No SoC support? Then get down to business !?
So, I'd like to thank you all for your feedback on my griping about the SoC. It was comforting and encouraging. As I've explained, I would still love to be able to commit a lot of time to this project, but my economic constraints are the only thing holding me back from doing so. I was speaking with some open source activists from the GOSLING group here in Ottawa (http://www.goslingcommunity.org) about the SoC fall-through, and they encouraged me to seek funding for my project elsewhere. They made it seem very fesable, and they are very experienced in the world of FLOSS, so I am considering their suggestion. It occured to me I could get funding for this project in two ways (1) provide graphics services, where the deliverables would be images OR (2) provide "value added" to Inkscape, where the deliverables would be code. It seems these two might feed each other. 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". It occured to me that maybe some of you ARE getting paid to develop Inkscape. Is this the case ? How does that work ?
So, in pursuing this goal, I've jotted some courses of action: - rewrite the proposal to frame it more towards end users like graphic design companies and give the reasons why this project should be funded (technical/business/ethical) - search for other official grants - get businesses and individuals to start using Inkscape if they don't already - promote an official "Inkscape endorsers list" (businesses and individuals) on the wiki (and have a web button to acompany it) to develop contacts of those who do use Inkscape - put up my existing stand-alone scripts on sourceforge - expand my demo image portfolio on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wikinator/sets/72057594111379807/) - convince individuals and/or businesses who could benefit from my improvements to Inkscape to invest in my project (one or many ?)
Your continued feedback would be greatly appreciated,
--Justin
Justin Wikinator wrote:
It occured to me that maybe some of you ARE getting paid to develop Inkscape. Is this the case ? How does that work ?
Hi Justin,
The number of developers that get paid to improve Inkscape is very minimal as far as I know. As you are aware, one way we've seen people get paid is via SoC.
Other than that you have people who work for an employer that needs X feature or functionality added to Inkscape. As such, those companies/organizations may be willing to keep their people on the clock to get that need met.
You may also take note of companies like Google who allow their developers to spend a certain percentage of their time on the clock working on projects of their own choosing (and as far as I know, we do not have anyone with that lucky gig).
For the sake of example, one way of /indirectly/ getting paid for development would be graphic design. More specific, if you do design work and bill by the project rather than by the hour, by adding features/fixes that make you more productive, you are then able to do more projects in less time (hence more income in the end).
Honestly though, most people don't get fiscally compensated by contributing to Inkscape, but that's not to say it isn't just as rewarding for them.
Personally, I use Inkscape both at home as an illustration/art tool and at work as a design tool for our marketing materials. I contribute my time because it makes my life so much easier. Plus, I believe that *INKSCAPE* is the best graphics tool available on Linux... Windows, OSX, and whatever else people get it to compile for. Heh, sorry 'bout the Xara jab but it sounded like an informal challenge to me. ;)
-Josh
On Fri, 26 May 2006, Justin Wikinator wrote:
Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 09:38:49 -0400 From: Justin Wikinator <touchmewithsynchronicpulses@...400...> To: Inkscape Devel List inkscape-devel@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [Inkscape-devel] No SoC support? Then get down to business !?
So, I'd like to thank you all for your feedback on my griping about the SoC.
One of the Postgres guys posted to the google groups with advice and consolation for those who were unlucky enough to fall below the line http://groups.google.com/group/Summer-Administrators-2006/browse_thread/thre...
I'm unable to view the post to this invite-only group. Could you send the text to me ?
Alan Horkan wrote:
On Fri, 26 May 2006, Justin Wikinator wrote:
Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 09:38:49 -0400 From: Justin Wikinator <touchmewithsynchronicpulses@...400...> To: Inkscape Devel List inkscape-devel@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [Inkscape-devel] No SoC support? Then get down to business !?
So, I'd like to thank you all for your feedback on my griping about the SoC.
One of the Postgres guys posted to the google groups with advice and consolation for those who were unlucky enough to fall below the line http://groups.google.com/group/Summer-Administrators-2006/browse_thread/thre...
On Fri, 26 May 2006, Justin Wikinator wrote:
Date: Fri, 26 May 2006 12:49:09 -0400 From: Justin Wikinator <touchmewithsynchronicpulses@...400...> To: Inkscape Devel List inkscape-devel@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: Re: [Inkscape-devel] No SoC support? Then get down to business !?
I'm unable to view the post to this invite-only group. Could you send the text to me ?
his message follows below, it is about Postgres but the advice is similar to the general comments made here previously:
All:
Here's part of an e-mail I just sent to our students whose proposals didn't get accepted. Interestingly, since this is our first year we originally went into SoC without any clear idea of what we were looking for, but very quickly developed common evaluation criteria.
Possibly Google wants to use it as part of the Student FAQ next year. We'll use it for ours.
-------- 1. If you are *already* a contributor to the project you are soliciting, your odds improve tremendously. (even seeking out key contributors online and befriending them in April can help)
2. Projects related to research already in progress at your school are the next best thing; it allows us to evaluate your approach, as well as giving us the assurance that you are serious about your topic and have already done background work.
