Give a bug a hug

[Mike Kerner]

i am so not being clear about this.  i hate it when no one else understands
what i'm not saying.
i am not proposing a system that is either administered by LC or where LC
is involved in the work.  what i am proposing is that all of us control
this process.  it's our money, right?  We propose the bounty, we control
the bounty, and we pay the bounty.  We don't care who collects the bounty
(if LC grabs all of it then go LC), as long as the damn bug gets fixed, or
the feature gets added, etc.

If I was designing this thing, it might look like this
_mikey's_crazy-dumb_bounty_program_
(v. 0.0.0.0.0.1)
for the sake of this thing, "bugs" and "features" and everything else are
the same.

• bugs are nominated
• in parallel estimates are submitted to fix a bug (both in terms of an ETA
and a cost) and patrons put up coin either as pledges or better yet in
escrow to finance fixing the bug, and include how long they're willing to
have their funds tied up waiting.
the estimates and the pledges stay under wraps.  as of the bid-open date,
all the estimators will know is if their estimate has been exceeded with
the pledged (escrowed) funds.  all the patrons know is that there are n
estimates (which may be an integer or may be a range) that can be funded
with the amount that has been escrowed.
• the blackout period begins, set by a consensus of the estimators and the
pledges and agreed to by both groups.  at this point anyone on either side
can pull out, and we reassess.  all estimators that are under the pledge
total get first crack at submitting a fix and collecting the bounty (their
bid).  if the time expires and no fix is submitted/passes initial tests,
then the bug is opened up to anyone, and the escrowed amount is revealed.
• if someone does not submit a fix, patrons can choose to remove funds,
apply them to a different bug, or let funds ride until the bug is funded
and someone decides to fix it.
• if no fix is submitted, but someone comes along a year from now and says
"hey, I can fix that for x", the original patrons are notified and given
the opportunity to get back in.
• if fix is accepted, patrons get access to it, and even though nobody
cares, get their name put on it and in it
• insert delay for patrons to test and report issues and for developer to
fix
• developer gets paid
• insert delay while patrons enjoy the benefit of financing the fix
• the fix is submitted as a PR to the rest of the world who didn't pony up
for the fix