Sponsors Needed!

As stated in a blog post some months ago, I am now looking for sponsors to help funding POCO C++ Libraries development. After considering a few alternatives, including setting up a non-profit organization overseeing project direction and funding, I came to the conclusion that, at least at the beginning, sponsorship agreements will be handled by my company, Applied Informatics, via a contract (PDF). Everything else would just require additional resources (both in work and monetary), which cannot be justified at the moment. The Sponsorship Agreement will ensure that all funds received from sponsors will be spent on POCO C++ Libraries development (and related things, such as the project website). Based on feedback from a potential sponsor, the Sponsorship Agreement also includes professional support, provided to a sponsor’s software developers by Applied Informatics. More information can be found at the new Sponsorship/Funding page. Feedback, especially on the Sponsorship Agreement, is welcome!

The lack of funding is really hurting the project in the long run. While Alex and I do our best do keep the project humming along by at least providing bug fixes and a some new features on a more or less regular basis, larger work items like finishing the 1.4 release and preparing the path for a future 2.0 release are basically on hold (for reasons stated here). Only a few sponsors would be needed to improve the situation. Just having one developer funded for half a year (which amounts to about EUR 30.000) would make a big difference to the project.

So, if you’re using POCO in a commercial product earning you piles of money, consider giving something back to the people that have worked countless hours for free to give you great C++ libraries.

Thank you,

Günter