That is interesting experiment, but most of the people are money hungry and it may be difficult for non-profit community driven project to attract attention even if it is deserved.
Well I think "non-profit" is a little misleading. Crypto as a whole is about incentivizing people to contribute by paying them. Elastic is not different in that regard.
Where you are right is that there may be more people involved in Elastics development, if the bounty system would be clearer. E-K mentioned this before I think, and coralreefer as well. I agree with them; they are putting a lot of work into this project and no matter how much fun it is for them (I hope at least a little), their work should be honored in more than just words.
There should be some "hard goal" to work towards, i.e. If you find a working solution for problem X, you "win" Y BTC. The problem is, though, to identify these problems (I think in some regard, Elastic is still in such an early stage, that a lot of potential problems aren't even apparent, yet) and to qualify(is that the right word?) these problems, meaning, how much is the solution of problem X worth. There will be problems which need to be solved to make elastic viable at all, while others are more of a "performance enhancement" type.
The biggest problem, though, would be that someone would have to actually come up with a bounty system. E-K and coralreefer are working on the code and I think they shouldn't put too much time and energy in management. On the other hand, I for example am not technically apt enough to actually identify problems and gauge their "worth". Plus, people who work on Elastic and are potential bounty winners putting out the bounties themselves looks kinda sketchy, doesn't it.
I think as Lannister being the one holding the funds, this would be his job, or at least his job to find someone to do it, if he doesn't feel like he has the time and energy to do so.
@Lannister, please don't misunderstand me, this is not meant to be criticism, but as the one holding the funds there is no denying that you hold a unique position, that may come with certain responsibilities