COSOURCE.COM ANNOUNCES COOPERATIVELY FUNDED OPEN SOURCE PROJECT

First Successful Package Enhancement Via Collaborative Financing

Redmond, WA September 7, 1999 -- Cosource.com, the cooperative market
for open source development, announced today the successful completion
of their first collaborative open source project.  The project,
co-funded by several different individuals, is an enhancement to the
XFce3 graphical user environment for Linux.  It was developed by Emile
Snyder, a free software enthusiast in Portland, Oregon.  The completed
patch is now freely available for download via a link on Cosource.com.

The request for the software enhancement was first posted as part of
Cosource.com's live beta program.  Snyder then submitted a proposal to
perform the programming.  Several individuals who also needed the
requested package committed personal funds to pay for the development. 
This mechanism allows individuals who are not programmers to directly
support the development of needed open source applications. 
Cosource.com's live beta program continues, with over 100 requests for
open source software currently posted and several more projects already
in development.

"The success of this initial project shows that the combined power of
open source and the internet is the best way to solve software
problems," said Bernie Thompson, CEO of Cosource.com.  "This proves that
multiple sponsors can co-fund a mutually needed development effort and
make open source work for everyone."

 "Cosource.com provides me with exactly the kind of opportunity I have
been looking for.  I get to write free software, and still get paid,"
said Emile Snyder, developer of the XFce enhancement.  Olivier Fourdan,
original author of XFce, added "It's good that there's an alternative
mechanism for developing wanted enhancements to open source projects.  I
was too busy to complete the XFclock patch myself, so Cosource.com has
enabled users of XFce to enjoy enhancements that I, as official
maintainer, didn't have time to implement."


About Cosource.com:
Cosource.com is a web-based service that allows corporations and
individuals to sponsor development of open source software and
documentation.  Individuals can request the development of open source
products, then offer financial commitments to proposals submitted by
developers.  http://www.cosource.com/, norm@cosource.com

About XFce:
XFce is a graphical user environment for the X11 Windowing System on
UNIX and Linux.  http://www.xfce.org/, fourdan@xfce.org

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