Open Source Strategy

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Stephen Whitenstall

[GENERAL] Email address of main applicant

enquiries@qadao.io

Additional applicants

Vanessa Cardui, Treasury Guild & Andre Diamond

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

6

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language.

No

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.” .

No dependencies.

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] If NO, please describe which outputs are not going to be open source. If YES, please write “Project will be fully open source.”

Project will be fully open source.

[METADATA] Category of Proposal

Education

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

How we perceive the problem to be solved

In the Cardano ecosystem there is a lack of information and guidance on what an Open Source strategy is. What are the implications of opting for an Open Source path ? Coupled with this is a lack of understanding of Open Source licenses and tools. What is the appropriate OS license to use ? How can OS tools such as GitHub be used to manage projects ? 

What is our solution ?

The F10 Open Source Strategy proposal aims to contribute to building an Open Source culture in Cardano. We will provide information, guidance and workshops on Open Source Strategy, what Open Source licenses mean, how to implement them and how to use Open Source tools.

Information and Guidance will provided on the following subjects :

Open Source Strategy

Building on our previous proposals, we will consider the place of Open Source within a blockchain environment. Will we focus on what lessons can be learnt from the past, and present a guide to Open Source practice.

Open Source Licenses

As a supplement to this guide we will also outline what the various Open Source licenses mean. Why are certain licenses chosen, and what alternatives does Creative Commons offer ? 

How to use Open Source Tools

We will also address what Open Source tools can offer to project management of Catalyst proposals. Including how to use a GitHub project board and issues to document, track and report on work. For example, how to integrate milestones into a Project Board.

How to build an Open Source Culture 

Our videos will engage users in hands-on use of Open Source tools.

Vanessa of the Facilitators' Collective will engage users in After Town Hall discussions of real world use-cases of Open Source tools. 

The reasons for our approach

Our approach is iterative and cumulative building on previous Catalyst proposals (see references above). The reason for this approach is to practice and experiment with open source methods in diverse and decentralized environments. Working with a broad range of community projects.  

Who we will engage

We will engage users either through After Town Halls, videos, Social Media and text based resources.

How we will demonstrate our impact.

We will demonstrate our impact with a range of sources including detailed documentation of our milestones through integrated GitHub issues and community feedback. Where appropriate we will produce short video guides.

What is unique about your solution, who will benefit, and why this is important to Cardano.

Unique

Our solution is unique in offering the resources of a well-established team with existing community connections. This provides a degree of trust, familiarity and reliability to our partners, collaborators and users.

Who benefits

Our resources will benefit funded Catalyst proposers and Cardano community members by assisting in the management of their projects using Open Source tools. For example by providing guidance in the use of templates and automation of monthly milestone reporting. In particular we can advise on advanced use of GitHub project boards, data export and integration with other platforms such as Notion and Google.

Why important

This proposal is an important element in the evolution of an open source culture in the Cardano community. We intend to establish community based standards and promote the use of OS tools. 

[IMPACT] How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

The F10 Open Source Strategy proposal addresses the Open Source Developer Ecosystem Challenge by directly supporting other Catalyst proposals in generating business value and promoting OS contributions in the Cardano community.

Our proposal aims to do this by facilitating an increase of knowledge of OS strategy, licenses and tools in the community. In particular we will assist projects in improving their documentation and transparency. This addresses the Challenge's guiding questions on how to align between different Open Source community efforts and encouraging collaboration and sharing of knowledge and work.

We will complement the Challenge's directions of education for development, incentive mechanisms through workshop bounties, common audit standards, and the provision of organized events.

[IMPACT] How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

[Description] - We will research and produce educational materials on Open Source Strategy, Licenses and How to use Open Source Tools.

[Measurement] - The success of this will be measured by the quality of the materials produced in terms of their ease of use and accessibility.

[Description] - We will create 3 videos that will engage the community with our educational materials, and 2 After Town Halls to offer space to discuss the issues around Open Source culture

[Measurement] - The success of this will be measured by recording views/attendance, community participation, engagement and feedback.

[IMPACT] Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

We plan to spread our project's outputs over discrete stages that run for 6 months. The detail of our milestones can be referenced in the Milestones section.

We will share our outputs with community participants who view our hands-on videos, which will be shared on QA-DAO's YouTube channel.

We will share our research documentation and educational materials with the wider Cardano community via Social Media.

A successful completion of this proposal will support further research and development of open source educational materials.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

Our capability is spread between our project manager, workshop facilitator, development and treasury guild support. Our team (outlined in the [RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] section below) have already delivered several proposals successfully and worked in collaboration with a broad range of community projects.

Part of our team is a Treasury Guild with extensive experience in fund management, and disbursement. They are trusted with the management of funds for several projects, including the ones that will use these tools. Our GitHub project boards will feature the ADA amounts to be paid out for specific tasks, enabling financial transparency and accountability. 

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

The main goals for this project are:

 

1. To enable more widespread understanding and knowledge in the community about Open Source strategy, in theory and practice
2. To encourage discussion about the implications of Open Source, and what it means in terms of a culture and approach
3. To increase knowledge over the long term on issues like Open Source licensing, and build people’s confidence in what it would mean in their context to adopt an Open Source ethos (including in fields where open-source licenses are not usually applied)
4. To give people some practical skills on how to use key open source tools, such as GitHub project boards, for project management

We will achieve these goals through:

1. Producing learning materials that people can refer to long-term.
2. Holding 2 After Town Halls to discuss the issues
3. and 4. Producing 3 practical hands-on videos on ways to manage a project using a GitHub project board, and how to link this to payment-tracking.

