[Linux-aus] Grant application Cryptoproof

Sat Mar 11 09:46:16 AEDT 2017

Hi folks

I have a few thoughts.

First, the requested grant is a significant amount of money, so I think
the return to the community needs to match that.

This project appears to have only one contributor, and not to have
strong community presence. For me, this project doesn't appear to have
sufficient strong utility to justify the significant work involved. In
particular, it appears to require a trusted third party to verify a
trustless protocol. This doesn't seem to add a lot of value.

I'm also struggling a little with the project budget, which is presented
in approximate form and without the type of detail I would expect in a
grant application. For example, $1000pa PAAS hosting - what host? Why?
Is that appropriate given the expected traffic? Who will receive the
funds for design, development and audit work? How have these costs been
estimated?

Finally, this project's key success metric is generating sufficient
revenue to be self-sustaining (though I note it does not indicate how
that revenue is generated). While generating revenue is not a bad aim
per se, I don't think LA should provide business start-up grants. Our
grants programs should be community-focused. Building a self-sustaining
service that has strong community demand might fall into that category;
supporting a for-profit service like this doesn't seem to.

For those reasons I'm opposed to making this grant in its current form.
Notably, I've made a few assumptions above, and I might be wrong about
several of them. Derren, feel free to correct me/provide more detail (on
list), and I will re-evaluate.

Regards

Michael

On Fri, Mar 10, 2017, at 15:32, Linux Australia President wrote:
> A courtesy note to flag there are 5 days left to provide community
> feedback on this grant application.
> 
> No feedback has been received to date.
> 
> This Grant Application is schedule for discussion at Council Meeting
> 16th March.
> 
> Kind regards,
> 
> Kathy
> 
> 
> On 02/03/17 11:43, Derren Desouza wrote:
> > Project name
> > -
> > Cryptoproof
> > https://cryptoproof.info/
> > https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1579977.msg15863685#msg15863685
> > https://github.com/cryptoproofinfo
> >
> >
> > Aim of the project, including any key stages or milestones of the project
> > -
> > Provide a platform to users at zero/near zero cost which they can use
> > to verify the authenticity of products, detect tampering and verity ID
> > to a very hight degree of certainty.
> >
> > Provide producers with various analytics to also detect fraud/misuse
> > and possibly track the location and owner of products.
> >
> >
> > How the success of the project will be measured
> > -
> > The project will be considered successful if it generates enough
> > revenue to sustain it’s own hosting costs and so can remain in service
> > indefinitely.
> >
> >
> > Estimated cost breakdown of the project, including any materials,
> > projects or online services that are required to deliver the project.
> > The cost breakdown should include estimates of labour costs and/or
> > professional services
> > -
> > The vast majority of the work needed to create a working
> > implementation is done already.
> > Some security features are yet to be implemented to the database, the
> > user interface needs an overhaul and many features are yet to be added
> > to the mobile app.
> > The project also needs to be rebased from ubuntu to core os.
> >
> > The project will be hosted on several paas instances, ~$1000 pa.
> > Mobile application features, ~$2000.
> > Web application security and code audit ~$5000.
> > Flat design video tutorial explaining what the project is, what it
> > does and how it works, ~$2000.
> > Desktop tools for easily checking/registering public keys, ~$2000.
> > Advertising, $0, need to make the app robust before I can think about
> > that.
> >
> > So $12,000 in total. (Although I could really do with 2 years worth of
> > hosting if you feel like giving it to me).
> >
> >
> > The project team, their credentials and professional capabilities,
> > especially their history of open source, open data, open hardware or
> > open culture contributions
> > -
> > It’s just me for now.
> > http://stackoverflow.com/users/3335799/derrend
> > https://github.com/derrend
> > https://au.linkedin.com/in/derrend
> >
> > I have been a linux system administrator ~4 years.
> > I produced a security report for Queensland police regarding the
> > potential criminal use cases of cryptocurrencies in 2016.
> > I’m skilled in several programming languages but I don’t have a
> > masters degree in any of them.
> > Blockchain technology is my passion and it’s the main reason I shifted
> > my career focus to computer science.
> >
> >
> > Person responsible for project
> > A statement including a willingness to provide regular project updates
> > on the project
> > -
> > Me again.
> > I hereby state that I am willing to provide regular project updates on
> > the project.
> >
> >
> > Personal statement
> > -
> > I have been working on this project for over two years now.
> > My greatest challenge has been to overcome the learning curve
> > regarding crypto currencies and cryptography to new users of the service.
> >
> > How blockchains and public addresses function and how they can be used
> > in conjunction with a 3rd party provider who maintains a database of
> > information and yet remains practically trustless is difficult to
> > explain in an elevator pitch and so raising money from potential
> > investors, applying for grants or acquiring new users is very difficult.
> >
> > I should also mention that I have applied for a grant for this project
> > previously in 2015.
> >
> > Please feel free to get in touch with me via phone, skype, email.
> > I love to talk about and explain the project day or night ;)
> >
> >
> > Kind regards
> > Derren Desouza
> >
> >
> > On 02/03/17 07:34, Linux Australia President wrote:
> >> As of now, we currently have received zero (0) Grant Applications.
> >>
> >> There's $35k on the table, and we'd like to see it used to do Good Open*
> >> Things.
> >>
> >> Kind regards,
> >>
> >> Kathy
> >>
> >>
> >> On 16/02/17 22:01, Linux Australia President wrote:
> >>> Dear colleagues,
> >>>
> >>> Linux Australia is delighted to announce the availability of $AUD
> >>> 35,000
> >>> for open source, open data, open government, open education, open
> >>> hardware and open culture projects, as part of the organisation’s
> >>> commitment to free and open source systems and communities in the
> >>> region.
> >>>
> >>> This year, we have deliberately weighted some areas in which we
> >>> strongly
> >>> welcome grant applications.
> >>>
> >>> More information is available at: https://linux.org.au/projects/grants
> >>>
> >>> Please do share this with colleagues who may find it of interest, and
> >>> feel free to contact the Linux Australia Council if you would like a
> >>> private discussion.
> >>>
> >>> With kind regards,
> >>>
> >>> Kathy
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> > _______________________________________________
> > linux-aus mailing list
> > linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
> > http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/linux-aus
> 
> -- 
> Kathy Reid
> President
> Linux Australia
> 
> 0418 130 636
> 
> president at linux.org.au
> http://linux.org.au
> 
> Linux Australia Inc
> GPO Box 4788
> Sydney NSW 2001
> Australia
> 
> ABN 56 987 117 479 
> 
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