Developer Compensation Poll Coming to an End

The poll regarding compensating Gridcoin developers ends July 29th. If you haven't voted yet, it's time to make a choice.

You can find the primary thread for the poll here.

In short, Rob will collect invoices from devs for the work they do from July 1st - December 31st. He will then reimburse them at a rate of 30$/hr for all real work produced.

My initial response to the proposal as quoted from that thread:

I am grateful that reimbursing and paying devs is a top priority of GRC. This demonstrates that development is progressing and that this progression is going to continue. It also shows that the volunteer work of the community does not go unnoticed and is highly valued.

My concerns regarding this proposal stem from the fear of this payment system becoming precedent for future payments:

This is a highly centralized proposal. This means that the random work Rob mentioned that needs to get done can get done quickly. This also means that work is judged and compensated at the whim of a single entity (as respected and trusted as that entity might be -- this is not directed at Rob, but at the system) instead of by consensus among the greater community. So long as we do not use Rob's benevolence regarding this payment block to influence the conversation regarding future compensation, I can see myself supporting this proposal in time.

For me to fully support this proposal, I would need to see major community figures express on this thread at least their initial thoughts regarding the issue of payments after this 6 month block along with that of voting weight in general -- my vote and all low volume investors and boincers counts for nothing when compared to that of people who may have been collecting interest simply by running their client once every 6 months (people who mined a bunch, then left the community, but staked their interest twice a year per the POS protocol), and this is unsettling.

Thank you Rob for starting this conversation.

And thank you devs for your incredible work.

And thank you community for the insightful discussion.

This is how the magic happens.

I stand by my hesitation. This is a centralized means for distributing funds and that sets a dangerous precedent that we must keep in mind as we move forward.

That said, after following the conversations that have taken place along with the work of the dev team, I will be voting yes on the Developer Reimbursement 6 Month Package.

From the conversations, we have learned that:

1. Devs will be paid with GRC and will be responsible for converting into USD themselves. This means that the foundation will not be dumping GRC to pay the devs thereby reducing the strain on the price of GRC ( the devs probably aren't going to sell everything they earn ).

2. Total GRC spent during this 6 month period is capped at 100k USD assessed at the approximate average price of GRC during this 6 month period.

3. Rob will be releasing approved invoices by the end of the month following the month of work (July-August invoices will be public by August 31st). Developers will be paid shortly after the invoices are made public. This provides a time for the public to double check and voice opinions regarding Rob's decisions. Thank you Rob!

Regarding the work of the devs:

The back-end of Gridcoin is in need of some serious Tender Love and Care. For example:

I assumed 20 hours per week for me, 20 hours for Ravon, and 20 hours across a few extra devs who help out occasionally. During the last week, we have had two particular slack meetings where 6 of us spent 7 hours just diagnosing superblock problems.
-Rob

Watching the devs work through the scaling issues at their current pace is more than enough to give me confidence in Gridcoin and where this proposal might take it. TLC is some of the hardest, most frustrating work out there, but it needs to be done so we can build on a solid foundation. Once that foundation is up to spec, the team will be back to developing NN2.0 which, by my understanding, is going to be loaded with substantive improvements.

So

It feels great to be able to pay the devs who have been working around the clock and around the world to make Gridcoin what we know it can be. I look forward to seeing the products and improvements they put together in the coming months. I also look forward to a discussion regarding how we release funds from the foundation in the future. There has been mention of a 503c which I think holds potential.

If you haven't voted yet, catch up on the discussion, get your last questions in, and don't forget to vote by July 29th!