[FFmpeg-devel] [RFC] Bug Bounty

[Robert Krüger]

Hi,

On 29.01.2010, at 12:39, Michael Niedermayer wrote:

> Hi
> 
> As our foundation is apparently nearing fully functional status.
> Heres my first suggestion of what to do with some of the donations
> Dear gentelflamers may i present to you today my proposal of bug bounties,
> The idea behind it is to dispose of the many old bugs that dont seem to
> receive the attention they should.
> Suggested rules:
> * Only reproduceable bugs and reproduceable fixes are eligible
> * The fix must reach main ffmpeg svn (and not be reverted at the spot;)
>  that also implicates proper & clean fixes only
> * Duplicate bugs are not eligible, if a fix fixes 3 bugs only the highest
>  of the 3 bounties is payed.
> * The rules and bounties can be changed by the developers of ffmpeg through
>  a vote or by the project leader.
> * People must keep track of their own bounties and notify the treassurer
>  within 1 month of closing the respective bug.
> Suggested bountie:
> * IF      Bug older than 24 month: 40 Euro (there are 15 such bugs currently)
> * ELSE IF Bug older than 12 month: 20 Euro (there are 59 such bugs currently)
> * ELSE IF Bug older than  6 month: 10 Euro (there are 88 such bugs currently)
> If all these bugs where fixed this would coast the foundation 2660 Euro.
> In that sense it appears a nice thing, fix all bugs older than 6 month for 2k6
> 
> [count of bugs from the roundup search of its webinterface]
> 
> An alternative bounty system would be:
> * bugs must be at least 6 month old
> * bugs receive age_in_month*2 euro
> this would lead to a more smooth relation between age and bounty but iam too
> lazy to count how much money this would cost the foundation for all current
> bugs.
> 
> Open questions:
> * Can we do this or are there some legal/ tax issues for the foundation
>  with such many payments to probably quite different people over the
>  planet?
> 
> comments, flames, love letters, death threats?
> 


is there also a procedure planned for people who are willing to donate money for resolving particular issues? this has been difficult in the past
 due to the absence of a legal entity to donate to (well, it's not really a donation then, right). will the foundation become a sort of broker for such things? of course there always exists the possibility to offer money for certain tasks to individual developers but it would of course be nicer not to possibly bother individual people if there existed an accepted "best practice". that's all from the donator's point of view. it's your call, of course, if you see any benefit in such a thing.  

Regards,

Robert