How it works
Post your software idea as a project now, sponsor it, and get access to a community that helps you design, fund and develop it. See details
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Post your software idea as a project
Your project will be viewed by the community, who can assist in design, funding and implementation.
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Sponsor your project
Attach an optional sponsorship fee to your project: Anyone who completes your project will get paid the amount.
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Others will assist in your project's design
There are many people out there who can help in designing your project. The community can work to develop the design without sacrificing your core requirements.
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... in funding
Many people would like to see your idea developed and would be happy to help sponsor your project.
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... and in development
Innovative ideas attract innovative developers. The system allows developers to collaborate in coding your project.
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The result
Your idea gets developed into better quality software, in a shorter time, with less cost. Best of all, it's free for everyone to use.
Browse, share and contribute to the projects that are most relevant to you. See details
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Browse for fascinating software projects
Find the project that interests you the most.
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Suggest adding, modifying or deleting project features
Your suggested changes will be viewed by the community, who will build on your suggestions.
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The project lead's role
If the project lead likes your suggestions, he will modify the project requirements and merge your suggestions into it.
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You can also suggest breaking down projects
By breaking down projects you help to refine the requirements, and to parcel out the work. This decreases developers' opportunity cost for each portion, and helps them to get paid for tangible results.
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Approved subproject suggestions get more money
The project lead will assign a percentage of the sponsorship to your suggested subprojects.
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The result
Your design contribution will be crucial to the production process, and will set the stage for development.
Look for a project that you would like to see completed soon and sponsor it to support its completion. Every penny counts! See details
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Browse for projects that you would like to see completed
There are great projects out there awaiting sponsorship funds to begin development. All of your sponsorship funds will go to your selected projects. FOSS Factory's business model does not infringe on the funding of projects.
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Add funds to your reserve
Every member has a reserve, which is your personal bank account at FOSS Factory. You can add funds to your reserve using Paypal and withdraw funds at any time. Effective use of your reserve can help you avoid PayPal fees.
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Add sponsorship funds
You may initiate sponsorships, or add funds to already existing pools created by other sponsors. You can transfer your funds between different projects any time.
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Money transfers
You only pay for projects that have been developed according to specifications. Once a submission is approved by the project lead, the funds wil be transferred to the successful candidate's reserve.
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The result
Your sponsorship contribution will be the backbone of the production process and will facilitate momentum within the project.
The only FOSS funding model that respects and preserves the open, collaborative spirit of the FOSS community. See details
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Find a project that you like and start developing
You don't have to submit a bid, you don't have to sign any contract and you can quit anytime you want.
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There is plenty of space for you to be creative
Most FOSS Factory projects have specific goals, but broad creative leeway for design and implementation.
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You can develop the whole project alone, or work with others
You could aim to collect the entire bounty yourself if you wish. However, working with others will minimize your risk and provide the benefit of early partial payment.
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Complete your code and submit
The way you earn money is by submitting work that satisfies the project's requirements. The faster you submit, the more likely it is you will get paid.
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Submission approvals
The project lead will evaluate whether your submission meets the requirements. The built-in dispute resolution system will protect you against unfair project leads.
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The result
Your development contribution will earn you money and will help produce free/open source software for everyone's benefit.
Take on any role you like, or every role, if you prefer. The final product is always free/open source software, so everybody wins. See details
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Participate in any way you want
You can be a sponsor, a designer, a developer, a project lead, or any mix of them. Roles are only defined by what you do, not who you are.
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Take advantage!
Every program produced here is yours to use, study, adapt, improve, and share as you please.
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Your innovation sandbox
Use this site as a place to throw all your crazy ideas that you don't have time to work on yourself. If others like one of your ideas, it may become reality before you know it.
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The result
This is your site to help you create the software you need, want or dream of.
Featured Projects (Browse All)
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Voice and Video for Pidgin
Add support for voice and video chat in Pidgin. It must work using the MSN, XMPP, SIP, AIM and Yahoo messenger protocols, and it must work at least as fully and reliably as the most current proprietary clients.
Bounty: US $1,481.31
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Webcam motion capture
Should be able to capture from a single perspective 3D biped motion (ie. human model) for use in skeletal animation for video games and 3D animation.
Bounty: US $1,350.69
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PostgreSQL Transparent Scalability
Produce a version of PostgreSQL, or a database that's fully compatible with PostgreSQL, which can be scaled for performance by simply adding more computers to the system, and making very minor configuration changes. No application changes should be necessary.
Bounty: US $877.88
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GNU/Hurd: container for general GNU Hurd work
There are lots of things to be done on the GNU Hurd itself...
Bounty: US $458.31