(deleted previous reply because I messed up the markdown)
Retrospective Award Application
Retrospective Award
Title
Rocketarb Part 2
Who is the proposed retrospective award recipient?
Ramana
What specific project or work is the retrospective award in recognition of? Please detail what the project or work entailed and the duration over which it took place.
This is a follow-up to Ramana’s previous Rocketarb application in Round 1 of the grant process. Much of the detail below will be the same and I will put the justification for a subsequent grant here. After the last round of awards were announced there was some dissatisfaction in the community about the amount awarded to Ramana. In DM’ing with Ramana and trying to explain the committee’s reasoning, it was clear that there had been a disconnect between the content of his application and the amount of work and support involved in creating and updating Rocketarb. We can chalk that up to this being the first round of applications and Ramana being the very first to post an RA application.
I would therefore like to add the following information as part of a request to the GMC to allocate an additional amount for Rocketarb for the work Ramana had done prior to the first round of applications and for the rounds in-between. Ramana is encouraged to apply for a grant for future maintenance/support of Rocketarb if he would like to do so.
First, in the initial application Ramana listed a very wide range of time estimate. In talking it over with him, it was clear that he had spent much closer to the 100 hour high end of the initial estimate than the 10 hour low end, and that his continued support for users since has likely incremented that number higher. While the GMC does not strictly operate on a pay-per-hour basis, I think it is worth highlighting as it shows that the effort involved in creating, updating, and supporting Rocketarb was likely a bit higher than the initial GMC impressions.
I also wanted to add that several people reached out to me (and I hope they will post as such in the community discussion thread) to mention how important Rocketarb was in attracting new node operators at a time that we found ourselves once again NO constrained. Numerous folks mentioned on Discord that Rocketarb was what specifically incentivized them to become NOs.
Additional details from the original app for this section:
Details:
- rocketarb contract (deployment on etherscan)
- rocketarb.js command line tool (code on GitHub) 2
- README.md instructions (in the same repository)
- live support in the Rocket Pool discord
Are the subjects of this award entirely open source (MIT, GPL, Apache, CC BY license or similar)? If not, which parts will not be, why, and under what license will they be published?
Yes
Benefits - enter N/A where appropriate
How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given help people looking to stake ETH for rETH?
By facilitating node operators to capitalise on the rETH premium by creating more minipools, thereby bringing the premium down and making rETH cheaper to acquire.
How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given help rETH holders?
N/A
How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given help people looking to run a Rocket Pool node for the first time?
By helping them take advantage of the market premium for rETH by creating minipools, capturing a profit that has in practice covered all their transaction fees plus more.
How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given help people already running a Rocket Pool node?
N/A - or same as above if they create more minipools
How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given how does this help the Rocket Pool community?
The project helped reinforce that the Rocket Pool community has an active developer base that is often looking for ways to improve the node operator experience.
How did the project or work for which the retrospective award would be given how does this help RPL holders?
N/A
Payment
How much in USD is the applicant requesting be awarded to the recipient?
In looking over the previous round of grants and considering the new information I received from both Ramana and the community, I am requesting a total of $10,000 be awarded. This includes the $5282 that was already awarded (139 RPL at $38 according to the GMC Treasury Sheet). That would mean this award request is specifically for a new dollar amount of $4718 above and beyond the initial award.
To what address should the award be sent if given?
ramana.eth (0x65FE89a480bdB998F4116DAf2A9360632554092c)
Conflict of Interest
Does the person or persons requesting the retrospective award have any conflicts of interest to disclose? (Please disclose here if you are a member of the GMC or if you have nominated a member of the GMC for this retrospective award).
The recipient is not a member of the GMC.
The recipient has received ad-hoc donations from users and community members for this work, and has paid some of the early beta testers.
Other people have contributed to rocketarb’s success through marketing, support, and writing the Docker mode.