Re: Kickstarter for Emacs

[Tom]

Vyacheslav Gonakhchyan <ytriffy <at> gmail.com> writes:

>  Ok, good example. It can fly if it will get enough
> visibility(perhaps on slashdot).But what about support? Emacs
> and Java are constantly in development.New version will come
> out and additional work will be required. Another kickstarter
> might be a solution,


Code maintenance is easier. The hard task is implementing the feature
itself. I'm sure if a really good Java support were implemented
then there would be people who'd pick up the torch if the original
developer wouldn't want work on it anymore. (Though I think it would
be done by someone who needs good Java support himself, so he would
keep maintaining the code he wrote).

Anyway Java is only an example. There should also be other, maybe
smaller features which could be funded this way.

My point is people are willing to shell out some money if they know
it goes into some feature which they need.

I (and lots of others) would readily donate some money if I could
steer the development to features which I personally need. That's
why the feature-level funding is important. 

It's an opportunity for developers who want to work on improving 
Emacs, but can't find the time and energy to do it beside their
 regular jobs, to do it with this targeted funding model.

It works for other projects, so it could work for Emacs too. Only
somebody has to try.