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https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource

Iteratively Fund Open Source Projects With Bitcoin
https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource

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Iteratively Fund Open Source Projects With Bitcoin

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README 

        
# Feed Open Source



We need another way to fund software. All the other ways are

[broken or unscalable](

http://dominictarr.com/post/71958587606/some-thoughts-on-the-economics-of-software-development).

We need to align the interests of the users with developers.

We need to feed developers, and the software needs to be freely distributable.



## The Problem



Software only needs to be written once.  

Bugs need to be patched, but a bug only needs to be patched once.



Why do we pay for software many times, or not at all?  

Software should be paid for exactly once.



You can't sell software like you sell physical items,

software is too easy to copy.



But here is something you can sell: _a promise to write software_



## The Vision



Take agile consulting to the crowds.



Work is funded in iterations, on a fixed time basis, a week or two at a time.

Clients and developers negotiate what features they are most need in the next iteration.

The developers implement that, and the clients evaluate it. Repeat.

Every one is constantly in the loop.



*feedopensource* is different to agile consulting because "the clients"

are a crowd of people.

*feedopensource* is different to crowd-funding platforms because clients

will have real power to influence a project, and keep it on task.



A client does not commit all their money at once, so the developers

must keep them satisfied to receive funding in the future.

For the client, most of the uncertainty about the project is removed,

because they see it improve at each stage.



Less uncertainty means clients can fund more,

because they know the value they are getting.



## This is _not_ a startup.



This is not Anything as a Service.  

This is not an Anything-Platform.  



This is just an open source tool for feeding open source projects.  



*feedopensource* has a [liberal open-source license](./LICENSE).



You may use *feedopensource* to fund your own projects,

as *feedopensource* feeds itself with *feedopensource*



## The Prototype



The prototype has progressed to iteration 2!



[![feedopensource badge](https://feedopensource.com/iteration/dominictarr/feedopensource/18oBEV9hFdDMEct9Ys2bSAuEY4bi2KSMHi.png#1.2)](

  https://feedopensource.com/iteration/dominictarr/feedopensource/18oBEV9hFdDMEct9Ys2bSAuEY4bi2KSMHi

)



Currently, feedopensource can:

* track the state of a project on github,

* represent this as a png (embeddable in github issues) and as a web page

  (https://feedopensource.com/iteration/dominictarr/feedopensource/1PTAwipYpP63uNrcxfm5FewxRdZyar6ceu)

* associate a bitcoin transaction with a github user.



This is very simple, but with the support of iteration 1's 

[funders](https://feedopensource.com/iteration/1PTAwipYpP63uNrcxfm5FewxRdZyar6ceu)



## Iteration 2



Tasks for iteration 2 are listed [here](https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource/issues/20)



### Bitcoin



Transfer btc into `18oBEV9hFdDMEct9Ys2bSAuEY4bi2KSMHi` to fund iteration 2.



Please post a comment [here](https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource/issues/4)

with your transaction id.



Not sure how to buy bitcoin? [Learn how you can buy bitcoin in your country](http://howtobuybitcoins.info)

Also see [this issue](https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource/issues/5)



### Credit-card



If you would rather fund this with normal money please

comment with the amount you'd like to pay on

[this issue](https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource/issues/6)



## The Plan



`Clients` and `Developers` post issues to `Tasks` and plan `Iterations`.

 (on github or [similar](https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource/issues/7))



*feedopensoure* will be implemented as a bot that posts to and scrapes/apis Github.

This avoids the problem of having to implement a fresh discussion platform, Notifications,

User system, etc!



Please comment on the [first iteration!](https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource/issues/4)



## The Workflow



In the future you might use *feedopensource* like this:



* `Clients` post issues requesting features or bug fixes.

  (["Tasks"](https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource/issues/1))

* `Tasks` are grouped into an [Iteration](https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource/issues/3)

  (an `"Iteration"` is just an issue that links to a set of `Tasks` with a

  [progress bar](https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource/issues/2))

  `Clients` and `Developers` can discuss that iteration, and decide to fund it or not.

* progress can be tracked by posting to the `Iteration` issue, or to the Task issues.

  as the Tasks progress (are closed) the progress bar updates, this time to show work done.

* There will be progress bar pngs representing project status and history which can easily 

  be added into github issues and readmes.

* Users will have a way to associate a bitcoin wallet with a github account, so they can

  [claim their payment](https://github.com/dominictarr/feedopensource/issues/5)