SourceXchange: Open Source development marketplace

fredzo writes "Brian Behlendorf and O'Reilly have started a site, sourceXchange, where developers can register for development projects. While it's open-source software the developer bids for the job and is paid for the work. Paying jobs start in June. HP is the first sponsor. " Haven't met Tim yet, but Brian rocks. Good work, guys.

For once, I beat slashdot.

[Andrew Leonard]

Got to get up earrrrrlly in the morning to beat slashdot.

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/05/14/sou rcexchange/index.html

A good resource for money

[lisa]

You know, this looks like it could be a really useful thing. Its too bad that I tend to be cynical now that everyone seems to be coming up with pretty sites for something useful, to ultimately put more money in their pocket books. Would HP be sponsoring this if there wasn't money in it? I doubt it.

-Lisa

Free Software Bazaar II ?

[dj.delorie]

How is this different from The Free Software Bazaar [csustan.edu] ? I mean, aside from the pretty graphics :-)

Re:Free Software Bazaar II ?

[Eccles]

The "problem" with the Free Software Bazaar, at least in perception, is that I could spend a fair bit of time working on something for the bazaar reward, and then discover you paid someone else who finished his yesterday. Or we might dispute whether what I've done is of the quality you expect. These guys make it more of a contractual arrangement, along with incorporating a peer review system. The bazaar may work for small projects but not so well for larger ones.

Fundamentally, I think we all agree that programmers don't particularly want to close their source, and we'd more productive as a group if all our source was open. The only issue is getting paid for working, else we have to do something else for a living and programming would be a hobby. This is an alternative scheme for paying programmers for open source, and is worthy of seeing if it can be a viable system.

Re:Free Software Bazaar II ?

[AJWM]

Looks more like a cathedral model than the bazaar, just serving as a middleman for connecting clients and contract programmers.

Which has its place, I suppose, but the Free Software Bazaar seems a lot more, well, free. (As in liberty).

I guess anything that produces more open source software is a plus, though.

Useful connection to open source glory...

[MemRaven]

One of the problems with current open source projects is that many people are kinda "thrown in" to developing open source, when they find that their employer wants or is willing to allow them to develop for an open source project. It seems to be a side-effect of other projects, rather than the end goal. Admittedly, many great projects come out of this, but there's little room for people to approach your typical firm and say "I'd like to write device drivers for your object for Linux which you will release for free. How's that sound?"

In terms of allowing people who want to work on particular projects and get paid for it, a la DICE [dice.com], this is a great connecting project. In terms of being different from other systems which have been established, well, it has Mr. O'Reilly. Love him or hate him (or even be neutral towards him), he has a great way of linking open source projects to the corporate and government concerns which have a the money and desire to pay for them.

This won't be for everyone, but for those of us who want to be able to work on particular open-source projects and still be able to pay the rent (we can't all win MacArthur Genius Grants, people), this could be a big boon. Remember, Mr. O'Reilly == Corporate Acceptance.

K

Open Source Developers.

[BoraBashi]

After 7 years experience developing apps in C/C++ for M$ platforms,
I've learn to hate M$ and all the bullshit that goes along with
developing on their platforms.

I'm a Linux newbie, and would like to get some experience in
developing Open Source code, and wouldn't mind getting paid for it.
What should I do to get involved in this? I haven't written any Open
Source code yet, but I'm not a shabby C/C++ programmer with reasonably
good OO design skills.


"Do I watch Seinfeld? My life is a Jewish joke!"

Two steps

[gavinhall]

Posted by FascDot Killed My Previous Use:

1) Write some code.
2) GPL it.

I find step 1 to be the hardest--not because writing code is all that hard but because finding projects can be difficult. That's why I love the idea of the sourceXchange (althought I hate BiCapitaLization).

Re:Open Source Developers.

[Eccles]

>What should I do to get involved in [open source]?

Find something that interests you, there are plenty of projects that solicit help. Surfing around freshmeat.net for a while might be a good way to pick out something that interests you. Or look at the free software bazaar (there's a link in another comment in this article.) Or if you think of something that's missing from Linux, start your own project.

