Re: gEDA-user: FUNDING (was: Random thoughts on the future interface of PCB)
On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 9:26 AM, Justyn Butler justynbutler+g...@googlemail.com wrote: On 10 December 2010 00:09, Stephen Ecob silicon.on.inspirat...@gmail.com wrote: On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 10:27 AM, asom...@gmail.com wrote: How about a Kickstarter project for the toporouter? Let Anthony make a proposal and put it on www.kickstarter.com, and then gEDA users can pledge donations. If it raises enough money by graduation (or whatever other deadline), then we all fund Anthony to work on it. If we don't raise enough, then nobody gets charged, the toporouter languishes, and Anthony has to get a real job like (some of) the rest of us. If we can raise enough for Anthony to get the toporouter working well (say to the point where it's working better than the existing autorouter for 2L and 4L boards), let's do it. Count me in for $4K. Anthony, how much funding would you need to get the toporouter working well ? A kickstarter project sounds like a great idea. I'd certainly contribute. As the funding only occurs if the goal is met, I'd personally recommend: 1) Giving plenty of time before the deadline 2) Considering bringing the target down from $4K, if that is possible. Pledges can still continue once the target is met. Yeah, someone suggested a kickstarter a few months ago.. it might be worth a shot. When I had a look at kickstarter a while back, most projects offered different levels of rewards depending on the donation. Any ideas about what sort of rewards I should send to people who donate? I was thinking stuff like a toporouted arduino circuit board would make good gifts for those who donate. If I do it, I think I should aim for a full years worth of funding, which would be at least 50k. Three months is too short. What do you guys think? Regards, Anthony ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: FUNDING (was: Random thoughts on the future interface of PCB)
On 10 December 2010 00:09, Stephen Ecob silicon.on.inspirat...@gmail.com wrote: On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 10:27 AM, asom...@gmail.com wrote: How about a Kickstarter project for the toporouter? Let Anthony make a proposal and put it on www.kickstarter.com, and then gEDA users can pledge donations. If it raises enough money by graduation (or whatever other deadline), then we all fund Anthony to work on it. If we don't raise enough, then nobody gets charged, the toporouter languishes, and Anthony has to get a real job like (some of) the rest of us. If we can raise enough for Anthony to get the toporouter working well (say to the point where it's working better than the existing autorouter for 2L and 4L boards), let's do it. Count me in for $4K. Anthony, how much funding would you need to get the toporouter working well ? A kickstarter project sounds like a great idea. I'd certainly contribute. As the funding only occurs if the goal is met, I'd personally recommend: 1) Giving plenty of time before the deadline 2) Considering bringing the target down from $4K, if that is possible. Pledges can still continue once the target is met. Justyn. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: FUNDING (was: Random thoughts on the future interface of PCB)
Hello all, On Thu, 2010-12-09 at 21:55 +1100, Stephen Ecob wrote: I'm aiming to finish University in a few months.. if people would like to fund work on the toporouter, then I would be pretty keen to work on it full time. Regards, Anthony Good, we've established that money could help to improve gEDA :) What I'm *very* unsure of is whether we could raise enough to make a difference. Does anyone have any idea of how many of us make commercial use of gEDA ? As a business user I face the fact that if I choose to use commercial EDA software such as Altium then I'll pay $4K every year for a program that will make me go prematurely bald as I pull my hair out in frustration at bugs that I have no power to fix. I've chosen to use free software instead. Yes, PCB has many shortcomings - but I'm free to fix them. My business is just starting up, so cashflow is tight. At this stage I'm more inclined to contribute to gEDA by coding myself than by paying others to do it for me - but in the future I may have less time and more money. At that stage paying others to improve gEDA would make good business sense. I could easily justify $4K per year, perhaps more - businesses who use Cadence or Zuken are probably paying $20K per year. One business contributing $4K per year is almost insignificant - but 10 could achieve something worthwhile, 50 could fund a full time developer. But it's nothing more than a pipe dream unless there are others out there who think the same. Does anyone else think the same ? I think the same, but I am also in the same position (start-up, tight cashflow). I use gEDA professionally (as a freelancer) but only for a few (1 or 2) small projects a year. If my situation changes (more money, more projects) I have no objection to a donation to the gEDA project. I'm trying to contribute to the project but it's a steep learning curve. I also agree with Levente, as the cheap Dutchman that I am, I like to see where my money will be spend. Just my €0,02 Robert. ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
Re: gEDA-user: FUNDING (was: Random thoughts on the future interface of PCB)
How about a Kickstarter project for the toporouter? Let Anthony make a proposal and put it on www.kickstarter.com, and then gEDA users can pledge donations. If it raises enough money by graduation (or whatever other deadline), then we all fund Anthony to work on it. If we don't raise enough, then nobody gets charged, the toporouter languishes, and Anthony has to get a real job like (some of) the rest of us. On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 4:03 PM, Stephen Ecob silicon.on.inspirat...@gmail.com wrote: On Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 9:45 AM, myken my...@iae.nl wrote: fund a full time developer. But it's nothing more than a pipe dream unless there are others out there who think the same. Does anyone else think the same ? I think the same, but I am also in the same position (start-up, tight cashflow). I use gEDA professionally (as a freelancer) but only for a few (1 or 2) small projects a year. If my situation changes (more money, more projects) I have no objection to a donation to the gEDA project. I'm trying to contribute to the project but it's a steep learning curve. I also agree with Levente, as the cheap Dutchman that I am, I like to see where my money will be spend. Just my €0,02 Robert. Thanks Robert, it's good to know I'm not the only one ! Stephen ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user ___ geda-user mailing list geda-user@moria.seul.org http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user
