Problems and Strategies in Financing Voluntary Free Software Projects

Problems and Strategies in Financing Voluntary Free Software Projects

URL = http://mako.cc/writing/funding_volunteers/funding_volunteers.html

Key article on the problems associated with funding volunteers, while avoiding that paid workers crowd out the volunteer ones.

By Benjamin Mako Hill at <[email protected]>

Abstract

"It's easier for a successful volunteer Free Software project to get money than it is to decide how to spend it. While paying developers is easy, it can carry unintended negative consequences. This essay explores problems and benefits of paying developers in volunteer free and open source projects and surveys strategies that projects have used to successfully finance development while maintaining their volunteer nature."