Regarding the monetization of project maintenance

[shibatch]

In order to make this project sustainable, I need to collect fees from users for maintenance of the software.

I am now considering to collect a certain amount of money upon approval of each PR.
The cost of adding new features will be determined through negotiation on a case-by-case basis.

In addition to the above, sponsorships are still being sought.
Sponsors will not be required to pay any additional fees for PR approval, and discounts are also available on the addition of new features.

The cost for PR approval is expected to be around US$1000 for organizations with small sales, and US$3000 for organizations with large sales.
However, if the organization endorses our CoC, a big discount will be available.

I am looking for your input on the above.

[shibatch]

I am also considering not charging a fee for PR approval if all of the following four conditions are met.

• Total sales of products and services incorporating the deliverables of our project for your organization as a whole are less than US$1,000,000 per year.
• The amount of funding from external organizations for your project that uses the deliverables of our project is less than US$100,000 per year.
• You personally endorse our CoC.
• One of the following three conditions is met.
  • You are not being paid for your participation in this project.
  • Your project is for educational or research purposes.
  • Your organization endorses our CoC.

Regardless of the above, PR approval for bug fixes will not be charged as long as they do not involve specification changes and the changes are not extensive.

The means of payment will be through GitHub Sponsors.

[shibatch]

If there are no objections to the above, we would like to implement these rules from March 1.
For the first 10 PRs from the beginning of implementation on March 1, 1/10 of the original amount charged will actually be charged.

[shibatch]

In addition to the above, we charge for the processing of issues.
The specific amount you need to pay will be determined by negotiation, depending on the nature of the issue and your project.
It is still possible to create an issue without paying a fee, but in that case we will not process your issue.

By becoming a sponsor of our project, you will receive a substantial discount on the cost of PR approval and processing your issue.

[shibatch]

Please understand how burdensome software maintenance can be.

• The Reality of Long-Term Software Maintenance
• Mozilla Foundation lays off 30% of its employees, ends advocacy for open web, privacy, and more
• Burned out: Rockchip's best Linux distro goes AWOL
  • Ubuntu Rockchip Project Notice Joshua-Riek/ubuntu-rockchip#1104
• https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/19/1912204/gnome-foundation-cuts-budget-seeks-more-volunteers-and-donations
• https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/09/07/0258256/how-should-the-foss-movement-respond-to-proprietary-software

[shibatch]

It is now March, and as a general rule, there will be a charge for PR approval and issue processing from this point forward.

However, we generally do not charge a fee if your organization is not making a profit from the deliverables of this project, or for approving a PR to fix a minor bug.

[shibatch]

Approval of the first 10 PRs will be undertaken for 1/10 of the original price.

[shibatch]

As for the fee, I am thinking that I would initially be asking companies that are making commercial use to pay a flat fee of $1000 for approval of a PR. As for the first 10 PRs, it is 1/10th of this price.

If the number of PRs increases, I am thinking of moving to a more complex fee structure as described above.

[shibatch]

We are open to discussion on payment methods.
We have set the price at 1/10th for the first 10 PRs, taking into account the circumstances where we need to establish a system related to payment.

[shibatch]

Just to be clear, the PRs that I am opening and self-approving myself are not included in the first 10 PRs.