Introduction

PlanetMath needs coding and administration stuff done, and we now have a little bit of money to do some of these things. Most are best modelled as short-term contract work, or "code bounties" as some call them. This page will be the central location for organizing these jobs. Available jobs will be linked here in the appropriate section, and they will be moved to "in-progress" and "completed" at appropriate times.

How It Works

Each bounty will be defined on its own page. The key pieces of metadata will be provided:

• Title of the bounty project.
• Posting date.
• Whether the bounty is available or accepted (under contract).
• Estimated time to complete (hours).
• Estimated fee/price for the work.
• Objective.
• General outline of the solution, inputs, outputs, data sources, etc.

The bounty price is will roughly be based on, time, complexity, and vagaries such as the market and how much money we have in the PlanetMath coffers. However, the price is negotiable! Keep in mind, though, if we receive multiple offers, you may have to accept a lower fee to get the work =)

Proceduralities:

• Contact us at feedback@planetmath.org if you are interested in a bounty, giving an alternate asking price if you feel you require more or could do the work for less.
• If we don't know you, expect to send us a resume and code/design portfolio (as is pertinent).
• Expect to have to define a timetable for the work, with milestones (if pertinant), and stick to it. Make some estimates. If you aren't sure, give yourself wiggle room.
• On most bounties, you will be working with us (the .org officers or PlanetMath project volunteers) in some capacity. So, be able to work with people (remotely, at that) is a must.
• At our option, we may wait a while (a week or two) to solicit more offers or evaluate more applicants. Don't expect us to instantly choose you when you make an offer.
• There will be a contract covering the basic arrangements. We are still working on it, but don't expect there to be any real surprises.

Payment

Except for extenuating circumstances, we will not pay any of the balance of short-term bounties until satisfactory completion of the work. For longer-term jobs, we are more likely to assent to installments.

Payment will be by check, mailed from us, for the agreed-upon fee.

Tax Implications and Entities

The PlanetMath organization, PlanetMath.org, Ltd., will be the client of the contract work. By IRS regulations, we can pay an individual up to $600US per year without having to have them fill out a 1099 form.

It is the bounty-hunter's (contractor's) obligation to pay their taxes based on their earnings from us.

Bounties

Available

These are the available bounties.

• PM Bounty--Outstanding questions list
• PM Bounty--Improvements to editorial aspects of Noosphere

Important note: We will likely not be able to fund all of these projects at once, so be prepared for that possibility when you inquire. We want to do all of these bounties, but some may have to be on hold while others are being funded.

Comment: I think this should be a two-column form, links and amount offered. IMO some of the offers sound high. --jcorneli

That's OK, but I don't want to maintain that metadata in two places. Have at it, if you wish. Also, keep in mind those are not offers, just estimates. Offers don't happen until the negotiation process. I do feel, however, that the numbers are pretty accurate (and maybe even conservative) for high-quality work. --akrowne Mon Jan 23 19:14:18 UTC 2006

In-Progress

• PM Bounty--Make Noosphere More Installable (Steve Cheng)
• PM Bounty--Re-deriving Object Version Histories (herbling)

Completed

• PM Bounty--Server Migration (bloftin)
• PM Bounty--Fix Safari Bug (bloftin)
• PM Bounty--Create PM Collaboration Whitepaper (jcorneli)
• PM Bounty--Better Handling of Donations (whirix)
• PM Bounty--Create Membership Handling System (whirix)

Cancelled

• PM Bounty--Sanitize Noosphere Templates (this became a summer of code 2006 project)

Discussion

akrowne, I'd like to request that we set aside some $ (as well as the requisite time) to support our planned hackfest (cf. Noosphere documentation. Even if no one gets paid, it could be moderately expensive in terms of travel (unless we find a way to get that all paid for, co-incidentally, by someone else). Also, I think that if the task is successful it would warrant some pay. We'd want to sketch the deliverables and criteria for success further than has been done on the referenced page. --jcorneli

Yeah. Probably about $600- $800? I think we'll be able to stay with people and so not need to pay for lodging, so most of the cost will be air travel. --akrowne Mon Jan 23 19:19:40 UTC 2006