Create a community bounty to reward hardest tasks to push CP forwards

Governance Petitions
#1

Some tasks that are on the roadmap are really hard to go through. For example, some people are working their way regarding TinyMCE v5.

I think that those kind of tasks would get done quicker if we created some kind of task bounty so that the person (or people) who fixes the given issue gets the corresponding bounty. It doesn’t have to be big numbers. But at least some amount that makes it rewarding.

Yes, open source, giving back to the community, … that’s rewarding. But if you get some bucks to buy a new mouse or an amazing coffee from an exotic country, that’s an extra reward.

And I am not saying this because I want to make money collaborating on CP. Not at all. I have my job, I am happy. It’s just that it would be nice to see some things run with a bit more flow. And I am willing to put in some money too if it is openly managed.

Negative points:

  • Some people will only try to work on tasks that have a bounty. (But that’s not really a bad thing)
  • Money involves problems and greed. (Openly managed, transparent, clarity… will reduce issues).
  • I am unaware of legal aspects regarding CP being non-profit. But it’s not a profit thing, it’s more like a donation. And CP does have a donate area.

Positive points:

  • It may attract new developers.
  • It may accelerate some stuck projects.
  • It will benefit the whole community, not just the people getting the bounty.
  • Donating money for a specific purpose may increase the amount of donations. People put money in a feature they would like to see happen.
  • In long term, it may be a great resource to attract quality developers who help make CP amazing.

Who decides the bounty amount?

Well, allowing to directly donate money to the exact task (with a good clear description of what shall be achieved). So each one can decide if and how much to donate.

#2

This is a really good idea. The only thing I can think of to add is that the “tasks with bounty” should be chosen from already approved and planned petitions. Or else, this promise of reward can be used to influence the status of some petitions that only a few people want, and that goes against our vision of being community-led.

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#3

This has been discussed before (there might even be a petition), but I don’t know how to find it.

It would be great if you could get the facts before using people as examples. For the record, it’s just me working on updating the editor, and it has been pretty much the entire time. It would be better to have a team, even if there is only one programmer in the team. There needs to be testing and decisions made and review of how it fits into the bigger picture.

This is true for all projects, whether it’s an enhancement or a bug fix. I don’t think that a bounty is the right approach. What is needed is more than one person involved in the task, to make it go and provide accountability (to do what is promised and to land it in core).

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#4

The facts are reflected in the commit history.

#5

Without the facts, it would be better not to mention either of us, and not quote me out of context.

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#6

Edited post, removed the mention.

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#7

I proposed a couple of ideas on Slack in random channel. You can start with my message here and read the conversation:

#8

The idea is great
The results will likely be catastrophic

Why I say this?
Unfortunately we have a history of conflicts within ClassicPress based on bare opinions that habe motivated several folks to fully leave any effort to help ClassicPress behind.

Now imagine you throw money in the pit.
We’ll eat ourselves alive.

Even if not, how would we decide „when it’s done“
When it’s merged? And what it because of some difference in opinion or else a work doesn’t get merged and then the one who did the work doesn’t get the bounty.
It’ll be worse than now - folks will try to push features with a second interest in mind and any voice against it would immediately be colored by „you want to jeopardize my bounty“

I wouldn’t do this. It has potential to make things worse.

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