

Ask HN: How to donate $$$ to Ruby? - ruby_roo

So enough bitching and moaning about MRI. If we want something better, and if we want it sooner rather than later, it's going to require sponsorship of some sort. EngineYard, Sun, and others are contributing to the projects of their choosing with actual man hours and associated costs. This is all well and good, but personally, I have no business being within 100 feet of core development and can't realistically contribute code there, even if I really wanted to.<p>Like many Rubyists, I've spent untold dollars on books and screencasts (we must be a very lucrative bunch on a per-user basis), and when it comes to Ruby, I've got money burning a hole in my pocket.<p>Now, the question is, will we Rubyists also contribute $$$ toward Ruby development? I think a great many of us would. Personally, I can donate $15 per month, and would be happy to do so. I would think that many profitable startups who are invested in Rails/Merb/Sinatra would be very interested as well. With enough of us, we could probably throw a lot more bright minds at the tough implementation problems Ruby faces.<p>I must admit I'm out of my depth when it comes to the brass tacks of starting foundations, but it seems to me that Ruby is ripe for one (python.org, anyone?). I'm feeling a bit frustrated that with all my love for Ruby, I can't even contribute my cash toward Ruby advocacy and development. And who doesn't want free cash? Am I alone in my thinking? Is there a website where this is already being done? If not, doesn't that signal a fundamental problem?<p>Let's put the market to work and kill this already!
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jamesbritt
"I must admit I'm out of my depth when it comes to the brass tacks of starting
foundations, but it seems to me that Ruby is ripe for one"

Have you looked at Ruby Central? <http://rubycentral.org/>

(There's also a similar org in Japan; I cannot recall the name).

I believe RubyCentral helped coordinate the fund raising for Greg Brown to
work full-time (albeit for only a few months) on Prawn.

~~~
ruby_roo
And their support and sponsorship page is down.

This is the crap I'm talking about. It has to be easy, it has to be well
executed, it has to inspire confidence. Fail, fail, and fail. I wouldn't
entrust my $$$ to this group at this point.

~~~
jamesbritt
" it has to inspire confidence. Fail, fail, and fail."

Have you bee to any Ruby conferences? All well executed, modulo the usual
small crap that can't be avoided. David, Rich, Chad, et al do a very good, and
often thankless, job.

" I wouldn't entrust my $$$ to this group at this point."

Based on the Web page instead of events handled by the organization?

BTW, you _did_ E-mail them to let them know about the problem, right?

