Please describe your proposed solution.

Introduction:

The "PocketPOOL" project by Charity DAO aims to create a user-friendly GUI interface for installing a Cardano node on the Ubuntu desktop operating system. The goal is to make the process of setting up a node and a stake pool as simple and automated as possible, allowing non-technical people to participate in the Cardano network.

Objectives:

Develop a GUI interface that guides users through the process of installing a Cardano node on their Linux operating system

Automate as much of the installation process as possible, requiring minimal input from the user

Test the interface on Ubuntu operating systems to ensure compatibility

Provide documentation and support for users who encounter issues during the installation process

Add future enhancements and updates over time for great user experience

Methods:

Research existing Cardano node installation methods to identify areas that can be automated

Develop the GUI interface using open-source tools and frameworks

Use CLI tools to allow hardware wallets to serve as air-gapped machines

Test the interface on Ubuntu Desktop

Provide documentation and support for users who encounter issues during the installation process

Checkpoints:

Build a repository for up to date node images

Create GUI and scripts using GLade Designer or something similar

Rigorously test the installer

Release for open-source use and integrate as a feature for donation recipients from the Charity DAO

Create a networkof SPOs willing to add Pocket Pools to their relay to help new SPOs

Budget:

The estimated budget for this project is $25,000.

This budget will cover the costs of development, hardware, testing, and documentation.

Conclusion:

The "PocketPOOL" project will greatly improve the accessibility of the Cardano network for everyday, non-technical people, thus increasing the participation and decentralization of the network. It will be part of the package of Dapps provided by Charity DAO to non-profits when donating. We want to encourage charities to opt into Cardano and be part of the ecosystem instead of just cashing out. The project is expected to be completed within the estimated budget and will be open-sourced for the benefit of the Cardano community.

How does your proposed solution address the challenge and what benefits will this bring to the Cardano ecosystem?

Our solution will change the way stake pools are set up forever. The amount of SPOs can grow exponentially with such an easy and secure way to participate in the ecosystem.

As our product matures, new features like monitoring, specialized P2P connections and other enhancements can be implemented.

Cardano can be the most user friendly blockchain on the planet. We can make it so literally anyone can run their own pool, either at home or on the cloud with a few clicks.

How do you intend to measure the success of your project?

We estimate that during the next bull market as more people come into the ecosystem that this tool can double the amount of decentralization if promoted properly. When people do a search for how to set up a Cardano node, they will see an installer to download instead of pages and pages of linux code to copy and paste.

We can easily count the number of downloads of our tool for tracking.

We can observe the increase in the number of pools made after the release of our tool.

Eventually this will be the only way people build Cardano stake pools.

Please describe your plans to share the outputs and results of your project?

Our progress will be made public in several ways. Twitter, Discord, GitHub will all be used to relay updates to the community. We will have a website for the project with links to test and final releases that anyone can download and try.

With each successful stage completed, we will provide links to try and test to the public. We hope that the community will help stress test these releases to ensure there an no problems with the final product.

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability?

We are a team of Cardano SPOs and Project leaders that see the need for this tool. Together with our individual expertise and that of skilled coders we hire, we can build this much needed tool.

Fund management is important to us all. First, We will publicly share the wallet holding the funds. As well as plans for how the budget will be used. We expect to have a team of 3 main developers working on different parts of the project. Each one budgeted $5k for their work. We have a 5k budget for hardware purchases and hosting fees, all of which will have receipts posted publicly. The remaining funds will be used for promotions and other unforeseen costs that may occur. Every time funds are moved from the main custodial wallet, we will provide details of how it was used.

What are the main goals for the project and how will you validate if your approach is feasible?

Simply put our goals are as follows:

1. Build up to date repositories for node images
2. Build automated stake pool setup using python3
3. Build GUI for setup
4. Provide access to installer from dedicated website
5. Watch as the number of SPOs grow

Please provide a detailed breakdown of your project’s milestones and each of the main tasks or activities to reach the milestone plus the expected timeline for the delivery.

1. Node image repository - these already exist but we will create our own that work the best with our approach. Its a simple process and should be ready within 3 months. These can be used immediately to build with for those with some technical know how
2. Automated installer - another 3 months should be enough to have our 1st working installer. We have devs dedicated to writing the code needed to automate node setup using python3 and Cardano CLI. Again this will be made available for use immediately.
3. GUI design - Another 3 months set aside for designing an attractive UI that even non technical people can use. Right now we are considering using GLade Designer for this feature.
4. A website will be created with access to the final product for free to everyone. This should take at most 1 month to complete.

Please describe the deliverables, outputs and intended outcomes of each milestone.

Each milestone will be accompanied by a public release of the work done so far. All documentation will be made public on our GitHub and other platforms. Progress can be tracked on these same platforms as we release updates on the progress. Success will be measured by releasing each phase of the project to the pubic for testing. If we meet our deadlines, then it is a success. After completion the success will be evident in amount of nodes built with Pocket Pool.

Please provide a detailed budget breakdown of the proposed work and resources.

Budget aprox $25k USD

3 main developers working on building project - 5k each. We want to pay our devs for the immense amount of time it will take to build their part.

Hardware and hosting costs - 5k allocated. We will have dedicated servers for testing/building and eventually hosting our site. All costs will be publicly available.

Promotions and unexpected/other cost - 5k allocated. This will cover paying for community updates, engagement and other unexpected costs that may arise. These purchases will also be public.

Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Right now the team consists of:

Richard Vickers - founder of Cardano Community Charity Coin https://linktr.ee/CCCCoin.io

Leandros Holleman - Founder of Brothership Pool https://brothershipool.org/index.html

Miguel - founder of Nexus Pool and proof of Cardano https://nexuspool.org/ https://twitter.com/ProofOfCardano

We are hiring a GUI developer with experience in building UI on Ubuntu with python3.

How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

We have checked with gig workers who work as developers in short term projects and found that 5k is a reasonable amount to pay for up to 3 months of coding work. As well as the cost of buying/renting servers for the first year, which can be expensive.