

Bribe developers to fix bugs - smallsharptools
http://bribe.io/
We are creating Bribe.io for Startup Weekend. It is a service which allows users to pay developers to prioritize bugs that need fixing. We&#x27;d like to get feedback from users and developers who would use this new service. Please check out Bribe.io and fill out our survey.
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walshemj
[http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1995-11-13/](http://dilbert.com/strips/comic/1995-11-13/)

Wally: "i am going to write myself a new minvan this afternoon"

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smallsharptools
We envision that many times the bugs will be fixed by someone who has not
already been working on that Open Source project. We also do not expect any
projects which are intentionally buggy to become popular enough to make a
difference.

Bribe.io will also include work on enhancements to an existing Open Source
project.

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ogreyonder
An open-source environment is really the only place this kind of motivation
could work. As you say, if the project is intentionally buggy, it's unlikely
to be used.

Love the idea!

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rakingleaves
Some of my colleagues wrote a research paper about a system like this a few
years back:

[http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/files/us-
bacon/B...](http://researcher.watson.ibm.com/researcher/files/us-
bacon/Bacon09MarketBased.pdf)

They proposed a new notion of "software correctness" as an equilibrium in
which there is insufficient economic demand for any further bug fixes. Cool to
see such a system being built!

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x0054
I was considering starting a kickstarter like site for this as well. Some
projects have stalled development. It would be interesting to have a system
where people can create a road plan for a particular stalled open source
project, and donate to the development. Once a given target is reached,
developers can bid on the project, compleat it, and get paid.

There are some projects, like DoubleCommander, which I would pay money to make
it move faster, as it's the only viable TotalCommander clone for MAC. However,
I can't afford to hire anyone to work on it by my self, and can't expect the
primary developer to work on it for free any harder than he already is.

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jetblackio
Aka, extort users to pay for bug fixes :)

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tinco
Yes, because requesting to be paid for doing work is a programmers ultimate
sin..

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Houshalter
Nothing wrong with it though it seems wrong to lead people into thinking
something is free or letting them become depending on it.

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jonperl
For a side project I wanted to experiment with a very similar idea.

Due to other commitments I was not able to give the project the love it
deserved. Perhaps some of the code or concepts will be useful for you guys:

[https://github.com/codebounty/codebounty](https://github.com/codebounty/codebounty)
codebounty.co

Let me know if I can help. @jon_perl

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whbk
This is different from
[https://www.bountysource.com/](https://www.bountysource.com/) how?

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pallandt
Was just about to mention this site. I'd also be interested in knowing on what
points it will differ from it, assuming the founders of bribe.io know about
the already-available alternative.

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smallsharptools
We have been looking at Bounty Source. We think jobs on Bribe.io will not be
on that scale. Some of those projects are quite involved while Bribe.io may be
smaller efforts, like updating a WordPress plugin to be responsive for mobile
so it works with a mobile theme. It may just take an hour and earn the
developer $100.

There may be some crossover with Bounty Source which could be good to provide
multiple resources for users and developers.

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pallandt
I see. Thanks for the quick reply!

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QuasiAlon
bribes, or bounties, or prizes, or whatever you want to call it work on the
extrinsic motivations for people to act. In many cases, open source projects
are a product of love, that is, intrinsic motivations. There's always a risk
when introducing extrinsic motivations that they'll crowd out the intrinsic.

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memset
I see where you are coming from, but I find that for myself, I come to
different conclusions.

I work on open source not just because I love my product, but due to an
element of wanting to show off. It's kind of a badge of honor, a point of
pride to have a project that people use and love.

Which is to say that, _without_ the motivation of others using my project,
wanting to contribute to it, and even wanting to donate money to the project,
my personal level of interest declines ("nobody is using this anyway.")

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lightblade
I like the idea. But bribe has a negative feel to it. Why not bounty?

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whbk
Because that's already been done!
[https://www.bountysource.com/](https://www.bountysource.com/)

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661016
This is amazing idea, but I'm wondering that how is transaction going to work?
Will there be any amount of money that "staff" keep?

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smallsharptools
The way we are going to handle the money is to take the payment when someone
creates a job. The money will be held in an escrow account. Then developers
can work on the job and submit their solution. Once the user accepts the work
by the developer the money from the escrow account will be released to the
developer. There will be a fee for the user while the developer gets the full
amount pledged.

If there is a conflict we can step in to resolve it and make a decision. Since
the money is in the escrow account it will not be possible for the user to
just not pay and the developer cannot just take the money and run before they
user accepts the solution.

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pekk
Since you are taking money from the user, it is your incentive always to
decide in their favor in order to get their repeat business.

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adamlj
Nice idea. I think it's extra interesting since I remember reading a debate
here on HN about "bribing" OSS developers.

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smallsharptools
Got a link for that debate? The name is meant to get some attention while it
is our intention to help users find developers who can help them make updates
to the software they use but cannot update themselves.

And the developers getting paid to make these updates may be college
undergrads or someone who has a day job but dedicates sometime to working on
the jobs set up on Bribe.io. They can make some money helping others while
also contributing to OSS which helps everyone.

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bradp
Not just bugs, but adding features too!

