[OT] Knuth's rewards [Was: Python syntax in Lisp and Scheme]

[Paul Rubin]

Jacek Generowicz <jacek.generowicz at cern.ch> writes:
> > Could you afford to pay $327.68 for every bug found in your glorious
> > software?
> 
> Anyone know how Knuth arrives at the amounts he offers ?
> 
> (He also offers $2.56 for errors in his books.)

For errors in the books, traditionally the reward was $2.00 per error.
Maybe in the more recent ones he increased it to $2.56.

For TeX, I believe he offered $2.56 per bug for the first year, $5.12
the second year, etc. until it reached $327.68 and he prudently
stopped increasing it further.  He actually did pay out $327.68 to
someone for some bug a couple of years ago.  But prior to that, no
bugs had been found in many years.

A lot of people who find errors in the books and get $2.00 checks from
Knuth save the checks as souvenirs instead of cashing them.  A friend
of mine had one hanging on his wall for quite a long time.  But Knuth
says there's a guy in San Jose, CA who has received and cashed
something like hundreds of them.