Re: MeSsware Y2K issues.

[Tesla Coil <tescoil@rtpro.net>]

Jeff Licquia wrote:

> The saving grace, in our case, is that anyone can do the work.
> We don't have to hope that some big company will save us.

And that's what prompted a thought how this could be an issue on
which to mobilize and benefit the free software community.   If I
counted correctly, there's 136 GNU programs that haven't  been
verified as Y2K compliant.   You've got plenty of people who can't
read source who rely on this software.  There could be a pledge drive
where users declare in some programmers forum, "I'll donate" this
small amount of money, "to the FSF for each program verified regards
Y2K status before July 1999."   If that pledge is only twenty-five cents,
that's $34 if every program is verified.  If many users did that the FSF
would be collect a nice sum in donations.  Perhaps larger pledges could
be made on the contingent upon the number of programs were recoded 
to *be* Y2K compliant before a given date.

I've seen a "bounty programmers" page (I don't recall the URL) where
people post, "I want a program that does this, and I'll donate $50 to the
FSF if somebody writes it GPL," it often gets done.  It seems plausible
the above could work, but someone would have to organize this, and I
don't know who best.  It would have to be independent of the FSF, or
morons would accuse them of extortion...


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