Dear All:
I am a senior undergraduate applied mathematics/computer science student and this year, I migrated from Windows 7 to Gentoo Linux on my computers. I tried using Linux alternatives to many applications I used on Windows, but not all software has good alternatives, so I have been using WINE for certain things. The WINE project's accomplishments so far have been extremely impressive, but at the same time, WINE's implementation of the Windows API is deficient in many ways and I think that the WINE project will need to improve its own organization before progress toward true API parity with Windows can be made.
I can divide WINE's development resources into two groups, volunteer and professional. The volunteer group is predominantly focused on games.The professional group is comprised of CodeWeavers and Google. CodeWeavers does what its customers want it to do, and as such, it has a large focus on games. Google on the other hand, paid CodeWeavers to make some improvements to WINE, mostly for Picasa, but also for Adobe Photoshop CS2, the reason for which I cannot imagine. Google also has its annual Summer of Code program. Each source of manpower has its own special interest and I do not believe that WINE will ever obtain any kind of API parity with Windows as long as this remains the case.
With these things in mind, I would like to propose that the WINE project solicit grants from charitable organizations so that it could hire professional developers to augment its existing resources, specifically in the areas for which special interests could care less. If the Wine project could solicit sufficient funding to hire a few dozen developers for a period of several years, then I think that having WINE become as good as Windows would enter the realm of possibility. I know that many people will laugh at my suggestion (especially when they read the organization I suggest that the WINE project contact), but as far as I can tell, the WINE project has not solicited grants to be able to hire professional developers and I think that failing to solicit such grants places a handicap on the WINE project.
There exist charitable organizations that seek to fund solutions to "global problems that are ignored by governments and other organizations" (as stated in Wikipedia). Because enabling Windows programs to run on free UNIX operating systems would reduce the cost of computing for all people, including those in third world countries, I am certain that such organizations that would be willing to fund WINE, provided that the WINE project inform them of its existence. The specific organization from which I think that the WINE project should attempt to solicit grant money is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In consideration of their guiding principles and the fact that they must spend $1.5 billion a year, it seems only logical to me that they would provide funding for the WINE project if asked:
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/Pages/guiding-principles.aspx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_%26_Melinda_Gates_Foundation#Activities
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is not the only organization for which the WINE project could solicit funding, but I think that it is a good place to start. Please consider the possibility of soliciting grants so that the WINE project could hire professional developers. Also, I am not registered on the mailing list, so please CC me any responses made either directly or indirectly to this email, even if it ridicules my suggestion.
Yours truly, Richard Yao