Bitcoin Core Developers Should Be Paid

[gweedo]

The Bitcoin Foundation was started, in part, to fund the position of chief scientist...to fund a core dev to work on it full time.  

It was started because that company stop funding Gavin, and he whined and whined and whined about it. If I remember correctly

[Armis]

Gavin gets paid, by the foundation, the reward is that they get rich. Remember everyone working on bitcoins holds bitcoins, so why get paid if you are just increasing your own wealth but making a better product? Also bitcoins is a startup currency just like a startup you don't get paid you get stock and your own work can dictate if that is worth $2 Billion or $200.

So paying core devs is a worthless thing, and if they all left which must of us hopeful, since they are corrupted by greed, we would get a new team.

Not offering remuneration to the keepers of the system is a flaw in the system.

Also this is very upsetting we are all keepers of the system not just the core dev team, EVERYONE!

so you volunteer to do the job for nothing?  you volunteer to use your millions to help "increase your own wealth by making a better BTC product"?  


you are so kind, so gracious, we appreciate you so much, now go code, code like the wind, you will be known around the world for eternity,  go now ... errr ah, what's your name again?

hahahahaaaaa

What do you do to progress the future of bitcoin to make it worth more to yourself and others? I helped build services, I chose a different path. I could be a core dev team member but obviously my views don't line up with theirs.

Also I don't use bitcoin-qt at all, I use the version that litecoin team built and I have donated to them if you must know.

That's the point, you recognize that a job must be done, you do your responsible part to see to it that it that funding is in place to get's done.  

Then it's up to management to keep everything running smoothly, or at least on track.


 

[Armis]

Btw if they start getting paid then bitcoin is doomed because they will do what the highest bidder offers them and ruin the coin (probably in a hard-to-notice way until its too late)

bingo, yessss sir reee bob, that's the solution: "Don't pay 'em so they can continue to do honest work for you, least you defile them with filthy lucre"  yeahhhhh, that's the answer right there!   hahahahahaaaaa

[Armis]

Best solution I see here is make it all open source, more transparency and no need to pay developers, community will take care of it because it benefits most from it. That is the way I see it at least.

really?, and where exactly do we find 'Mr or Mrs. community, with the skills and experiences to get the job done for no pay? [tapping toe]


people want people to do development for free, to do management for free, to do design for free, to do marketing for free, to do outreach for free, to do distribution for free,  
to do websites for free, to do faucets for free, to do forums for free ... essentially everything but mining for free; then they want the people who did all of the free work to compete on the same level as everyone else for the scarce rewards.  


Amazing!

You do know at one point bitcoin wasn't worth anything and many people did it cause they want it to succeed. So yes the company would easily able to replace the core dev team, and that is how it should be, cause that is how decentralization works.

FOR FREE?


and free or not free has nothing to do with decentralization, the two matters are mutually exclusive.   Just because you are decentralizing duties doesn't mean any of them will be done free, much less that all of them will be done free.  
  

[Armis]

Gavin gets paid, by the foundation, the reward is that they get rich. Remember everyone working on bitcoins holds bitcoins, so why get paid if you are just increasing your own wealth but making a better product? Also bitcoins is a startup currency just like a startup you don't get paid you get stock and your own work can dictate if that is worth $2 Billion or $200.

So paying core devs is a worthless thing, and if they all left which must of us hopeful, since they are corrupted by greed, we would get a new team.

Not offering remuneration to the keepers of the system is a flaw in the system.

Also this is very upsetting we are all keepers of the system not just the core dev team, EVERYONE!

so you volunteer to do the job for nothing?  you volunteer to use your millions to help "increase your own wealth by making a better BTC product"? 


you are so kind, so gracious, we appreciate you so much, now go code, code like the wind, you will be known around the world for eternity,  go now ... errr ah, what's your name again?

hahahahaaaaa

What do you do to progress the future of bitcoin to make it worth more to yourself and others? I helped build services, I chose a different path. I could be a core dev team member but obviously my views don't line up with theirs.

Also I don't use bitcoin-qt at all, I use the version that litecoin team built and I have donated to them if you must know.

That's the point, you recognize that a job must be done, you do your responsible part to see to it that it that funding is in place to get's done. 

Then it's up to management to keep everything running smoothly, or at least on track.

Management is not need bitcoin source can live on without management. Satoshi even agreed, he viewed a world of many different ways of bitcoin working yet all using a same protocol cause the community would be able to choose.

Remove the brain of anything you end up with disorder -- that simple.

If Satoshi had all of the answers, there would be no need for this discussion.

 

[BittBurger]

As Bitcoin matures this will be a problem that is solved because it IS in the best interest of bitcoin related companies to have open source developers on their payroll.

Love this.   There are so many new concepts in businesses coming from this technology, that each one smacks me in the face with interest and brilliance.  Future companies wishing to make money off of the Bitcoin protocol by providing products and services pertaining to it may hire Bitcoin developers that can help enhance the (core?) software and make Bitcoin that much more awesome, while benefiting themselves by being able to operate their business more effectively.  So cool.  What about the issue that the Bitcoin core code seems to be fairly "done" as far as flexibility and change?  I keep getting that vibe from what i read / listen to.

-B-

[markjamrobin]

As Bitcoin matures this will be a problem that is solved because it IS in the best interest of bitcoin related companies to have open source developers on their payroll.

Love this.   There are so many new concepts in businesses coming from this technology, that each one smacks me in the face with interest and brilliance.  Future companies wishing to make money off of the Bitcoin protocol by providing products and services pertaining to it may hire Bitcoin developers that can help enhance the (core?) software and make Bitcoin that much more awesome, while benefiting themselves by being able to operate their business more effectively.  So cool.  What about the issue that the Bitcoin core code seems to be fairly "done" as far as flexibility and change?  I keep getting that vibe from what i read / listen to.

