5 ms·

Show HN: Commit to open source and get Bitcoin tips

29 points by arsenische 13y ago

randywaterhouse 13y ago
I, for one, applaud the initiative, for which the bitcointalk forum announcement (by this post's submitter) exists here [0]. It's interesting to think of a system to support development of open source software, providing monetary compensation in addition to that feel-good feeling. The other day I was thinking if we could almost have a standardized commit message for developers seeking tips, something like <public bitcoin address><clearsignature of address with developers pgp key>, so that one could do this on a direct basis (and with certainty that their funds reach the dev). This is NOT to say that I don't trust tip4commit, not at all. Think of the previous paragraph as an aside, a thought on how to tip in a way that guarantees all tips go to developers. If arsenische were less trustworthy there might be a greater argument, but I think people familiar with bitcointalk will know he's cool. It's great to see an easy, less-painful, automatic way to have this done than simply looking up dev's addresses on an individualized basis (tedious if you like lots of projects). Cool stuff. [0] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=315802 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=315802
- arsenische 13y ago
  Thanks for kind words! I like your idea of putting developers' bitcoin address into commit message. I totally agree with you that direct tips are instant and reliable, they don't require trust to any third party. However most developers probably don't even have a Bitcoin address, we hope to change that :)
ye 13y ago
I do like the idea, but the current level of funding is ridiculous. So I have three choices 1) Work on this opensource project and potentially make 0.077 bitcoins 2) Work on my projects / startup 3) Work for somebody else with guaranteed salary of $100-150/hr. I don't see how #1 is competitive at all, unless you're an idealist.
- randywaterhouse 13y ago
  I believe, personally, and know others who commit to open-source projects on a personal basis (and then those who I only read of on the internet), that many developers who work on these projects don't need monetary compensation in the normal sense. Working on an OSS project is fulfilling in ways other than money, and some people really enjoy doing it in their spare time, etc. I know some of my friends from college who went off to do work at Facebook, Google, IBM, and they actually all enjoy submitting their code to open source projects for 0 dollars. So while you're right there is some sort of "idealism" required, it's a common ideal in the culture of programming it seems. Supporting what one thinks is right, simply by nature of believing in it. Then you can go off to your day job at Google and make six figures.
- peterjancelis 13y ago
  The market pays a premium to buy your independence away from you. So I think there's an equilibrium where a job has the highest expected value (very low variance), a startup lower expected pay but more variance and open source really base pay but reputational opportunities.
- ryanthejuggler 13y ago
  I think you're confusing "tip" with "paycheck". That said, I would like to hope that the tip amounts will rise as the site gains traction.
- user24 13y ago
  Prior to this, you had three choices: 1) Work on this opensource project for free 2) Work on my projects / startup 3) Work for somebody else with guaranteed salary of $100-150/hr. That lack of competitiveness doesn't seem to have stopped the success of open source.
AndyKelley 13y ago
What about the fact that each commit can be of wildly differing complexity and usefulness? It looks like in this system, a README typo fix would be worth exactly the same as fixing a threading deadlock issue.
- Palomides 13y ago
  yeah, that does seem 'unfair,' but anything involving any sort of metric could also be gamed (whereas simple commit count is less likely to be easily manipulable on most projects).
- umrashrf 13y ago
  "use branches with atomic commits and then get paid for based on each commit in the branch" model will likely fix this
- arsenische 13y ago
  Maybe in future we implement some other metrics, but as Palomides said, they can be gamed. It is just a tip, some additional incentive to make new commits. Hopefully it will attract attention of new developers to the projects that are needed by people.
Palomides 13y ago
compare: https://www.gittip.com/ https://www.gittip.com/
- peterjancelis 13y ago
  Huge fan of what Gittip is doing, but they really should add bitcoin functionality. (They have some github issues about it.)
umrashrf 13y ago
I think you could do better on the name. Coin4Commit :)
neals 13y ago
Things like this is what makes Bitcoin so amazing. A billion people giving eachother a few dimes or dollars. Free flow of value.
bearbin 13y ago
I added 10mBTC a few hours ago, and they haven't turned up on the site. Is there a long delay or something else?
- arsenische 13y ago
  A small bug caused this problem, we fixed it. Thanks for your message!
  - bearbin 13y ago
    Thanks for the fix :)

