Crowd-Funding Mesa Driver Development?

[YAFU]

Generalizing without talking about this particular case. How serious/safe can be this? What guarantees are there that the work is completed?
How to prevent someone from posing as a developer asking for donations?
(sorry for my english if my questions are not understood)

[stiiixy]

It used to be people would do this kind of thing, back in the 'golden age' of IT in Aus instead of buying OTS pre-packaged stuff that was a generic fit. People just did what was needed to get the job done. Good on ya!

[tarceri]

Could be interesting if this developer had more knowledge.
Now I feel that I personally could do the same job.

Hi Guys, I'm the one running this campaign. First off I would like to say yes any good developer could probably do this work, but just like me they dont because they lack time to commit to it hence my campaign. As to the concerns about my prior experience with Mesa I can fully understand this thats why I have tried to be open about it from that start. If you are looking at this from a pure development perspective my experience level with the codebase can be seen as a negative, but if you consider what I want to try to do with documenting the process it can be seen as a positive as I'm starting off where anyone looking for a quick introduction would be.

I'm not negative to the concept, it's very good if this gets
funded and actually gives something. The only thing I say
is that I'm not going to help it.

Thats fine, noone is forcing you too Thanks for the feedback.

[tarceri]

It used to be people would do this kind of thing, back in the 'golden age' of IT in Aus instead of buying OTS pre-packaged stuff that was a generic fit. People just did what was needed to get the job done. Good on ya!

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

[tarceri]

Generalizing without talking about this particular case. How serious/safe can be this? What guarantees are there that the work is completed?
How to prevent someone from posing as a developer asking for donations?
(sorry for my english if my questions are not understood)

Well that goes for any Crowd-Funding project not just programming. If it makes you feel any better when setting up a campaign indiegogo makes you identify yourself via your PayPal details which are verified against your bank account or credit card.

The other thing is to ask questions if you are concerned it might not be genuine.

As for "What guarantees are there that the work is completed?" Again with any Crowd-Funding guarantees are hard and there is a certain level of risk involved. Its up to you whether or not you think the risk is worth it vs the size of your contribution. One positive of my campaign is that I'm working on an opensource project and intend to release my work as I progress so it should be useful regardless if its completed or not. Note: I do intend to complete the work even if I was to miss my deadline.

[tarceri]

It used to be people would do this kind of thing, back in the 'golden age' of IT in Aus instead of buying OTS pre-packaged stuff that was a generic fit. People just did what was needed to get the job done. Good on ya!

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

[YAFU]

Well that goes for any Crowd-Funding project not just programming.

Sorry, but I think it's not the same "any" Crowd-Funding project.
In the case of Ubuntu Edge you have the support of a company like Canonical, risking its reputation if it fails. In another recently case when a developer asked for donations for GIMP project, the announcement was published in the official GIMP Google+ channel, which gives it a bit more seriousness to the request.
If your donation request was supported by Mesa3D would be much better.
Anyway I'm not judging you. I am proposing to discuss how we could do this more serious and viable, not only for your case but any other similar future case.

[ua=42]

With any crowd-funding campaign, one should follow the following rules.

1. Is the amount asked for reasonable for the amount of work expected to be done?
* Yes. He's asking for 2500 (indigo gets a cut for 10%, which means he'll get 2250) for doing 2 weeks of development. That would be equal to a $54,000/year pay which is high enough to support him and his family.

2. Is it something you what to see accomplished?
* Another GL extension implemented.
* Updated documentation.
* Proof that the users can help fund the development of the graphics stack.

3. Do you think the person/group can do it?
* Probably. I haven't looked at the spec, but others have and said it didn't look too complicated.

[tarceri]

Sorry, but I think it's not the same "any" Crowd-Funding project.
In the case of Ubuntu Edge you have the support of a company like Canonical, risking its reputation if it fails. In another recently case when a developer asked for donations for GIMP project, the announcement was published in the official GIMP Google+ channel, which gives it a bit more seriousness to the request.
If your donation request was supported by Mesa3D would be much better.

Ok I guess I can see the point you are making. I have no way of getting the Mesa guys support as I'm aiming for my first contribution hence the title of my campaign "Help me to become a Mesa contributor". I have provided in the about me section on indiegogo a link to my ohloh profile to try and prove my credibility. I'm also trying to be as open as possible in my campaign description as well as answering as many questions as I can.
I'm not sure what else I can do other than that at this stage. While it might not mean much just like Canonical I too risk my reputation in the open source community if I fail since my name is publicly attached to the project.

Anyway I'm not judging you. I am proposing to discuss how we could do this more serious and viable, not only for your case but any other similar future case.

Yes, you are right credibility is going to be an important part of any successful campaign.

[RushPL]

Donated 5 bucks. I hope the campaign succeeds despite not providing direct link to the campaign - it's pretty stupid.