There has been much controversy over the conditions set by the Sputnik Bounty. I've donated, because I can afford to lose ?13 should nothing come of it, however, there are many who either cannot, or, wont donate on principle as they feel that the money should go to Sputnik and not anything else.
I've been thinking about how to address this - but in a wider context of OS 4 bounties in general. Looking around the web, at other alternative OS community Sites they appear to operate a system in which a bounty is set, and held in trust by a third party, until the work is done.
Such a third party for the Amiga could be created, but with caveats. A realistic schedule would need to be placed on the bounty - as we wouldnt want another Amizilla. Monies would have to be returned to all sponsors in the event that this schedule is not met.
So initially the bounty program will act as a trustee for bounties. The bounty program will also need to act as a means of communication between developer and sponsors/community at large - It may be too much to expect the developer to reply to every topic on "whats going on" i- but it shouldnt be too hard for the bounty program to keep people regularly informed of progress.
A mechanism for how the money is collected would also have to be set up. Paypal fees are crazy - but I cant see any way around them.
Also - some ppl would need to manage all this, and indeed someone to lead it. A website would also be needed. My reasons for posting here, is that it could be something born out of amigans.net
Also - I, like most ppl am stacked with work at the moment , so the amount of time ppl can donate to this project will be a huge factor in itself.
These are just initial thoughts. Ideally I'd have the monies sitting in one of those new 8% interest accounts.. but that would just complicate things.
Seriously, I can't afford to donate to any bounties but think a donate button on the authors website is a far better option.
As a general concept for existing software or whatever service it is: I agree (I do pay shareware/donate to programmers wen I use their software when it can be done/donate to the online radio station regularly/etc), but sputnik@OS4 should exist for this approach to work. Not in this case, the port wouldn't exist without any "immediate stimulation". Jack
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg
It IS a work in progress but already displays many sites that neither IBrowse or Aweb can display correctly.
New beta for MOS should be out in a couple of weeks. Still doubt it's usable for everyday use but SSL, cache and cookies should have been added and a lot of underlaying stuff been improved AFAIK.
A mechanism for how the money is collected would also have to be set up. Paypal fees are crazy - but I cant see any way around them.
There are several alternatives to paypal, just not as easy to use. For example the moneybookers.com transaction fee is 1% but max. 0.50 Euro, i.e. the maximum fee of MoneyBookers, for transferring 50 Euro or more, isn't much more than the minimum fee of Paypal (receiving 3.85 Euro, or even just 2.35 Euro with currency conversion, costs 0.50 Euro with Paypal).
I know it's a WIP, but it still needs more work on the peg version, it will be far easier to get it 'completed' and then port rather than writing it for 2 systems at once.
Amiga user since 1985 AOS4, A-EON, IBrowse & Alinea Betatester
@Severin I agree. Mos version 1.0 will probably be out before Marcik begins to port anything for OS4. At least it will have to reach a state where it is usable for everyday browsing before there's a reason for porting to OS4. Shouldn't stop us preparing for it via the bounty though.
From what I've heard from people that have tried sputnik it's not worth the money. it's basically an unstable css engine only, no ssl, no js...
That's another issue. I was speaking concept-wise only. If it is wise , I don't know. It's difficult enough to port such a complex software as browser. And adding plugin api, or even flash support , would be very hard, if at all possible, for one man to pull.
Jack
"the expression, 'atonal music,' is most unfortunate--it is on a par with calling flying 'the art of not falling,' or swimming 'the art of not drowning.'. A. Schoenberg