As I mentioned in Light Table - Amazing PoC of IDE I really think it is a great idea and I wish the them best of luck.
Some comments:
- This shows that it is possible to gather funding for software development projects (I did tried a half-baked attempt in 2010 which didn't really go anywhere: New funding model for O2's Development)
- It shows that there is a lot of desire for better IDEs since the main ones we have (VisualStudio and Eclipse) are really showing off their age (and size)
- That said the reddit comments on the 300k anoucement don't start in a very positive way
- It is a great way to build a community and get a list of interested parties. I would say that the current list of backers (all 7317 of them) is as valuable (if not more) as the 300k raised
- Although there is an OpenSource element of it, they also have a commercial license, which might have helped with the pledges since there is something tangible given in return (notice the different types of pledges)
- The money is going directly to the developers (from the community) which could be a good model for OWASP since it would be compabible with the concept of Why OWASP can't pay OWASP Leaders
