Re: Inviting questions from SPI

Tim Post wrote:
> On Thu, 2007-07-12 at 16:35 -0400, Alvaro Herrera wrote:
>> Tim Post wrote:
>>
>>> Do you feel resources should be put into finding new and promising
>>> projects prior to 'chicken hawkers' approaching?
>>>
>>> How do we lure developers from closing off with "as a service" products
>>> that can be offered free but aren't F/LOSS which seems to be the candy
>>> the 'chicken hawkers' have to offer?

O.k. based on your description below I think you present a very good
"problem". The best I think we can do here is education and advocacy.
The reality is, it is there code. They can do with it as they wish.

However, it certainly benefits the community as a whole to make sure
that good projects don't disappear or be eliminated due to outside
interests purchasing all the resources.

I can see apparent problems though. A small team comes up with an idea,
announces the idea, and starts to code. The idea sparks the interest of
some would be Angel (common term in investment). The Angel offers them
*x* sum of money to finish the project, but the Angel gets all the rights.

As a member of that team, I would be hard pressed to say no. I get the
opportunity to get paid to work on my great idea.

So again, it would come back to education and advocacy. The more
proactive role SPI takes in this type of thing, the more influence SPI
would have in helping developers take a longer term consideration of the
pros and cons of doing something like this.

Sincerely,

Joshua D. Drake

>> For those of us not in the know, could you clarify what a "chicken
>> hawker" is? In Wikipedia I find two definitions (one related to
>> homosexuality and the other to war stance in a politician), neither of
>> which seem to make any sense in this context.
>
> Sorry, the term is meant most literally. Someone established who picks
> up projects before patches start mixing and it becomes a service instead
> of a F/LOSS project.
>
> SAAS (Software as a service) industry wants everything common on a
> desktop served via browser and its free software developers who get
> recruited the most. The term originated on a list (I honestly thought it
> was more well known) when developers would get approached 'on the side'
> to see if they were receptive to selling. Someone called them 'chicken
> hawking' and the term propagated.
>
> This (in their ideal world) is less hands working on desktop apps and
> more hands working on web 2.0 monstrosities that people pay monthly to
> use under non-disclosure agreements.
>
> A project I was working on didn't go because the guys developing the UI
> got fed up that we wouldn't hold back the source, because of incoming
> offers.
>
> I guess you might have to work in the hosting industry to appreciate the
> problem.
>
> Thanks anyway,
> --Tim
>
>

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