On Fri, Aug 29, 2003 at 04:17:53AM -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] was heard to remark: > On Thu, 28 Aug 2003, Linas Vepstas wrote: > > > Havoc is paid work on Gnome full-time. I am not. > [...] > > Gnucash has zero full-time, paid developers. > > What would it take to make this otherwise? I mean, just brainstorm > outloud, because maybe someone's out there in a position to make it happen > (individually or collectively).
I've heard statements to the effect that some petroleum/gas companies are disatisfied with thier current accounting setup, and would be interested in funding some open source development to fix this. But I couldn't run this idea down myself. I found this idea intriguing, because oil revenues, like music industry revenues are very tangled: well owners each get some, so do the operators, so does the pipeline, so does the refinery, and its a complex multi-way split with loops and feedback and limits & etc. . In the music industry, there's also many different types and kinds of royalties flowing every which way. So I think there's some interesting peer-to-peer, digital-signature, contracts-based accounting technology that can be developed. Basically, a transaction is not recorded on the books until all of the involved parties have reviewed it and affixed thier digital signature to it. It bears superficial similarity to digital cash, which I'd like to work on. Note also: you can also solve the double-spending problem of anonymous digital cash by broadcasting transactions over a peer-to-peer network. Double-spending is one of the major technical barriers to digital cash. (that and a patent portfolio that is sitting idle, waiting to bite someone). OK, so I wandered off-topic. I'd love to see corporate sponsorship for gnucash development, but I don't know how to raise awareness. Send press-releases to CFO magazine? I suspect that a dedicated individual could build a self-sustaining business providing support to small-business gnucash users. For example, charging $500 of $1000 for x amount of support. But much as I'd like to do this, I'm not sure I'd be able to do this myself. I've had my fill of small, struggling businesses for a while. The real problem with any of these kinds of funding ideas is that they require someone with an entreprenurial spirit and salesmanship abilities, willing to make calls, shake hands, and put a deal together. And until there's a deal, you're living in a suitcase in the backseat of your car. (speaking either metaphorcally, or in actuality). Most everybody on these mailing lists just don't have that kind of talent. --linas -- pub 1024D/01045933 2001-02-01 Linas Vepstas (Labas!) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> PGP Key fingerprint = 8305 2521 6000 0B5E 8984 3F54 64A9 9A82 0104 5933 _______________________________________________ gnucash-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.gnucash.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gnucash-devel
