>From: seebs@plethora.net (Peter Seebach)
>
>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.)

I think this a very good idea.  I'd definitely pay money to get some
things done.

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 think that the answer is probably "no" for
several reasons, so it's not a big concern.  First, the amounts of
money involved probably won't be too huge.  Second, most of the people
interested in coding for NetBSD are probably altruisits to some degree
or another.

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.


--
entropy -- it's not just a good idea, it's the second law.