Re: Fixing Bugs (Was: A Suggestion for Release Testing)

[Scott Robert Ladd <scott dot ladd at coyotegulch dot com>]

Dave Korn wrote:
>   Perhaps I've missed something here, because I'm mystified how you could
> think that gcc development is conducted by an organisation with full-time
> staff.

Perhaps not a formal staff, but there is a core group of developers
whose incomes are closely tied to GCC development. Many of the people
who work on GCC are employed or funded by corporations or institutions
with Linux interests -- or these developers have companies of their own
that sell services related to GCC.

And that's a Good Thing, in my opinion. I've been paid on a few
occassions to work on GCC, although it has usually been limited ($150
for fixing a bug critical to a friend's work, for example). If you look
at past threads, requests for new features are often met with "where's
the funding?" responses.

That's not to say that all, or even most, GCC developers are
mercenaries. There exist other motivations for working on GCC --
expanding ones skills, academic curiosity, the desire to help an ignored
consituency -- yet people do have families to feed, iguanas to house,
and cars to fix. And those other motivations can often be satisfied by
volunteering to work on other projects.

My entire immediate family works for the Red Cross, both on their
payroll and as volunteers. They have a very small paid staff, funded by
donations from interested parties; much of their work is carried out by
volunteers, and the Red Cross tries very hard to respect, train, and
thank volunteers.

It's a good model.

..Scott