Author Topic: What DonationCoder.com Would Do with a Two Million Dollar Donation (Read 30269 times)

mouser · « **on:** March 08, 2011, 03:31 PM »

This is a post that all Billionaires should read carefully. The rest of you can skip it.

I thought it would be fun to imagine what we would do with a single 2 million dollar donation/grant, just for the hell of it. It's not something serious, just a thought experiment, and in case any long time DC member wins the lottery and hits their head hard on the same day.

Ok so what would we do with a Two Million Dollar (after taxes please) donation?

I propose we create a Programming Co-operative living space.
Purchase a multi-unit apartment building in town of donor's choice, with a bottom floor zoned for commercial use. We could aim for something 10 residential units in the building maybe. Fixer upper is fine and preferred and I'm happy to do the work fixing it up with volunteers.
The residential units will be provided as rotating medium-term free living spaces for programmers who are willing to spend most of their time working on free/opensource/donationware software, and on teaching programming.
The bottom space should be used as an open community programming/hacker space where nerds can come to hang out, write software, work on experimental computer projects (art exhibits, etc.), help tutor people in programming, and play and invent board games.
The building will be DC headquarters and open at all hours to visitors and to provide assistance to learning coders; it will be an official non-profit and raise money to pay for ongoing expenses.
On the front of the building will be a bronze bust of the donor holding Cody the mascot in his hands.

Any ideas to add?

Ath · « **Reply #1 on:** March 08, 2011, 03:45 PM »

This is a post that all Billionaires should read carefully. The rest of you can skip it.
-mouser (March 08, 2011, 03:31 PM)

And what happens if we don't

iphigenie · « **Reply #2 on:** March 08, 2011, 03:47 PM »

I like the idea

PS: Considered doing that a few times - not donate 2 million dollars but offer board and lodging (have a huge house) to someone who wants to work on a free software project. Never went beyond vague idea though, the "how you would get about it" is scary (to me)

PPS: what I would do with 2 million would probably be a bit more educational - try to find "natural programmers" in the crowds of people discarded up front by the system, and train them up into the trade

cranioscopical · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2011, 03:58 PM »

Purchase a multi-unit apartment building in town of donor's choice,
-mouser (March 08, 2011, 03:31 PM)

You're a bit optimistic about what a couple of million US$ will buy these days, aren't you?

I think you need a few more mythical donors

edbro · « **Reply #4 on:** March 08, 2011, 04:05 PM »

I'd do it but I'm about 999,999,999 short of my first billion.

iphigenie · « **Reply #5 on:** March 09, 2011, 05:35 AM »

Purchase a multi-unit apartment building in town of donor's choice,
-mouser (March 08, 2011, 03:31 PM)
You're a bit optimistic about what a couple of million US$ will buy these days, aren't you?
I think you need a few more mythical donors
-cranioscopical (March 08, 2011, 03:58 PM)

He did say town not city - it might be possible in some places. you could probably buy a cluster of individual houses too, nowadays

cranioscopical · « **Reply #6 on:** March 09, 2011, 03:40 PM »

a cluster of individual houses too, nowadays
-iphigenie (March 09, 2011, 05:35 AM)

Well, certainly a few yurts then everyone could yak to their hearts' content

timns · « **Reply #7 on:** March 09, 2011, 03:53 PM »

Cranio, you just Khan't resist can you?

cranioscopical · « **Reply #8 on:** March 09, 2011, 06:02 PM »

you just Khan't resist can you?
-timns (March 09, 2011, 03:53 PM)

Another killer response!

Tatar for now…

zridling · « **Reply #9 on:** March 09, 2011, 11:18 PM »

Just a small detail: programmers are going to need a winning environment, and that includes a monster hot tub, lots of hookers, cocaine, and tiger blood... oh wait, that's "The Charlie Sheen Institute of Warlock Coding."

mahesh2k · « **Reply #10 on:** March 10, 2011, 02:32 AM »

This *idea* will restrict the flow of knowledge to a particular geographical area which i always hate to see. These things are possible online (cutting the building and related part) if we wish to do so. It's like bringing together "stackoverflow+donationcoder+sourceforge+google summer of code" under single brand.

steeladept · « **Reply #11 on:** March 11, 2011, 10:12 PM »

This *idea* will restrict the flow of knowledge to a particular geographical area which i always hate to see. These things are possible online (cutting the building and related part) if we wish to do so. It's like bringing together "stackoverflow+donationcoder+sourceforge+google summer of code" under single brand.
-mahesh2k (March 10, 2011, 02:32 AM)

