On 10/10/05, Michael van der Gulik <squeakml at gulik.co.nz> wrote:
> Something is wrong when a "hobby" open-source project burns people out.

It's not hobby. People are making money with it - some directly, by
writing software for customers, some indirectly, by using it in
research.

And I agree on one thing with Richard Stallman (probably only on one
thing): there's a difference between free beer and free speech.

So if this work needs to be done and demands 8 hours of concentrated
attention per day for a week or two (or whatever), we should pass the
hat, fill it, and pay someone to do it. As long as we do something
like this on a project basis, it cannot possibly tear up the community
- you vote with your wallet.

And yes, it'd be great if someone from a country where wages are a bit
lower than over here could take on the job.

So, let's make a time budget for this (probably best done on the
packaging list), get someone to bid on it (for my part a closed
bidding process to the SqF board or whatever if people don't want to
talk about money on public fora or don't want to risk their offer
being rejected in public), and pass the hat to see whether we can fill
it.

I'll pay my bit, I want this thing seen done.