On Fri, May 26, 2006 at 02:08:26PM -0700, MenTaLguY wrote:
  

On Fri, 26 May 2006 09:38:49 -0400, Justin Wikinator <touchmewithsynchronicpulses@...400...> wrote:

    

Do any of you have suggestions about to get funding for my project ?
I've thought to myself sometimes, "why should I get paid to do this
when everyone else is doing it for free ?"
I think the answer to that questions is "because I (and others) deserve to earn a living
doing something enjoyable and that benefits the public".
      

Generally, I would be cautious of thinking of employment in terms of an entitlement.  In practice the world doesn't work that way.

    

It occured to me that maybe some of you ARE getting paid to develop Inkscape.
Is this the case ? How does that work ?
      

Sort of.  Just as you suggest, there are at least two categories:  people who subsidize their development time with artistic work done in Inkscape, and people who are paid for their development time by users of Inkscape in return the added value.

Two examples at opposite ends of the first group might be bulia and
myself.  
    

I probably provide an extreme example of a third category:  people who
don't benefit directly from participation in Inkscape but benefit
indirectly as a career enhancement.

My day job involves open source, although not for Inkscape
specifically.  However, many, many things I've learned through working
on Inkscape, I've been able to bring into work and use on projects
there.  Just to pick one example, I used my experience with Google SOC
last year, to help guide my co-workers at OSDL this year as we
participate in SOC as well.

Other examples...  The wikis and websites we use at work for a lot of
OSDL's projects derive originally from stuff done originally for
Inkscape.  I represented Inkscape at the Libre Graphics Meeting, but
OSDL has become interested in that subsequently; I was able to give
first-hand info/advice to my management because of Inkscape.  I first
learned about Autopackage through Inkscape, but used my experience with
it to help advise my co-workers about its usefulness for stuff OSDL is
interested in.  I could go on and on...

It would be impossible for me to put a dollar value on what I've gotten
out of Inkscape, but I've survived three layoffs, gotten a promotion,
and earned a lot of job security, that I probably would not have gotten
if not for my Inkscape experience.

I think I'm an extreme example, but I'm sure many others could point to
skills and experience they've gained because of Inkscape participation
that has helped them in their day-job.  Like me, they probably hadn't
anticipated that their hobby would have benefitted them career-wise.
(Indeed, I was a bit fearful that being involved in a fork would put a
big ol' dent in my career, but it definitely proved worth the risk!)

One other observation I can share...  First, anyone considering an open
source based job, take note that "open source job" does not mean
"freedom to do whatever you want job".  In fact, working in a job
involving open source can be much more difficult than a comparable job
in closed software, because budgets are tighter, expectations higher,
and visibility into what you do much more intense.  Ironically, turning
your passion for an open source project into an open source job can
actually *reduce* the amount of time you have for your open source
project, for the simple reason that after spending all day working on
open source things, you find you want to use your weekends and freetime
for other things.  Jon Phillips and I have recognized this in our own
jobs - since taking a position at Creative Commons, we hardly ever see
rejon in #inkscape anymore.  But I know he's having tons of fun and
having a big impact on open source.

Anyway, I guess my point here is, "Take care what you wish for...  you
just might get it!"  ;-)

Bryce