[ros-announce] Please read: A personal appeal from ReactOS Project Coordinator Aleksey Bragin

[Aleksey Bragin]

Normally this list is used to announce new releases of ReactOS operating 
system, however this time is an exception. There is a significant, rare 
event which I would like to get your attention to.

ReactOS Fundraiser 2012.

The ReactOS Project has engaged in several fundraising efforts in the 
past, and thanks to their success and non-monetary donations, an 
industry-grade infrastructure 
<http://www.reactos.org/en/Infrastructure.html> was developed and 
deployed, and is being continuously improved.

Donations have also helped developers travel to several conferences and 
events to promote and present ReactOS. These presentations were crucial 
in drawing attention to the project and often helped spur further donations.

This year we want to do something different, something even grander. 
ReactOS is quite close to transitioning to beta testing and we are 
constantly improving the development process itself. However for many 
core developers ReactOS remains a hobby in which they participate in 
their spare time as all have other real life obligations to meet. All of 
the developers are extremely skilled and every contribution they make 
helps significantly improve ReactOS' quality.

For the first time ever, the ReactOS Foundation seeks to go beyond the 
usual small fundraising campaigns aimed at paying infrastructure 
expenses. We wish to raise money 
<http://www.reactos.org/en/foundation_donate.html> *to formally hire as 
many core developers as possible*, to work on the project they believe 
in, the project they've been working on, to transform a hobby into a job 
so they can dedicate all of their time to the ReactOS project.

In light of the significant advances the project enjoyed thanks to work 
done as part of Google's Summer of Code 2011, it became even more 
obvious that the fastest way to accelerate the development of ReactOS is 
by directly funding developers to contribute to ReactOS. As such, the 
project is reaching out to our many fans and believers to help make this 
happen.

Together, we can make ReactOS into a true competitor and alternative for 
computer users worldwide.

Thanks,
Aleksey Bragin
ReactOS Project Coordinator

Links:
Official news text: http://www.reactos.org/en/news_page_75.html (other 
languages may be available)
ReactOS Fundraising Campaign 2012 Progress bar (updated daily): 
http://www.reactos.org on top of the page.
Donation page: http://www.reactos.org/en/foundation_donate.html (other 
languages may have country-specific ways of donation)