Hello everybody!
The objectives of this posts are two:
1- Raise funds for a WhatsApp integration
2- Talk about how the funding problem can be solved, because there seems to be a separation between Frappe and the community.
1- We want to make a WhatsApp integration, but we can’t afford it by ourselves. We thought it was right to rely on an issue that has been going on for over a year and is very complete, besides it had several likes:
https://github.com/Frappe/erpnext/issues/15412
In this way, the list of to-be-developed functionalities is already settled. After the development process, we can merge it with the core with a PR for V12 and another for V11, because we need it in V11.
For example, we estimate that U$S800 is enough to make it, and we already have a client that is willing to contribute U$S100.
Anyways, in case that the funds are not raised, we encourage those interested to contact with us via private message, because, in the case that the project is achieved by other means, we can share the code to those who need it, but without the core integration.
2- Based on this post https://discuss.frappe.io/t/what-is-the-current-status-for-bounties-funding-for-erpnext that goes about the problem that the developers don’t contribute to the core but make their own and private customizations for their clients.
Leaving asside topics already discussed in another posts (like the complexity of integrating it to the core, the time that it demands, the time that the Frappe team takes to merge it, the restriction in the addition of new features to v11, etc), there are people in the community, who want to contribute with their funds to add features that are needed not only by them, but by others too, but the Frappe team doesn’t have interest nor time, and then, those features ends up being funded by a customer and in a private repository. I’m not saying that there is no intention to share the code, I’m saying that there is no possibility of integrating it to the core due to all the above.
We are sure that today there are, privately, many developments that could be part of the core, and that could have been in it if there were a good bounty system. The core can always integrate a basis, from where everyone can create their own customization for their particular client.
I don’t remember how the price/team assignation was implemented in the old bounty system, but maybe the bottleneck was there. In the other hand, the quality of the code can be evaluated at the moment of the PR, and knowing the development team. Lastly, there should be a way for those who needs the feature to implement it before Frappe decides merge it to the core, because the long delays could discourage the contributors.
Regards!