I think the point was to provide most of the living expenses so they didn't need to worry about that while coding the project(s). Online options like this already abound as you point out and are only partially successful on the level I think Mouser is talking about. That whole rent/food/bills/etc. thing keeps people from donating a lot more time, and my understanding is that would be the point. Of course I could be way out in left field again too....

mouser · « **Reply #12 on:** March 11, 2011, 10:30 PM »

the idea was just to imagine creating a real world place that could be like a physical realization of the website.. where as steeladept said, programs could come and stay for a time without having to worry about paying for rent, but also to be a kind of programmer's commune, where everyone helped each other out, stayed up all night creating new things,and just in general be a welcoming DC hub for visitors from across the globe to visit and meet each other, and then to be a community center hacker/coder space in a city that needed it. and then while day dreaming might as well day dream that it would become self-sufficient based on donations and could open up similar spaces in cities all over globe

mouser · « **Reply #13 on:** March 11, 2011, 10:47 PM »

this was just a fun daydream post, don't take it too seriously -- just try to imagine a place we could all meet up and hang out in real life.

app103 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 12, 2011, 12:32 AM »

Way back in my early days at DC, I heard about this little fantasy in the IRC channel and it reminded me of a similar fantasy we had in my chat room, where we were going to pool our resources and buy my 4 unit apartment building (it was up for sale at the time). Then all the members of my little coding community that had no place to go would always find a welcome home they could go to if things got a little too tough for them. At the time a number of us were facing possible homelessness, and as much as I wanted to take them all in, there was no way I could fit everyone in my small apartment. Unfortunately (or maybe luckily) we couldn't come up with the $400,000 between the 60 of us.

It was this similar way of thinking though, that was one of the reasons why I stuck around. It felt like some place I missed very much. DC was like my own little community, all grown up... It felt like I had found home again.

Edvard · « **Reply #15 on:** March 12, 2011, 12:34 AM »

I would buy a cruise ship with private helicopter and satellite internet link.
Cruise ship so geographical location is flexible, we can pick up and drop off at most major sea-ports, and the helicopter to fetch in the more landlocked members.

$2Mil probably wouldn't buy much of a ship, though...

@app:

mahesh2k · « **Reply #16 on:** March 12, 2011, 01:14 AM »

Even for day dreaming this post has some strong base.

For example using religious places/charitable trusts/spiritual organization to carry this idea. I do think this idea will be picked up by atleast spiritual places like auroville if coders in that place see it productive. Who thought in 2003 that FSF/GNU/OS will be success that we see today in 2011 ?

timns · « **Reply #17 on:** March 12, 2011, 10:55 AM »

L. Ron Mouser welcomes you to our community - but first we will need you to spread the word about our DonationCoderology "philoshophy" through the use of "surveys"

mouser · « **Reply #18 on:** March 12, 2011, 10:56 AM »

timns · « **Reply #19 on:** March 12, 2011, 11:02 AM »

Sorry, I simply could not resist. I'm sure it'd be NOTHING like that.

Here, have some Kool-Aid

app103 · « **Reply #20 on:** March 12, 2011, 11:08 AM »

L. Ron Mouser welcomes you to our community - but first we will need you to spread the word about our DonationCoderology "philoshophy" through the use of "surveys"
-timns (March 12, 2011, 10:55 AM)

Sorry, I simply could not resist. I'm sure it'd be NOTHING like that.

Here, have some Kool-Aid
-timns (March 12, 2011, 11:02 AM)

We already have an alien...bird.

mahesh2k · « **Reply #21 on:** March 12, 2011, 11:12 AM »

L. Ron Mouser welcomes you to our community - but first we will need you to spread the word about our DonationCoderology "philoshophy" through the use of "surveys"

Josh · « **Reply #22 on:** March 12, 2011, 11:32 AM »

So wait, in this "philosophy", would your ultimate goal be to not rid yourselves of body theatons, but instead of "syntax errors"?

timns · « **Reply #23 on:** March 12, 2011, 11:33 AM »

So wait, in this "philosophy", would your ultimate goal be to not rid yourselves of body theatons, but instead of "syntax errors"?
-Josh (March 12, 2011, 11:32 AM)

Haha. Drat, I wish I'd thought of that

mouser · « **Reply #24 on:** March 12, 2011, 12:02 PM »

So wait, in this "philosophy", would your ultimate goal be to not rid yourselves of body theatons, but instead of "syntax errors"?

joke if you will but the science of how our genes and dna/rna build us is replete with samples of these kinds of "errors" and source code cruft.

http://www.ehow.com/...e-transcription.html