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

Our implementation plan

Milestone 1 - Preliminary work

Main task & Key Activities - Preliminary work. Planning, Administrative setup and purchase of software

Success or acceptance criteria - a successful setup

Proposed cost - 5200 in ADA - approx 9 % of total

Expected timeline - October 2023

Milestone 2 - Open Source Strategy

Main task & Key Activities - Open Source Strategy

Success or acceptance criteria - 

Proposed cost - 10800 in ADA - approx 19 % of total

Expected timeline - November 2023

Milestone 3 - Open Source Licenses

Main task & Key Activities - Open Source Licenses

Success or acceptance criteria - 

Proposed cost  - 10800 in ADA - approx 19 % of total

Expected timeline - December 2023

Milestone 4 - How to use Open Source Tools

Main task & Key Activities - How to use Open Source Tools

Success or acceptance criteria - 

Proposed cost - 10800 in ADA - approx 19 % of total

Expected timeline - January 2024

Milestone 5 - Open Source Culture Videos

Main task & Key Activities - 3 X Open Source Culture Videos

Success or acceptance criteria - Completion of 3 X Open Source Culture Videos

Proposed cost - 9600 in ADA - approx 17 % of total

Expected timeline - February 2024

Milestone 6 - After Town Halls & Close Out

Main task & Key Activities - 2 x After Town Halls, & Close Out Report

Success or acceptance criteria - Delivery and video of 2 After TownHalls. Completion of close-out report

Proposed cost - 9600 in ADA - approx 17 % of total

Expected timeline - March 2024

[CAPABILITY/ FEASIBILITY] Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

This proposal will provide research, documentation, guidance and workshops on Open Source strategy in a blockchain environment. 

We will measure the milestones listed below on the dates specified. This will be measured using a GitHub project board and issues to track the progress. 

In total we will deliver 6 milestones (including the close out report). These break down as follows -

Milestone 1 - Preliminary work - October 2023

Deliverables - This milestone will deliver the preliminary administrative setup including GitHub project management configuration, GitBook preparation and purchase of software.

Documentation - associated GitBook documentation & GitHub tracking.

Outputs produced - administrative setup and purchase of software

Milestone 2 - Open Source Strategy - November 2023

Deliverables - A guide to Open Source Strategy.

Documentation - associated GitBook documentation & GitHub tracking.

Outputs produced - a guide to Open Source Strategy

Milestone 3 - Open Source Licenses - December 2023

Deliverables - A guide to Open Source Licenses.

Documentation - associated GitBook documentation & GitHub tracking.

Outputs produced - A guide to Open Source Licenses.

Milestone 4 - How to use Open Source Tools - January 2024

Deliverables - A guide to how to use Open Source Tools

Documentation - associated GitBook documentation & GitHub tracking.

Outputs produced - A guide to how to use Open Source Tools

Milestone 5 - Open Source Culture Videos - February 2024

Deliverables - Planning and facilitation of 3 X Open Source Culture Videos

Documentation - Associated GitBook documentation & GitHub tracking.

Outputs produced - 3 X Open Source Culture Videos

Milestone 6 - After Town Halls & Close Out - March 2024

Deliverables - 2 x After Town Halls & Close Out Report

Documentation - Close Out Report

Outputs produced - 2 x After Town Halls & Close Out Report

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Software Licenses & Services

(GitBook, Subscriptions and Services)

400 ADA

Project Management

(project management coordination, monthly milestone reporting and close out report)

3000 ADA

(monthly milestone reporting)

2000 ADA

Publicity

(Publicizing your work to the community - posts on Telegram, Discord and Twitter)

1000 ADA

Research & Documenation

(Open Source Strategy - research, documentation)

10000 ADA

(Open Source Licenses- research, documentation)

10000 ADA

(How to use Open Source Tools- research, documentation)

10000 ADA

Communications

(Production of 3 X Open Source Culture Videos at 2800 ADA each)

8400 ADA

(2 X After Town Halls)

2000 ADA

Treasury

(Administration of Budget by Treasury Guild)

(2000 ADA X 5)

10000 ADA

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Total - 56800 ADA

[RESOURCES & VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

The pay rates given are self-employed rates that take into account the employment overheads of the resources contracted. The rates are based on the low end of US and European averages. The amounts are calculated for each milestone based on the hours to complete.

A freelance Accountant can charge from $50/hr. Treasury Guild is charging $50/hr for wallet setup, admin and payments. [Source - Accountant Hourly Rates | Crowdsourced List (contractrates.fyi)]

A freelance project manager can charge from $50/hr. In addition management of this project requires knowledge of open source software tools and an awareness of blockchain technology. [Source - Project Management Fees | Hourly & Consulting Rates | Salaries – OCM Solution]

In addition all the resources working on this project are taking on the currency risk of being paid in ADA. This means that a fall in the ADA price will result in being paid less or delivering less in each milestone. Any rise in the ADA price will represent a reward for investing in the Cardano ecosystem.

Consequently, given these factors, we believe this proposal offers excellent value for money in a volatile cryptocurrency environment.

[IMPORTANT NOTE] The Applicant agreed to Fund10 rules and also that data in the Submission Form and other data provided by the project team during the course of the project will be publicly available.

I Accept