Is the mailing list up?

Developing something for OS4 is a big commitment as we all know.
If I was going to spend a year of development time on a project I sure
as hell would have bought an Amiga One to do it.
We are the converted who will be buying an A1.
Any developer who programs for OS4 is obviously also converted and
would buy their own A1 as well.
OK...It'll be expensive, but if you love the platform enough to actually
program for it you'll find a way to purchase the hardware anyway.
The cost of an A1 in this case is not the limiting factor.
Or maybe it is....I dunno.... I actually have a paying job and am single
right now so I have unlimited geek expenditure
plus the time to develop.....and I've already started on a PC.
Keeping a diary, its Day 65 and counting.

Sorry to sound negative..... but this plan wouldn't work for me beyond
fiddling with an A1 for a little while without any commitment.

That said let me say something productive.

Maybe if you gave the developer the machine at the end if they reach
a certain milestone then I think it could work.
Like.....you can keep the machine as long as you reach this milestone
in your project by this time. Or at least make a promising effort as
adjudicated by a panel or even an online voting system for subscribers
to the project or projects.

The applicable projects would have to be decided upon by either an online
subscriber base or a panel.

Beyond that subsequent efforts require further generosity, like free
software or peripherals. Its like they are working to make money
for their hobby(Amiga), adding to the community, and getting support
from an expectant and anxious bunch of paying subscribers who are
eager to be beta testers.

Another option is that the software may be open source, only to the subscribers.
That might get a lot of closet developers to subscribe in order to see what's going
on and also to get a step up in terms of development tools, functionality and support.

I would select projects that would be useful as building blocks for further development.
Open source may be a requirement to kick start Amiga software
production but I don't think it will ultimately be what drives developers.

I'm starting another thread on what I consider the philosophy of developers.
What motivates them, and how to take advantage of that in the production
of software for the Amiga platform.

I am also starting another thread on what I believe is required to start developing right now.

_________________
Leo Nigro, CTO Commodore USA, LLC
Opinions expressed are my own and not those of C= USA.
Commodore/AMIGA "Beautiful, High-Performance, Home Computers for Creativity and Entertainment."

I woudl be more then happy to donate part of myy server space to the cause.

mywebhsoting

SO let me know if you want a website for the cause and that.

Please read the following:

New Amiga Community-bases website

The website in this news article will support what this thread has been asking for. I prompt you to make sure that as soon as the initial website is up, that you post your ideas and comments about the Developer and Project Sponsorship Program. This way you will all be able to have some input into how it should work.

@choochy

Nice initiative but I thought someone here at AW was already started with mailinglists and such?

Maybe the idea should be discussed a little further before you launch your site?

Don't get me wrong I am impressed that you are allready working on a website but I just wanted to hear other peoples opinion about how it should be run and by whom.

_________________

@Troels

To be totally honest, the night before this thread started I was talking to my partners about starting up a website to fund Amiga development projects. I thought that including the Development sponsorship would be logical, as it would be same processes for donation, etc. I was hoping to release the statement before this discussion go too far, however unfortunately it didn?t.

I hope not to tread on anyone?s toes here, nor try to compete as this is something to help the community and not to cause division.

As stated in our statement we want full cooperation and input from the community. Furthermore we at AmigaShare have the money and the skills to put toward this, we are just as keen on seeing Amiga and its developers and development succeed as the rest of the community are.

We already have a full ecommerce gateway that we can make use of. This will lead us to fully develop a system which every donating member has full managed control of there money as well as being able to get there money refunded when they like. We can provide a sense of security for donators, this I am sure will help more people donate.

I hope to work with all of you and your suggestions to further this project.

@DaveP

I like this idea but I have a number of questions?


What will the subscribers be paying for?

Are we talking about hiring 1 programmer with an A1 set up?

Surely that?s a minimum of £1000 per month?

It will probably cost more to get anyone with experience to leave what they are doing now, rather than a student?

How will we find a suitable candidate?

Who will verify the quality of work?

Who will decide what will be developed?

Why don't Hyperion/Eyetech/Amiga Inc. come up with a reasonable subscription rate for OS4 and find some good people to train in the art of development? I don't mind paying out £5 a month to get system that's worth using. That's the same as getting a printed mag. with a CD on the cover.

_________________
Cheers

Doug.

@Doug


Quote:

That's the same as getting a printed mag. with a CD on the cover.

good point.

_________________
******************************************
I dont suffer from Insanity - I enjoy it

******************************************

@Doug

Quote:

Doug wrote: @DaveP I like this idea but I have a number of questions? What will the subscribers be paying for? Are we talking about hiring 1 programmer with an A1 set up? Surely that?s a minimum of £1000 per month? It will probably cost more to get anyone with experience to leave what they are doing now, rather than a student? How will we find a suitable candidate? Who will verify the quality of work? Who will decide what will be developed? Why don't Hyperion/Eyetech/Amiga Inc. come up with a reasonable subscription rate for OS4 and find some good people to train in the art of development? I don't mind paying out £5 a month to get system that's worth using. That's the same as getting a printed mag. with a CD on the cover.

Thats where we see ourself coming in Doug.

AmigaShare will provide developers with the means to upload a CV, the community then has the ability to donate money, look over the cv and vote for a developer they choose. We will handle quality insurance,etc. In the case of application development we will not release the donations to the developer until the app has passed our approval.

We will have set in place a full Development & Q/A system and processes for all Application developers. One of the AmigaShare team members has 14 years experience in managing business-critical projects in Information Technology.

Please visit AmigaShare.com for more information.

Chris

@Doug


Quote:

What will the subscribers be paying for? Are we talking about hiring 1 programmer with an A1 set up? Surely that's a minimum of £1000 per month?

It would be, but that is not what this is for. There are two parts to paying for work to be doneto create
a revival in the amiga scene:

1. Resources
2. Salary

If you have no money you cannot even buy the resources to even start to work your way out of
the situation. The idea here is to cover the resources so that bedroom/part time/on benefit programmers
with some talent but insufficient spare money to even start can put their ideas into practise and try
to build a business around their ideas. We pay for the resources ( hardware, SDK ) they invest their
own time into writing something, porting something, designing something and eventually come up with
a saleable product ( or free ) such that they can start to make money.

Quote:

How will we find a suitable candidate?

Don't know.

Quote:

Who will verify the quality of work?

Testers, appointed from the userbase I guess.

Quote:

Who will decide what will be developed?

Perhaps a business council discusses all proposals sent in and allocates resources to suit.

Quote:

Why don't Hyperion/Eyetech/Amiga Inc. come up with a reasonable subscription rate for OS4 and find some good people to train in the art of development? I don't mind paying out £5 a month to get system that's worth using. That's the same as getting a printed mag. with a CD on the cover.

They might, if you suggest it to them.

@choochy

Ah so you are running with this now then?

@DaveP

Quote:

They might, if you suggest it to them.

I'll sent them an email.

I hope this becomes a topic of conversation at "The BIG BASH" !

_________________
Cheers

Doug.