Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Solving the prisoner's dilemma in crowdfunding

[Fabio Pesari]

On 02/21/2016 06:31 PM, Aaron Wolf wrote:
>
> BountySource is never going to be a broad solution. There have literally
> been *dozens* of completely operating versions of bounty sites tried
> over the past 15 years. It is literally the first thing almost everyone
> thinks about when they decide they are going to start a new solution to
> fund FLO software. It is not a good model, and history has made this
> painfully clear.
> 
> Instead of having to do the research yourself, here it is, we did it for
> you:
> https://snowdrift.coop/p/snowdrift/w/en/status-quo-floss#bounties

Thank you. I've found your research satisfying, and I trust you even
more to do a better job than the aforementioned sites.

> We not only understand why that doesn't work well, we understand why it
> appeals to people and have plans to incorporate the elements that matter
> (feedback from patrons to projects about their priorities) without
> making the mistakes that bounty sites always do.

I suppose feedback would be sufficient if it allows user voting.

> If we had $100,000, we could fund all the legal work we need. Instead,
> we're doing all we can as volunteers to minimize the costs.

I (and I would suppose others) haven't heard about this goal.

I really hope the FSF partners with you, so that they can promote your
fundraiser on their blogs and hopefully bring in more donations.

> Absolutely. And Allison Randall, the OSI president, who is now an
> advisor for us is herself an active FSF member and supporter. If you
> didn't see it yet, here's our explanation about that whole situation
> from our (my) perspective:
> 
> https://snowdrift.coop/p/snowdrift/blog/osi-partnership

Interesting. I agree with the sentiment, and it might be worth saying
that there are other people associated with the OSI that support the
free software philosophy (like Bruce Perens).

My only real gripe with the "open source" people is not their
terminology but rather their insistence on promoting permissive
licenses. They do not help our cause at all, and I really hope Snowdrift
will attract more copyleft projects because if the only way to get any
funding for free software has to be adopting permissive licenses (like
it is now, in most cases), free programs can never be practically better
than their proprietary competitors, and things like DRM will keep existing.