Call for Grant Proposals

["Martin v. Löwis"]

Maurice LING wrote:
> I have a few questions to ask about this grant and I've emailed this to 
> psf-grant at python.org but had no replies yet. Maybe someone authoritative 
> from PSF can help me out in this or anyone can put in some comments.

For some reason, I did not get your message there - although I see it
is in the psf-grants archives. I don't know how that happened - my 
apologies.

> 1. Is there a requirement to release the deliverables, including, 
> software, source codes, specifications and documentation, to the general 
> public using any of the Open Source Initiative (OSI) approved open 
> source licences?

Not necessarily. There is no requirement that the deliverables are
source code; if they aren't, OSI rules obviously don't apply.

> 2. Will there be any form of intellectual property claims, including, 
> copyrights, trade marks, patents, on any form of work generated from the 
> PSF Grant by the Python Software Foundation (PSF) or any of its 
> associates? If so, what are the precise nature of it? 

Not necessarily. Applicants can, of course, assign their copyright to
the PSF, but we can certainly fund projects which don't. If you plan to
file patents on the results, it would be good to point that out in the
proposal.

> 3. On the website (http://www.python.org/psf/call-2004.html), it is 
> stated that the project of which the grant is granted for must be 
> completed by October 30, 2005. In event of failure to meet, what will be 
> the penalities?

This should be explained in the delivery and payment plans that you
submit. It would be a good idea if partial results were available at
some point, and partial payments were made after delivery of the partial
results.

> 4. From Question 3, what constitutes partial failure or complete failure 
> of the project?

Non-delivery of deliverables.

> 5. From Question 4, it is stated on the website 
> (http://www.python.org/psf/call-2004.html) that a delivery plan is 
> essential in the proposal. How will delay in delivery affect the payment 
> plan and the grant on the whole?

You should also include a payment plan. We will not only evaluate the
delivery plan, but also the payment plan, and take the likelyhood and
the cost of failure into account when evaluating the project.

> 6. Can the PSF Grant be used to generate proprietary work and yet, 
> furthering the development of Python, Python-related technology, and 
> educational resources? An example of such is the development of a 
> proprietary Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

In principle, yes. As Tim explains, proposals will compete with each
other. We will try to evaluate how much the project serves the public,
and in particular the Python community.

Regards,
Martin