3. Include a full plan of action with your proposal, about one half to a full page of what you're going to do and how you think you will do it, and possibly even what you will do if your initial approach does not work.
4. Include academic references, as links or *brief* quotes, which back up your ideas. That kind of stuff impresses us. On the other hand, do NOT include 15 pages of reference materials; we won't read it. Summarize.
5. If you know anyone in open source who can vouch for your code quality and/or diligence, use them as a reference.
6. Be Bold: suggest innovative and ambitious approaches to solve hard problems. Ultimately, we're looking for new major contributors for our projects and a bold proposal makes us think you might be a candidate. Yes, we offered up the TODO list as ideas, but stuff that we'd never thought of before got moderated up even if it didn't get accepted.
7. Be Realistic: SoC requires you to *complete* a project in 3 months or less. So don't be so bold that your proposal can't be finished. One proposal we rejected almost immediately said "As a whole, i think this idea is too large to be pulled off by one person in 3 months." We agreed.
8. Be Original: Many students submitted nearly-identical proposals based on recent "hot" papers on ACM and similar academic publications. For example, we got 3 separate proposals for an XML datatype using CTrees. If you do make a proposal based on a current "hot area" in CS/DBMS design, the make sure to make another unrelated proposal as well, because you'll have plenty of competitors.
I didn't see anyone mention this earlier, but apparently there was some confusion this year with the SoC selection process. Too bad, since it's such a nice project.
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3608631
bob
Alan Horkan wrote:
One of the Postgres guys posted to the google groups with advice and consolation for those who were unlucky enough to fall below the line http://groups.google.com/group/Summer-Administrators-2006/browse_thread/thre...
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.
I'd propose a different way of thinking about it: if some specific task remains undone, isn't it because people _aren't_ willing to do it for free for whatever reason? If people _were_ doing it all for free you wouldn't have a project to propose.
Now, eventually someone might come along and do that task for free (perhaps because it has become easier or more labor has become available), but until that time you have a window of opportunity where the task is worth money to someone (although there's no guarantee it's as much as you would want).
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. At this point, I understand that bulia more or less depends on Inkscape for the graphic design work that feeds his family. Therefore, he gets a very direct return on the time he invests in improving it. For my part, my primary reason for getting involved with Sodipodi and subsequently founding Inkscape was to make comics. It's less clear, financially, that I will ever so much as break even on the time I've spent on Inkscape, but on the other hand I simply enjoy doing it and have other sources of income.
SoC might be an example of the second category, but as already discussed it's pretty limited. A much better example might be the graduate students from Monash U. who were paid for a while to work on evaluating and extending Inkscape as a testbed for their research.
I think in general, if you want to generate income from doing Open Source work, you will need to stick to more mature projects that provide a lot of value, and then there are really four options (in order of increasing potential security):
1) Solicit funding for particular tasks you want to do. Extremely difficult, but you do get to pick the tasks.
2) Build your own business supporting people who use particular Open Source products. Manuals, training, shrink-wrap, CD-ROMs, cutomizations, contract work. This is the "services and support" option that everyone always used to talk about. Your tasks will be dictated by your customers.
3) Build your own business on an Open Source infrastructure. Your investment in the products you use will be an investment in your business. Your tasks will be dictated by your own business requirements.
4) Get hired by an established company or organization who depends on an Open Source infrastructure, in a position where part or all of your duties will include contributing to the products they use. Your tasks will be dictated by your employer.
The more mature a particular project, the greater the availability of the later (more secure) options for generating income.
-mental
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
On May 26, 2006, at 3:01 PM, Bryce Harrington wrote:
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.
And aside from the many good things Bryce listed, there's another way working on Open Source can help one's "regular" career: resumés and job interviews.
Most often, a programmer won't actually be able to show his work product (as opposed to say a graphic designer who has a full portfolio of artwork done for clients). Work on an open source project can be used to show potential employers samples of the quality of your coding. And some may even have heard of projects and involvement. At the least you have something that's legally safe to share by showing others.
Then if the potential employer has some idea about open source, you might be asked "So, if I go look I'll seen your name all over the changelogs?". Being able to answer with where to look (even if it's "ah, go look here on these Wiki pages for design work I've done") can definitely give you a step up. Also it's another way for them to spot the resumé padders. And aside from showing coding samples, it can also be a good way to show how you work in a group. Remember, employers are usually working for people to work together in the company, so the "social" aspects can give a candidate an advantage in getting hired.
Thanks you all for your feedback, guidance and caution with respect on this post. You've given my a lot to consider. In the mean time, I'll probably go back to the food industry and meditate on it while chopping zucchinis :-P
Bryce Harrington wrote:
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
participants (7)
-
Alan Horkan -
Bob Jamison -
Bryce Harrington -
Jon A. Cruz -
Joshua A. Andler -
Justin Wikinator -
MenTaLguY