which applications need the most help? how can we help?

[matthekc]

It was once said by someone nobody runs an operating system they run the applications on the system.

Around the way I always hear "I need the gimp to do ___", "if linux can't do ____ its not ready yet","I wish linux could do ____".

So what needs to kick it up a gear, who is moving fast, and how can we accelerate things?

[aysiu]

These are the best ways I know of to "accelerate things":
* Donate money
* File bug reports
* Fund bounties
* Contribute code
* Write good documentation
* Practice good but honest marketing
* Create slick artwork and icons

[matthekc]

what projects need money to move forward right now

[fuscia]

what projects need money to move forward right now

dillo needs money, if they haven't thrown in the towel yet. http://www.dillo.org/

[matthekc]

I've been thinking about throwing some money at wine if he still needs it I have to look at that. I think wine is the best in class project for windows emulation. I had to do some digging to figure out what Dillo's major selling point was:
quote from http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT7153264029.html
Note that dillo is NOT designed solely for embedded systems -- however, its extraordinary efficiency and low library dependencies are what makes it suitable for such environments. For instance, the stripped binary on an x86 machine is around 230KB, and the main library dependency is GTK+. Memory requirements are lower than for lynx at start time, and the low CPU performance requirements let it run snappily on a 75 MHz pentium, 37 MHz ARM (Psion), or 25MHz 486 with 8MB of RAM.

It also can double as the complete gui it is worthy of donation consideration. I want to throw some money at open source but probably not more than 50 so I want to choose good projects that need money.

I know wine is not an emulator its an api layer before I get corrected but I'm still going to call it emulation it's easier.

[fuscia]

this is from an interview with jorge...

How do you see Dillo's future?

"That's something that's not yet defined, as it regrettably doesn't depend on us alone...
Technically, we have all the expertise, will and ideas to make "big things" with Dillo. BTW, what we have developed until today already makes a big difference!
For instance, some may have heard about the "digital divide".
(the so called "digital divide" is the gap that exists between those who have access to the information technologies and those who don't. It is easy to see that in an interconnected world, with an ever-growing portion of human activities being encompassed by the informatics realm, this divide comes to constitute what we may call the "illiteracy of the 21st century").
Thus, it is easy to understand why the UN and most countries (developed or not) are concerned about it. Consequently they hold summits to debate how to close the divide, and assign thousands of millions of dollars to the issue.
Regrettably, as the UN's general secretary has declared:
"But bridging the digital divide is not going to be easy. Too often, state monopolies charge exorbitant prices for the use of bandwidth. Governments need to do much more to create effective institutions and supportive regulatory frameworks that will attract foreign investment; more generally, they must also review their policies and arrangements to make sure they are not denying their people the opportunities offered by the digital revolution. " (think about it)
It is easy to see that the economic interests involved are huge.
A small example:
Dillo is a tangible demonstration that the technology to build a PDA (pocket-sized computer) integrating a web browser and phone EXISTS today.
Dillo is a tangible demonstration that it is possible to make a home phone with a screen and web browser for near US $250 and bring Internet access to a huge amount of people.
Why can't those products be found in the market?
If we consider the thousands of millions of dollars in profits that the IT market generates as is today, is easy to understand why they don't want to change it!
In brief: the technology to bring low-cost Internet access to the masses exists today. It only needs the willingness of some government to do it.
In fact, in Chile, with GNU/Linux + Dillo, today it is possible with an old computer and a phone line, to access a broad range of information available from government servers, universities, newspapers, magazines, forums, etc... (and not even according a simple standarization policy!).
Our project is seeking funds that allow for a small team of stable developers, with full-time dedication, with a view to accelerate and improve our browser and thus contribute to build a better-informed society."

well intended, at least.