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I had seen a few projects like GiveCamp that try to do this for nonprofits. They would get together on a weekend and hack on database/web projects, and then tu

by ben1040 15y ago

I had seen a few projects like GiveCamp that try to do this for nonprofits. They would get together on a weekend and hack on database/web projects, and then turn it over to the organizations. It seems like a great improvement on this would be an organizational structure like the author suggests. Such a group can do more planning/design and provide ongoing support for the client non-profit. I also agree with the idea of doing this at some minor fee, nothing to break the bank for the client. But there is certainly some sort of price you can charge that can help keep expectations realistic so no client takes unfair advantage of the group's generosity. I was hesitant to participate at my local GiveCamp event though because of the lack of future support for the organization. At the end of the event the maintenance responsibility is handed off to the nonprofit. That's completely fair to the developer that there be no expectation to do any more work on it. But that non-profit didn't have the ability to get that software developed, so how could they maintain it either? It's great that they get donated a free copy of Visual Studio and some books from the GiveCamp sponsors, but if they could use that to maintain software, they could've written it themselves in the first place. What if some bug emerges a week after delivery and they can't even use that app at all? All that effort's been wasted and the charity could be stuck with broken software.

atroche 15y ago
Yeah, you're definitely right. The only solutions I can think of are: 1) Training someone at the organisation to maintain the software (which could conceivably take a LONG time, and is fragile because that staff member could leave at any time) and 2) Charging for long term support. The problem here is that maintaining legacy code is boring and frustrating, and it's going to be hard to get volunteers to do this willingly. So, we'd have to charge closer to the going corporate rate for it. Plus, it'd bloat the company with support staff, leading to increased bureaucracy, etc. (which is exactly what we'd be trying to avoid with the whole 'startup feel'.)
- clojurerocks 15y ago
  This is a good point. My thoughts have been that if the product uses cutting edge technologies people might be more open to doing the work or helping out for a lesser charge. Hence why i use django as well as redis and mongodb and android.

by ben1040 15y ago

atroche 15y ago

Yeah, you're definitely right. The only solutions I can think of are: 1) Training someone at the organisation to maintain the software (which could conceivably take a LONG time, and is fragile because that staff member could leave at any time) and 2) Charging for long term support. The problem here is that maintaining legacy code is boring and frustrating, and it's going to be hard to get volunteers to do this willingly. So, we'd have to charge closer to the going corporate rate for it. Plus, it'd bloat the company with support staff, leading to increased bureaucracy, etc. (which is exactly what we'd be trying to avoid with the whole 'startup feel'.)

clojurerocks 15y ago
This is a good point. My thoughts have been that if the product uses cutting edge technologies people might be more open to doing the work or helping out for a lesser charge. Hence why i use django as well as redis and mongodb and android.