29 points by arsenische 13y ago

I, for one, applaud the initiative, for which the bitcointalk forum announcement (by this post's submitter) exists here [0]. It's interesting to think of a system to support development of open source software, providing monetary compensation in addition to that feel-good feeling. The other day I was thinking if we could almost have a standardized commit message for developers seeking tips, something like <public bitcoin address><clearsignature of address with developers pgp key>, so that one could do this on a direct basis (and with certainty that their funds reach the dev). This is NOT to say that I don't trust tip4commit, not at all. Think of the previous paragraph as an aside, a thought on how to tip in a way that guarantees all tips go to developers. If arsenische were less trustworthy there might be a greater argument, but I think people familiar with bitcointalk will know he's cool. It's great to see an easy, less-painful, automatic way to have this done than simply looking up dev's addresses on an individualized basis (tedious if you like lots of projects). Cool stuff. [0] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=315802 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=315802

arsenische 13y ago
Thanks for kind words! I like your idea of putting developers' bitcoin address into commit message. I totally agree with you that direct tips are instant and reliable, they don't require trust to any third party. However most developers probably don't even have a Bitcoin address, we hope to change that :)

ye 13y ago

I do like the idea, but the current level of funding is ridiculous. So I have three choices 1) Work on this opensource project and potentially make 0.077 bitcoins 2) Work on my projects / startup 3) Work for somebody else with guaranteed salary of $100-150/hr. I don't see how #1 is competitive at all, unless you're an idealist.

randywaterhouse 13y ago
I believe, personally, and know others who commit to open-source projects on a personal basis (and then those who I only read of on the internet), that many developers who work on these projects don't need monetary compensation in the normal sense. Working on an OSS project is fulfilling in ways other than money, and some people really enjoy doing it in their spare time, etc. I know some of my friends from college who went off to do work at Facebook, Google, IBM, and they actually all enjoy submitting their code to open source projects for 0 dollars. So while you're right there is some sort of "idealism" required, it's a common ideal in the culture of programming it seems. Supporting what one thinks is right, simply by nature of believing in it. Then you can go off to your day job at Google and make six figures.
peterjancelis 13y ago
The market pays a premium to buy your independence away from you. So I think there's an equilibrium where a job has the highest expected value (very low variance), a startup lower expected pay but more variance and open source really base pay but reputational opportunities.
ryanthejuggler 13y ago
I think you're confusing "tip" with "paycheck". That said, I would like to hope that the tip amounts will rise as the site gains traction.
user24 13y ago
Prior to this, you had three choices: 1) Work on this opensource project for free 2) Work on my projects / startup 3) Work for somebody else with guaranteed salary of $100-150/hr. That lack of competitiveness doesn't seem to have stopped the success of open source.

AndyKelley 13y ago

What about the fact that each commit can be of wildly differing complexity and usefulness? It looks like in this system, a README typo fix would be worth exactly the same as fixing a threading deadlock issue.

Palomides 13y ago
yeah, that does seem 'unfair,' but anything involving any sort of metric could also be gamed (whereas simple commit count is less likely to be easily manipulable on most projects).
umrashrf 13y ago
"use branches with atomic commits and then get paid for based on each commit in the branch" model will likely fix this
arsenische 13y ago
Maybe in future we implement some other metrics, but as Palomides said, they can be gamed. It is just a tip, some additional incentive to make new commits. Hopefully it will attract attention of new developers to the projects that are needed by people.

Palomides 13y ago

compare: https://www.gittip.com/ https://www.gittip.com/

peterjancelis 13y ago
Huge fan of what Gittip is doing, but they really should add bitcoin functionality. (They have some github issues about it.)

umrashrf 13y ago

I think you could do better on the name. Coin4Commit :)

neals 13y ago

Things like this is what makes Bitcoin so amazing. A billion people giving eachother a few dimes or dollars. Free flow of value.

bearbin 13y ago

I added 10mBTC a few hours ago, and they haven't turned up on the site. Is there a long delay or something else?

arsenische 13y ago
A small bug caused this problem, we fixed it. Thanks for your message!
- bearbin 13y ago
  Thanks for the fix :)