From time to time, I pick up my copy of Producing Open Source Software by Karl Fogel and I read. Every time I do, I enjoy Karl's thoughtful insights into how best to motivate people. I am always reassured that maybe we are doing few things right in the Joomla! project. This book also prompts ideas that we might want to consider trying.

Case in point, here is a quote is from Chapter 8. Managing Volunteers that is simply entitled Credit.

Credit is the primary currency of the free software world. Whatever people may say about their motivations for participating in a project, I don't know any developers who would be happy doing all their work anonymously, or under someone else's name. There are tangible reasons for this: one's reputation in a project roughly governs how much influence one has, and participation in an open source project can also indirectly have monetary value, because some employers now look for it on resumés. There are also intangible reasons, perhaps even more powerful: people simply want to be appreciated, and instinctively look for signs that their work was recognized by others. The promise of credit is therefore one of best motivators the project has. When small contributions are acknowledged, people come back to do more.

Today, I am calling out for volunteers who would like to work as a team to create an extension for Joomla! that would help us list tasks that must be done to keep the project moving forward. Of key importance would be the ability for this extension to also make visible contributions by individuals who make these things happen.

A credit machine, if you will.

If you are interested in working with a small adhoc team of volunteers to design, build, test, and implement such a tool, please volunteer! Karl's reminder of the importance of credit for motivating contributors to contribute, again, is spot on in a free software community. I would love to see a great team of contributors step forward and make this happen.