Dear community,
as we have been hinting in the Ada Monthly Meetup, we are creating (a hopefully lasting) funding system for Ada projects and improvements to the wider ecosystem. This is being done within the Ada User Society (those that attended the GA will have more info). We are trying to form a committee that will be guiding those funds. Currently, only @sttaft and me are part of it but at least a third one would be needed (to keep things with some variety). We can have up-to five members. But why is this needed and what does the committee do?
The funds
So we would like to setup a small fund with which to reward and encourage the development of valuable and high quality and impact projects in the Ada ecosystem. It will also reward seasoned developers as well as to encourage new people to take on some tasks. The funding part is mostly taken care of. But then the question becomes… What is considered valuable and with what amount of funds should things be awarded? That is where the committee and the base requirements come into place.
The requirements
Not everything can be eligible for a reward/grant. Only open and projects available to the community can be awarded, as we want to maximize the impact and gains of the results to the wider community. But there are no restrictions on the nature and objective of the project. However, as the funds are limited, we will be encouraging/considering projects that are of high impact and can greatly benefit the Ada ecosystem. Think of compiler improvements, bringing Ada support to growing targets or ecosystems, improving tools that are widely used, packaging and making things easier for everybody, major projects that showcase Ada’s potential, etc. Obviously, only quality results/code would be accepted for a grant, as “it works on my machine” is not good enough.
The Committee
In short, the Committee would take decisions through votes on what projects are worthy of funding and how much money would that be. The committee has to listen to the community’s needs and Ada’s future. Currently, we are considering two options to consider potential projects/outcomes that would be rewarded:
- Individuals from the community could propose tasks and ideas and the Committee would vote on whether it wants to allow for a grant or fund for them.
- The committee could propose tasks to be done and reward those that achieve them, something in the vein of a competition. Also, the Committee could grant funds to results/code that people have already done that it feels are worth awarding.
Due to the above, the people that form part of the Committee need to:
- listen to the community,
- asses the impact of the results or potential results of tasks,
- be impartial to the nature of the projects and the people that carry them out,
- manage the constrains of the budget,
- have a strong will to the further improvement of Ada as a language and as an ecosystem,
- be available to vote (most likely via online meetings or email) on the topics at hand,
- seek new funds with which to continue the activity,
- be willing to help.
So, with that out of the way… Do you have any questions? Would you like to take part of the Committee? And more importantly, why would you like to be part of such committee?
Best regards,
Fer
Right now we are looking for volunteers to take part on the committee, so general experience with Ada and its community is a must. However, once a project may be funded, anybody can participate! So you both are more than welcome to take part on the activities once they are published 