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Comment by krelian | Hacker News Reader

Someone capable of writing this kind of software will earn much more than $3000 per month at a full time job. I understand that this is probably not a for-profit project but if the guy can dedicate 4 full time months to this than he:

1) Can work full time 2) Needs the money

Why not find a regular programming job that will pay you much more?He is obviously skilled enough to be hired.

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He is a masters student, so he is likely looking at a relatively entry level job assuming he hasn't had any other experience. Also it is most likely he is passionate about the project and wants to work on it and this way he can work on his passion and still pay rent and eat.

Beyond that this makes him more valuable, and will likely land him a well paying job working on CoffeeScript.

He has been sensible about it as well, on his KS profile page:

I am a research assistant at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, soon to receive my MS in computer science. In my free time (of which there hasn't been too much lately as I finish up my degree), I like to work on CoffeeScript and other open source projects, particularly those related to JavaScript. If you'd like to offer me a job either after the culmination of this project, or if this project does not get funded, feel free to contact me.

You're completely missing the point. He's not proposing to write a compiler as a way to make money; he's trying to get his living expenses covered so he can write this compiler that he wants to write, and which he believes will be useful to others.

Thank you, you are exactly right. Working on CoffeeScript is my passion. I don't need any financial incentive to do it, I just need food, a place to live, and some cash to hold off my student loan creditors.

Kudos to you for having the stones to do this. I don't know much about CoffeeScript, but what you're doing is cool.

I think you might be selling yourself a bit low. The market value of someone at your level of skill is at least $8,000 per month, and I don't think you should be going down by 62.5% (as opposed to 20-30) just because it's a fun, open-source project. If it's genuinely commercially useful, you should be shooting for market salary.

I would set the same price but make the promise 2 months, if it were me.

Why not find a regular programming job that will pay you much more?He is obviously skilled enough to be hired.

Because he would have to work on something that wouldn't interest him as much as his own project, and because he would have to show up regularly. When you gather funds to work on an open source project, all you have to do is hang out at home and work on your pet project when you're in the mood. That's good work even when you're not getting paid.

Fun fact: Money doesn't motivate everyone.

Maybe not, though if this project is successfull it will certainly increase his value. Eventually allowing him to earn more money!

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