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On Mon, 2004-02-02 at 08:45, Caleb Tennis wrote: |
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> Hi Kurt, |
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> |
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> This is an awesome GLEP idea, and I'm glad it finally got put into written |
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> words. The one suggestion I have, which I am sure is up for a large amount |
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> of criticism, is that I think Gentoo should charge a fee for the use of this |
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> tree. This is, in my opinion, a premium service, and a I believe it should |
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> come with a premium price, even if it's as low as 5 dollars per quarter. |
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> |
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> But maybe I'm totally off base here. |
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|
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I won't support any fee being charged for access to a stable Gentoo |
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tree. |
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|
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The work by Gentoo developers -- my work and the work of many others -- |
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should be available at no cost to the public. That is the general |
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expectation of everyone who contributes to this project, and should be |
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respected. Let's not fall into the trap of charging for something just |
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because we can. We are not in need of the money. |
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|
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I know that you have only the best intentions in wanting to charge $5 |
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per quarter for access to a stable tree, and it certainly wouldn't |
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prevent any company from using a stable tree. But the reason why this |
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fee is a bad idea is that many who contribute to this project do so with |
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the desire of making their work available to the public at absolutely no |
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cost. |
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|
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Requiring a fee for access to software developed by this project, no |
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matter how small, and regardless of how pure our intentions and how |
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noble a purpose for which any such fee might be charged, causes people |
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to question whether the goal of the project is really charitable in |
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nature. I learned this the hard way when we tried to start Gentoo Games |
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and use the revenue to "support" the project. All those involved had the |
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best possible intentions, but the effort wasn't in the best interests of |
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Gentoo as a _free software project_. What helps Gentoo financially |
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doesn't necessarily help the project. |
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|
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Financially, we're already very well-supported by our community. Yes, if |
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we launched some money-making effort, we could have generated a lot of |
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revenue very quickly, transitioned to a not-for-profit corporation and |
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applied for 501(c)(3) status by now. But we would have had to compromise |
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our principles to do this, and transitioning to a not-for-profit is |
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about protecting our principles, not making compromises. In this, the |
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way we go about reaching the goal of "not-for-profit" just is as |
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important as the goal itself. |
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I don't mean to sound preachy, but any amount charged for access to our |
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software is too much. |
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Regards, |
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|
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Daniel |
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|
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|
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-- |
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