-B-

There is always more to add to any code. In this case, I'm sure more issues will be resolved, as well as fixes added.

[H.Badger]

Bitcoin 0.8.6 has just been released.
This version addresses some of the transaction malleability issues that have recently come to light.

The following queries are presented for your consideration:

Does this new version bring additional value to the protocol?
Is the network more robust with this fix?
Is the network improved?
What is the worth of this improvement?

Should the people who made these improvements be rewarded?

These are not frivolous questions.  The future of the Bitcoin economy may depend on answering these questions correctly.
Because there are developers who have contributed their time and labor in the past doesn't mean they will continue to do so in the future.

[grifferz]

80% of Linux kernel developers get paid to do that. I don't see why anything special needs to be done to get to that point in the Bitcoin world. Developers will either add value to companies and thus have jobs, or they won't and will have to work on something else.

[MakeBelieve]

I respect the Bitcoin core devlopers but I'm sure they have got enough money for investing in Bitcoin and their own creation.

[Armis]

I respect the Bitcoin core devlopers but I'm sure they have got enough money for investing in Bitcoin and their own creation.

look at how easy it is for people to count other people's money

the work they are doing is volunteer, it doesn't matter how filthy rich they may be, if they want to be paid for what they do how is that different from the same person with no financial means seeking fair compensation for his human resource contribution?   To me, fair pay is a portion of the permanent added value, which isn't because the clock ticked; nevertheless, it should not have anything to do with the size of his wallet.

Bad enough people pay others based on some "prevailing wage", 'what the market will bear', or some other fancy way of devaluing one's professional worth, to do it based on the fact that 'he's rich already', or 'he doesn't need the money' should be insulting.    If they choose to give back the salary, donate the money, or whatever it's their EARNING to do as they please.

[MakeBelieve]

I respect the Bitcoin core devlopers but I'm sure they have got enough money for investing in Bitcoin and their own creation.

look at how easy it is for people to count other people's money

the work they are doing is volunteer, it doesn't matter how filthy rich they may be, if they want to be paid for what they do how is that different from the same person with no financial means seeking fair compensation for his human resource contribution?   To me, fair pay is a portion of the permanent added value, which isn't because the clock ticked; nevertheless, it should not have anything to do with the size of his wallet.

Bad enough people pay others based on some "prevailing wage", 'what the market will bear', or some other fancy way of devaluing one's professional worth, to do it based on the fact that 'he's rich already', or 'he doesn't need the money' should be insulting.    If they choose to give back the salary, donate the money, or whatever it's their EARNING to do as they please.

They are volunteers yes but I didn't say they got paid did I? I said they invested in Bitcoin which I would see no point in them developing it even though they didn't invest in it.

[smoothie]

I vote OP should pay developers for their work.

[NewLiberty]

hm but what is with the free rider problem? This devs work hard and make every coin holder richer. Someone might have 100 000 coins and just contribute nothing.

Holding 100,000 coins is a massive contribution to the exchange value of bitcoin.  At current rates, it would be $60m that the holder is choosing to keep invested in the ecosystem.  A high exchange rate allows developers to sell a few of their coins to pay themselves, allows miners to sell coins to keep investing in the security of the network and contributes to exchange rate stability, which many people think is important.

Do you still think investor are 'free riders'?

Yes they are free riders. 
More specifically investors are gambling with their money that someone else will contribute and that they won't have to. 

[Beliathon]

i think most of the core devs hold thousand of btc. they dont need that money anymore.

This.

If you have 1-9 BTC, you are rich.
If you have 10-49 BTC, you are very rich.
If you have 50-249 BTC, you are super rich.
If you have 250+ BTC, you are hyper rich.

[Skinnkavaj]

Some of them are paid.

[UltraPleb]

The developers do get paid - in Bitcoin. If they were paid in fiat that would be almost hypocritical.

[cr1776]

0.8.6 was released back at the beginning of December 2013:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=364353.0

Bitcoin 0.8.6 has just been released.
This version addresses some of the transaction malleability issues that have recently come to light.

The following queries are presented for your consideration:

Does this new version bring additional value to the protocol?
Is the network more robust with this fix?
Is the network improved?
What is the worth of this improvement?

Should the people who made these improvements be rewarded?

These are not frivolous questions.  The future of the Bitcoin economy may depend on answering these questions correctly.
Because there are developers who have contributed their time and labor in the past doesn't mean they will continue to do so in the future.

[Meuh6879]

the mind of a developper (free) is to use, view and find the better instruction linearity of a process.
reward is not the point.

i develop electronical that it cost 10K euros in many factory ... but i don't sell my work, it's for me ... it's for me pleasure.
create instruction for my electronical release is priceless.

developper of bitcoin are in the same mind ... like the emule developper and the qBitorrent.
in internet space, creation don't want money especially if the final goal is a unique and "simple" tool that it can change a real life reflex.

[Cubic Earth]

hm but what is with the free rider problem? This devs work hard and make every coin holder richer. Someone might have 100 000 coins and just contribute nothing.

Holding 100,000 coins is a massive contribution to the exchange value of bitcoin.  At current rates, it would be $60m that the holder is choosing to keep invested in the ecosystem.  A high exchange rate allows developers to sell a few of their coins to pay themselves, allows miners to sell coins to keep investing in the security of the network and contributes to exchange rate stability, which many people think is important.

Do you still think investor are 'free riders'?

Yes they are free riders. 
More specifically investors are gambling with their money that someone else will contribute and that they won't have to. 

So are all investors free riders in your opinion?  There are many things you can invest, time is one, money is another.  They are both valuable.