Tax implications

[BigKahuna]

Does this mean I can write off the purchase of a new computer?

Re:Free Software Bazaar II ?

[redemption]

Pretty Cool Idea,

I will sign up, though my Unix development is a bit rusty. Time to dust off gcc,ddd and c-mode

I wonder though, two issues I can see arising is

1. Trust

If you are a large corporation, will you really trust someone who you have never meet and has no connection with your company. To develop what maybe a critical software tool for them. If the project goes belly up before completion, what comeback is their for the company?

2. Platform

I wonder if more than linux software is going to be developed. There a few of us out there who develop free software for Windoze.

Versus Free Software Bazaar?

[gavinhall]

Posted by Christopher B. Browne:

The SourceXchange and the Free Software Bazaar have the similarity that both involve the commissioning of works of software. There might be some call to ask if "Open Source" is the same thing as "Free Software," although that's not too crucial.

There are, however, enough differences as to consider them both potentially viable in their own "corners."

• The Free Software Bazaar is nothing if not informal.

  You can pick your license, and there's no one to ask permission of to participate.

  This means that participation is cheap and easy for both "commissioners" and developers.

  Unfortunately, the informality may not sit well with Pointy Haired Managers. Big, complex projects probably need not apply.

• In contrast, what SourceXchange offers is a fairly formal system for arranging "commissioned works."

  If an organization wants something fairly big, involving substantial effort and cost, this formality is quite necessary.

  Unfortunately, the formality will tend to restrict participation to those with fairly "deep pockets."

  I expect that someone that wants to sponsor someone to hack their favorite elisp script to work with both Xemacs and GNU Emacs will find the bureaucracy prohibitive

As a result, I would not regard these "commissioning bodies" as actually competing with one another.

Indeed, it is at least as possible that they could "feed" one another. Jobs "too big" for the informality of the FSB could be directed to "SX," and jobs "too small" for "SX" could be directed to the FSB.

Re:Tax implications

[kinesis]

Yes. I do. It's like getting an instant 30% discount.

Re:Tax implications

[jbrewer]

IANAL, but:

* If the computer is used exclusively for business, you can deduct it 100%, just like your employer does right now.

* If your computer is used partially for business, and partially for personal use, then your deduction is pro-rated to the percentage of time you use it for business use (50% business use = 50% deductable).

* Note that you typically can't deduct the whole price of a capital asset (like a computer) in the first year. Rather, you get to write off a portion of the price each year over the presumed lifespan of the asset (either 3 or 5 years for computers -- I forget which).

* Except that small businesses (like you) can choose something called a "section 179" election, where you can take the whole deduction in the first year. Note that you need to use an item at least 50% for business purposes to take the 179 election.

* Because there's been so much abuse with people deducting cars, computers, and cell phones, congress passed legislation that requires special record-keeping for them if they're used for business and personal use, or if you keep them at home.

For more information, see:
"Tax Savvy for Small Business" by Frederick W. Daily

Also good references:
"Small Time Operator" by Bernard B. Kamoroff (good general reference for starting your own business)
"Wage Slave No More" by Stephen Fishman (discusses legal and tax issues of being an idependant contractor)

Good luck!

Open-Source Funding follow-up

[kzinti]

This seems a good time to let everybody know that I received a great response to the essay I posted earlier this year about Open-Source funding and escrow agencies. I'm currently going through the responses and preparing a second essay to make recommendations to people who want to contribute money to Open-Source development efforts. My review will include organizations such as the Free Software Bazaar and CoSource. Unfortunately, my day job keeps getting in the way, or I would have posted my follow-up sooner.

--JT (Jim Thompson, "kzinti" on slashdot)

Perspective/Context

[rakjr]

Just as a programmer can not live on water alone. A single end user should not have to foot the entire bill. The projects which have broader appeal have multiple offerings. Agreed, the "offer withdrawn" clause stinks especially if the manufacturer does not produce open source drivers.