Funding future software development through Kickstarter is a really dangerous proposition, even more for the person receiving the funding than the people who contribute to it. There've been success stories, but when things go bad it can ruin someone's life and credibility.
Maybe I'm wrong, but just from passive observation, it seems like for projects which haven't even been started at the beginning of the Kickstarter campaign, success stories are the exception rather than the rule.
It's so easy for someone to not manage expectations properly, especially in the early stages when they're trying to get the attention of potential backers. It's so easy to underestimate the time involved in any sort of creative venture that isn't 100% specced out ahead of time, whether it's software or an RPG supplement or a gadget or whatever. Software development time in particular is insanely difficult to predict.
I strongly feel like Kickstarter is best for projects that are essentially complete, but need funding for mass production or other costs related to distribution. The danger from Kickstarting open source projects isn't so much from money somehow polluting the goals of a project, as it is from the whole thing just blowing up into a nightmare for everyone involved. It's hard enough to predict timelines and establish requirements and manage expectations for one manager, I can't imagine what it would be like when trying to keep hundreds or thousands of managers happy and on the same page.
Maybe I'm wrong, but just from passive observation, it seems like for projects which haven't even been started at the beginning of the Kickstarter campaign, success stories are the exception rather than the rule.
It's so easy for someone to not manage expectations properly, especially in the early stages when they're trying to get the attention of potential backers. It's so easy to underestimate the time involved in any sort of creative venture that isn't 100% specced out ahead of time, whether it's software or an RPG supplement or a gadget or whatever. Software development time in particular is insanely difficult to predict.
I strongly feel like Kickstarter is best for projects that are essentially complete, but need funding for mass production or other costs related to distribution. The danger from Kickstarting open source projects isn't so much from money somehow polluting the goals of a project, as it is from the whole thing just blowing up into a nightmare for everyone involved. It's hard enough to predict timelines and establish requirements and manage expectations for one manager, I can't imagine what it would be like when trying to keep hundreds or thousands of managers happy and on the same page.