“Dev” — Tokens for OSS
We have released “Dev” tokens in order to support the sustainability of Open Source Software (OSS).
What is “Dev”?
“Dev” works to achieve fair monetization of your OSS.
Neither commission fees nor usage fees are required.
Utilizing the token economy allows developers to concentrate on development, and investors to effectively support any OSS.
For the most part, OSS are provided free of charge. OSS developers maintain their OSS projects by securing a revenue source separate from their OSS.
Typical sources of revenue are as follows.
- Working at a company
- Freelancing
- Donations
- OSS provided as SaaS
- Enterprise support
Since [1] and [2] are not revenue produced by the OSS itself, the OSS is only allocated a limited amount of their disposable time.
The revenue of [3] tends to be an amount that deviates from the value of their OSS due to the arbitrary model of high evaluations. OSS developers are required to focus their efforts on fields other than just technology so that they can continue to raise their evaluations.
[4] and [5] essentially achieve monetization directly from the OSS, but this can be done only with a few limited large-scale projects.
“Dev” works to realizes revenue proportional to the real value of the OSS. In addition, it does not require changes to the OSS itself. With this loosely-coupled system, we evaluate the OSS with simple and powerful evaluation logic and actualize monetization according to that evaluation.
How “Dev” works
To begin, it can be depicted in a simple diagram.
“Dev” is created based on the ecosystem of Ethereum. It is easy to understand if one has an understanding of block chains, but it doesn’t matter even if they don’t.
“Dev” can be traded on the market like Ethereum or Bitcoin. Since “Dev” conforms to the Ethereum standard (ERC20), the price of 1 DEV is determined by the rate between 1 DEV and 1 ETH.
The outline is as follows.
- The price is determined by investors trading “Dev” (updated in real time)
- devtoken.rocks mints “Dev” every month
- The increase by devtoken.rocks is allocated to the OSS
OSS developers can liquidate their “Dev” by exchanging their “Dev” for Ethereum.
As “Dev” is a token that continues to mint, there is a mechanism to suppress the dilution of the value of “Dev” itself. This involves evaluation logic.
Evaluation logic for “Dev”
The following variables are used in calculations to determine allocation to the OSS:
pdl = Download numbers the package, from the 20th day of the last month to the 19th day of the current month
adl = Download numbers across all packages registered on Dev, from the 20th day of the last month to the 19th day of the current month
t = Number of tokens retained by the distribution address
d = Number of days elapsed since the OSS registration
p = t / d
ta = Total of p for all addresses
m = Annual number of mintsThe calculation formula is as follows.
x = (p + pdl) / (ta + adl) × m / 12The per-diem rate of “Dev” tokens retained by that OSS is added to the number of OSS downloads. The same equation is calculated for each OSS individually and all OSS total, and the ratio is determined for each OSS.
The number of allocations is determined by multiplying the monthly number of mints by that percentage.
The number of tokens retained by the OSS are added to suppress dilution of the value of “Dev.”
The more tokens possessed by an OSS, the more tokens will be allocated each month. In other words, you can increase the number of shares by purchasing or saving tokens. This will prevent tokens from being sold all at once and suddenly diluting the value. Investors don’t want the value of the token to be diluted.
As an application of this mechanism, if you send “Dev” tokens to the OSS you want to support, you can increase the number of token allocations to that OSS.
The calculation logic is available for viewing on GitHub (frame00/dev-distribution).
Future plans to distribute to contributors
“Dev” is currently in alpha. Tokens are distributed to the owner of the OSS.
We want to implement the ability to distribute tokens to OSS contributors. Contributors would be able to receive compensation relative to their contribution.
With active use of “Dev,” we would be able to proceed to advance functional development as soon as possible.
How to connect with “Dev”
There are a number of ways to get involved in the OSS community for “Dev”.
I want to monetize my OSS
If you are self-publishing your OSS, you can begin to achieve monetization by registering your OSS on devtoken.rocks.
Registration is quick and easy, and there is no need to make any changes to your OSS.
As it is currently in alpha, only OSS that are published in npm can be registered.
I want to support OSS
You can contribute to an OSS by using “Dev” tokens.
“Dev” can be contribute efficiently in order to realize a world where OSS are more actively developed.
Order Book can be opened from devtoken.rocks to buy and sell “Dev.” EtherDelta is used for main exchanges.
There is an OSS that I want to directly support
If the OSS that you want to support is registered in “Dev,” you can send “Dev” directly to the wallet address of the OSS.
If the number of tokens retained by the OSS increases, it increases the amount of monthly distributions made to that OSS. In this way, you can provide continuous support even without making a new contribution every month.
Refer to GitHub (frame00/dev-distribution) to check the wallet address of the OSS. OSS information is stored in config/packages.ts.
Growth of “Dev” is accelerated through active use by OSS developers and investors.
For questions please contact us on Twitter. Inquiries can be made in either Japanese or English.
