On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 1:12 AM, KOBA | Hans Rossel
<hans.rossel@koba.be> wrote:
I've contributed a few times to a chipin, but like rather to contribute and communicate directly with the maintainer for certain specific features.
I think there are 3 main ways:
- chipin: for popular much wanted features, a lot of people contributing a small amount.
- bounty: gathering a few sponsors that contribute a larger amount for a specific feature
- direct contact with the maintainer: for urgent needs or really custom changes to the module for a specific project.
You seem to have left out the 4th way -- which is digging in and and writing some code yourself. If there's a feature that you're willing to pay someone else for, why can't you do it yourself (whether that means writing your own code, or if you're a PM having someone who works for you write the code)? After you write implement the feature yourself, you can contribute that code back in the form of a patch and the maintainer can apply that him/herself. One of the benefits of open source is that the source is open.