code without
>monetary incentive?

I say "no".  If I want something enough to spend the time, I'll write
it anyway.  It's just a bonus.

>I think that if your plan were implemented, the money should be
>distributed through some centralized authority (for example, The
>NetBSD Foundation.)  This way developers would have soome assurance
>that they'd really be able to collect the money if they write the
>code.  The only tricky aspect left is what to do with the money if no
>code changes ever result from a "funded" request.

Well, it could be done as pledges, in which case we have the problem
that people may not have the money available, or it could be held in
escrow, in which case, well, nothing happens, or maybe the money is
returned.  (We presumably wouldn't accept funding for changes that
core will never accept on principle.)

If the NetBSD Foundation held the money, it could also benefit (marginally)
from the interest on the money for the duration, and I certainly wouldn't
mind that.

If there aren't any objections, I'd like to see this happen.  I'd be willing
to work on the HTML and CGI stuff, or possibly host it...

One signficant question:  Should this be a function of the NetBSD Foundation,
or the core team, or should it be a function of interested users?

-s