Announce: Weekly Patch Prize

[Dom Lachowicz]

Eric has a breakdown of the AbiWord fund as of last Monday. We've received some considerable donations since then, and the fund currently stands at about $1420 US. That's quite a bit of money for a project with no appreciable expenses. So Martin and I were thinking of some ways to spend our new-found "wealth" ;-)

What we'd like to do is to reinstate a weekly "patch prize," much in the spirit and fashion that Source Gear did all those years ago. The prize will be distributed on a weekly basis, and will be in the amount of $45 US *before* any applicable fees used in transferring the funds (transfer fee, currency exchange fee, etc...). This prize will continue until version 2.0, or when funding runs short. Assuming that there are about 16 weeks before Martin and I would like to release 2.0, that amounts to $720 US.

We would also like to reserve some considerable amount of money in order to sponsor/partially subsidize some of our developers going to GUADEC 4 this year (April, possibly in Ireland). I'm guaranteeing at least $800 in our fund for the GUADEC 4 expenses. This means that to cover my bet, we'll have to raise at least $100 US in the next 25 weeks or so, which seems reasonable. I will personally cover the difference, up to $100 US. Anything above the $800 reserved for GUADEC may or may not be used for GUADEC 4, and will be dealt with appropriately if and when the time/need arises.

Q) What qualifies one for the patch prize?
A) Any outstanding contribution to the AbiWord community, particularly those things that are "above and beyond the call of duty." This is not limited to code necessarily, though coding is one way to win the prize. You could also do something like:
*) Write a huge amount of documentation
*) Organize a TWiki
*) Organize a successful bugday
*) Expand the website
...

A consistently well-done task, such as the AWN done by Eazen, might qualify him. The above suggestions and bugzilla are good places to start. Don't let them limit your horizons, however. Be creative, be sneaky, but above all else, be useful and be consistent.

Q) Who determines the patch prize winner?
A) Martin and I have sole discretion in choosing the winner. Both of us must be in agreement on the winner. We guarantee that will never be a tie, or lack of a resolution. I cannot vote for myself; Martin cannot vote for himself. However, each of us has 2 "trumps" over the next 16-or-so week period. If Martin does something like "Commit: We now support footnotes" it's within my right to trump him, and he wins that week. Likewise, he has the same power over me. Likewise, in some sort of extreme circumstance, one of us could trump the other's decision for weekly winner.

Q) How does one receive the funds?
A) We'd like to transfer the funds via some electronic medium. Paypal seems to at least respond now when we poke them, so this might be an ideal mechanism.

Q) When is the first patch prize?
A) The patch prize will be announced starting Sunday November 2, and every following Sunday thereafter. The winner will be mentioned in the AWN, which is normally released on Mondays. The prize money will be distributed at my and the winner's earliest convenience.

Q) I won before. Can I win again?
A) Yes, but it will be more difficult to win again, perhaps considerably so. How much more difficult will depend on the case at hand, how Martin and I feel on the particular day in question, etc...

Q) Can two people win in one week?
A) No.

Q) Are the weekly contribution dates set in stone? i.e. I do something on a Friday and don't get the prize that Sunday. Will I be eligible for next week's prize on a past week's contributions?
A) The dates are kind-of set in mud. It depends on how busy the week in question is, how great of a thing you just did, what side of the bed I woke up on, etc...

Q) Is there whining, or a rebuttal/complaint process?
A) No. All decisions are final. No whining, no complaining. This is a gift. Be humble and polite.

Q) And if, for some reason, the money for that week goes unclaimed for more than 2 weeks?
A) The money gets recycled back into the fund. There will be no monetary prize awarded for that week; the money will be used toward another week's prize, GUADEC, or other.

To those who have helped make the AbiWord fund what it currently is, we thank you, and hope to get you a leaner, meaner AbiWord in the near future. To all you hopefuls out there, let the gauntlet begin!

Cheers,
Dom and Martin