Profile: BountySource
Authors
Rationale
There are so many subjects you could choose to profile, so why did you choose this one? What drew you into wanting to know more about the organization? How did you/your group decide on and agree?
One of our fellow students from the box has made a decent amount of money collecting bounties and we wanted to learn more about what goes on behind that process.
Organizational Details
Is the subject of your profile a corporate entity?
Yes
What type?
Incorporated in 2003 in the State of California
By whom?
- Warren Konkel
- David Rippo
Original founder(s) still active?
Unknown
Publicly Traded? Since when? Initial Stock Price? Current stock price?
Not on Stock Market
Has the company made any acquisitions? If yes, which companies, and what were their core products?
Unknown
Has the company made any investments in other companies? If yes, which ones.
Unknown
Number of Employees?
Unknown
Where is HQ?
Unknown
Does it have any other offices or locations?
Unknown
Website?
answer BountySource.com
Wikipedia?
Does your organization file any annual reports? Please include links to any relevant docum ents (i.e. 990, Annual Report, Year in Review, etc...)
- Funded by Konkel and True Global Ventures
- No Annual Reports
Communications
Social media for BountySource
Does your subject participate in social media? If yes, please list a URL for each account, and reach within that community.
Communications channels for BountySource
What communication channels does your subject use to reach their public? Briefly describe and include a URL for each.
- Bountysource has a blog where they show off top developers and new announcements.
- Bountysource has a Stats page to show off what’s going on the website.
- They also have a Press page that shows off news articles that feature Bountysource.
BountySource Conference Participation
Does your subject organize or participate in any conferences? If so, list them here, and provide links to any relevant sessions, keynotes, or content.
Could not find any conferences, tons of conferences getting funded on Bountysource though.
Community Architecture
Your subject likely runs or contributes to one or more Open Source products or projects. Choose one (or more) of these and answer the following questions:
The project's IRC channel
Source code repository
Mail list archive
N/A
Documentation
Other communication channels
Project website and/or blog
Describe the software project, its purpose and goals
"Bountysource is the funding platform for open-source software. Users can improve the open-source projects they love by creating/collecting bounties and pledging to fundraisers."
Give brief history of the project. When was the Initial Commit? The latest commit?
First commit was Aug 26, 2012. Latest commit was Apr 28, 2015
Who approves patches? How many people?
Unknown
Who has commit access, or has had patches accepted? How many total?
- There have been 30 contributors to this project.
Has there been any turnover in the Core Team? (i.e. has the top 20% of contributors stayed the same over time? If not, how has it changed?)
The core team seems to have stayed fairly constant up until recently.
Does the project have a BDFL, or Lead Developer? (BDFL == Benevolent Dictator for Life)
Cory Boyd is the lead developer for this project.
Are the front and back end developers the same people? What is the proportion of each?
Solely frontend project
What have been some of the major bugs/problems/issues that have arisen during development? Who is responsible for quality control and bug repair?
Cory Boyd
How is the project's participation trending and why?
All participation ended for almost 6 months, and is only just now starting to pick back up.
In your opinion, does the project pass "The Raptor Test?" (i.e. Would the project survive if the BDFL, or most active contributor were eaten by a Velociraptor?) Why or why not?
The project would most likely survive but wouldn't be updated for awhile if Cory were eaten by a raptor.
In your opinion, would the project survive if the core team, or most active 20% of contributors, were hit by a bus? Why or why not?
The project would most likely survive but wouldn't be updated for awhile if the core team was hit by a bus.
Does the project have an official "on-boarding" process in place? (new contributor guides, quickstarts, communication leads who focus specifically on newbies, etc...)
There doesn't seem to be any straight on-boarding process.
Does the project have Documentation available? Is it extensive? Does it include code examples?
The project has some documentation but nothing to help a newbie jump in.
If you were going to contribute to this project, but ran into trouble or hit blockers, who would you contact, and how?
One of the core contributors, in an issue on GitHub
Based on these answers, how would you describe the decision making structure/process of this group? Is it hierarchical, consensus building, ruled by a small group, barely contained chaos, or ruled by a single or pair of individuals?
Currently it is ruled by a pair of individuals, David Rappo and Warren Konkel.
Is this the kind of structure you would enjoy working in? Why, or why not?
No, too disorganized for a newbie to jump into easily
Technology/Product
Section adapted from EFF Worksheet
Who invented, created, or sponsored the technology?
Unknown
What is the technology designed to do? How is it used?
- Originally started for only open source bounties.
- Initially hosted Subversion repos for projects.
- Development on this version stopped in 2008.
- Reopened in 2012 to work with GitHubs API’s in order to reach a wider audience. Allows Bitcoin, Paypal, and credit card for funding.
Who would benefit from using this technology?
- Larger open-source projects with financial backing
- Smaller projects with a dedicated community
What kinds of companies or organizations (stakeholders) might have been concerned about the development of this technology? Why?
Most companies would probably not be concerned about a developer leaving the company to collect bounties full-time, because it would be difficult to consistently use bounties to make a living.
Does/Did an aspect of copyright law play a role in controversies about the technology? How?
Unknown
Business and Revenue Model
How was this organization funded originally?
Unknown
How does this organization make revenue?
Unknown
Which specific Open Source Revenue Models are utilized?
Unknown
What investments/acquisitions has the organization made?
Unknown