About Cofundos
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why did you start Cofundos.org?
- Why should I participate?
- Is Cofundos.org limited to open-source software?
- What about privacy?
- What happens when I bid on a project?
- Can I create a project, bid on it and offer its implementation?
- What's the purpose of requirements?
- Which offer is finally accepted when several offerers propose to execute the project?
- How does the weighted voting work?
- What if the sum of all bids for a project is higher than the accepted offer?
- When is a project considered to be successfully finished?
- Do I have to donate for my bid, even when I'm not satisfied with the provided solution?
- What happens if the bidders voted that the project was not successfully finished?
- Are bids and offers made at Cofundos.org binding?
- What happens if a user who was bidding on a project does not donate after successful completion of the project?
Why did you start Cofundos.org?
We think that the open-source model did not yet develop its full potential. As user of open-source software we sometimes miss features, functionality, extensions, tools or APIs, but we do not have the resources or know-how to implement them ourselves. Many other users might have similar requirements and would agree to donate a small amount for the implementation. Once we pool our requirements and the small amounts we are willing to donate for a solution together, we will help to realize the full potential of open-source and to produce user centered, high quality, open-source software faster.
Why should I participate?
Besides the perspective, that your requirements will be implemented, once you described them on Cofundos.org, by participating in Cofundos.org you help making real the open-source promise of better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in. Finally, a platform like Cofundos.org opens earning opportunities to skilled individuals (especially in developing countries).
Is Cofundos.org limited to open-source software?
No. However, we think open-source software seems to be the best domain to showcase the potential of Cofundos.org. The Cofundos.org concept can be applied to any setting where projects have many (distributed) stakeholders. We plan to adopt and refine the Cofundos.org concept for other domains (e.g. science projects).What about privacy?
At Cofundos.org you decide how much information about yourself is made public. The minimal reqirement for registering is a valid email address and the selection of a nickname and password for the account. However, only the nickname will be made public. The chosen password will be only stored in encrypted form. Your email address will not be revealed either to any other user of the platform or 3rd parties without your explicit consent.
What happens when I bid on a project?
You agree to donate the bid amount to the offerer after he completed the project successfully. You can change your bid at any time until the project reaches the offer-voting-phase.
Can I create a project, bid on it and offer its implementation?
Sure, you can do all three: create a project, bid on it and offer to implement it. Of course you won't have to pay yourself if the majority of the bidders accepted your offer ;-)What's the purpose of requirements?
Requirements are a way to structure the project and to organize community contributions. They will be important to evaluate if a provided solution really is what people wanted. Requirements can be rated (and thus prioritized) by users, which helps specialists to decide which requirements to implement and which ones to omit (this however should be explicitly stated in their offer).Which offer is finally accepted when several offerers propose to execute the project?
Cofundos.org aims at creating a market for the implementation of open-source ideas. The more offers for realizing a certain idea are proposed the better. Cofundos.org enables the community of stakeholders in that idea (i.e. bidders) to collaboratively decide by means of a weighted voting, which offer meets the requirements best and has the highest chances to be successful.
How does the weighted voting work?
Bidders bid different amounts of money and their votes will be weighted accordingly. If somebody bids €100 on a project his vote will be weighted twice as much as the vote of someone bidding €50. However, if the specialist realizing the project was also bidding on the same project he will not be allowed to vote about the acceptance of his own work.
What if the sum of all bids for a project is higher than the accepted offer?
The amount each bidder has to donate will be proportionally reduced, so that the sum will match the amount requested by the offerer. However, bidders are always free to donate a higher amount if they are satisfied with the provided solution.
When is a project considered to be successfully finished?
After the offerer notifies Cofundos.org that he completed the project (or the specified timeframe elapsed) Cofundos.org invites all bidders to review the provided solution and to vote about how the project result meets the requirements as specified in the project description and agreed on in the offer. All bidders' votes are weighted by their respective bid amount. If the weighted majority accepts the provided solution the project was successful.
Do I have to donate for a project I was bidding on, even when I'm not satisfied with the provided solution?
If the weighted majority accepted the provided solution you will have to make your donation, even if you personally disagreed on the solution and voted for rejection. In order to avoid such cases you should already before the project execution starts check that the project description and the requirements reflect your needs and once offers are made verify that the offers are convincing from your perspective and refer how the requirements will be implemented.
What happens if the bidders voted that the project was not successfully finished?
The offerer will be granted an additional period of time to improve his solution. If it again does not meet the requirements, the bidders can reject the project outcome. In that case no donations have to be made, the failure to provide the offered solution will be added to the offerer's profile and the project might be reopened for bidding and offering.
Are bids and offers made at Cofundos.org binding?
Yes. All bids and offers you make on Cofundos.org are binding. However, bids can be changed at any time until
a project goes to the offer-voting-phase.
If the majority of the bidders voted to accept a certain offer the respective offerer is responsible to
provide a solution to the project as offered.
After successful completion of the project bidders have to donate the amount they were bidding, or a proportionally lower
amount in case you were requesting less than the sum of all bids.
Although, all bids and offers are binding Cofundos.org will not leagally enforce them. Cofundos.org is a social network and as such it is based
on reputation and trust of its members.
What happens if a user who was bidding on a project does not donate after successful completion of the project?
First of all, please keep the Cofundos concept in mind: many people donate relatively small amounts and those people who were bidding are really passionate about open-source and interested in a solution for their problem. So we expect that almost all people will keep their promises, once a good solution for their needs was provided and experiences with similar platforms in other domains justify this expectation. Even, if one or two of the bidders are finally not donating their money, this amount will still be relatively small as compared to the overall sum and this might be more than compensated by other Cofundos users who voluntarily donate more than they were initially bidding. Nevertheless, Cofundos will take all measures in order to make donations as reliable as possible: Cofundos.org will remind a user with a delayed donation about his obligation to donate the outstanding amount. If the user still does not donate his profile will be marked accordingly and his account might be disabled.
Further, information can be also found on the page How does it work? and in the Conditions of Use.
Comments
- Your rating: ??
What's the intention of this control?
By giving 5 stars i express:
* I definitely would give money for this but i only have stars
* The requirement is well described
* A 5 star programmer might be able to complete this
* ???by Giszmo on 24 Oct 2007 21:52
- What does COfundOS stand for?
I'm guessing the last OS stands for "open source".
by Plouj on 29 Oct 2007 17:09
- RE: What does COfundOS stand for?
Community Funded Open Source
by sameera on 31 Oct 2007 15:00
