RealLife(TM)

To be honest, this article is something I have been dreading. It's one of those situations, where you hope and pray that it gets better before you take action, but it hasn't.

Michael has landed onto some tough times. The injury from some weeks ago has healed well enough. However, RealLife™ has prevented him from focusing on Haiku. It involves his personal life outside of Haiku. That's all we know and that's all we need to know. With everything that has happened and will continue to play out over the next weeks, Michael has decided to cease the contract. In the future, he does plan to contribute to Haiku. For now though, he needs to take a step back.

So, what does this mean to Haiku and its supporters? During the contract, both Michael and our supporters have been outstanding. A wealth of important commits have been made possible and have ranged from Sandy Bridge support, to integrating WPA/WPA2 support (albeit missing some features), to resolving a slew of critical bugs that required both a talented mind and ample time. The financial donations have set a new bar and will allow Haiku, Inc. to continue advancing Haiku. In the first four months of 2012, over $4,000 USD has been donated. That brings Haiku, Inc.'s current finances to over $25,000. Needless to say, funding development contracts will continue. Thank you for making this possible.

On the topic of money, it's worth mentioning how this contract is being handled. At the beginning of the contract, it was decided to issue payments at the middle and end of the contract, based on the work completed. Prior to Michael's injury, the first half of the six month contract has been paid. Even though the contract was ceased before completing the second half, he will receive payment for the portion of time worked -- e.g., from the second half up to where he took time off for the injury. Michael will be compensated for time completed -- no more, no less. We feel this is fair for everyone involved.

This is not a failure of Michael, nor our supporters, nor anyone else. This simply is something unfortunate that happened. We offer Michael our best wishes during tough times and welcome him back when he's ready. We're here for you buddy.