Re: [gentoo-nfp] Gentoo NPO Business Model thoughts

[William L. Thomson Jr.]

On Mon, 2007-12-17 at 14:30 -0800, Chris Gianelloni wrote:
> On Sun, 2007-12-16 at 11:29 -0500, William L. Thomson Jr. wrote:
> > wrt to generation of revenue
>
> Here's why it will never fly with me.  Gentoo is not about revenue.
> Changing it to be so would kill the spirit of freedom.

That would NOT be the idea. Just providing it a way to generate revenue.
Surely not being all about the revenue.

>  No matter what
> you might think, if we *have* to come up with a certain amount of money
> to make payroll, it'll mean changing what we do specifically to ensure
> revenue.

Entities can scale up or down based on revenue. There is nothing saying
one has to sustain any level of business. When one has no one to answer
to but oneself and their purpose. Only thing that would dictate anything
for Gentoo would be the people within Gentoo running it based on what
they felt was best or etc. I think it would be able to sustain it self
quite easily once going. Initially would be a herculean task to
overcome.

>   Anything that requires us to secure a specific amount of
> revenue on a recurring scale will likely cause things to move in the
> wrong direction.  Were Gentoo to move in this direction, I would quit
> immediately.

Well it seems there are many problems that won't be solved when things
are handed over to the SFC. Most say the current direction is either non
or not a good one. Most borderline quitting as is :) Not sure what to
say, but without some organization things will only continue on a
chaotic or stagnant path. Not sure what can be dictated to an entire
volunteer community. Pretty much ensures each will have their own
priorities, which in most cases won't be Gentoo.

> You've also completely glossed over the simple fact that we are
> incapable of administrating ourselves.

Not at all. I am doing what I can and things on the Java front are WAY
different than were they were 1 year ago or two years ago. But I can't
see that really working on a large scale due to hierarchy and again an
all volunteer staff. Much less with equal ranking, which it's up to each
to respect the skills, time on the job, and etc of each other. Doesn't
really lead things down a path that could be easily administrated. Much
less the time it would consume to administrate things. How would one
have any time for anything else. Like making a living.

>   The Gentoo Foundation and its
> trustees are a failed experiment.  In four years, we've gotten nothing
> more accomplished than was *handed* to us by Daniel Robbins.  I'd call
> that a pretty significant failure.

Granted the foundation structure and etc as is has likely failed. I
think there are many successful foundations out there. One of my long
time favorite has been the Firebird Foundation. But we have another to
look at, the Gnome Foundation. Who left the SPI, which still manages
Debian.

While I get that the SFC will correct and handle the legal aspects. I
think the role the foundation was to fill I think extended a bit beyond
that. Maybe not. Either way, doesn't necessarily mean the council will
be any more effective. Or respected when major controversial decisions
are made. Just that legal administration and etc is handled.

> Trying to do anything with the Foundation *other* than letting someone
> else to the administrative work is pretty much not even something we
> (the current trustees) would consider at this stage.

Ok, but then again we were supposed to be electing in new trustees. So
given that the existing seem burned out. Some not as ideally present or
available. Might be a decision best left to a fresh board of trustees.
Much less the time frame to handing things over to the SFC? Sounds like
that decision has been finalized.

>   We simply do not
> have the qualified man power, fiscal holdings, or revenue to do anything
> other than join the SFC.

Ok, but have many other options been explored or considered? I take it
there were compelling reasons for the SFC vs SPI. I need to read this
lists archives for that and other background info. Please excuse my
ignorance there. Only have so much time myself. When everyone I run into
is negative about things like this. Doesn't really motivate me to spend
even more time on it all :)

>   Remember that we make about $8000 a year and
> that has to cover servers and hardware, any and all PR, plus anything
> else that we require, such as legal filings.

Yes, and I am proposing ways to change that and generate additional
revenue. Because once things are handed over to the SFC. We can pretty
much guaranty the financial situation won't change. After all Gentoo
will just be a charity, contributions will likely be more out of pity or
for the heck of it :) Verses business supporting it because the need it,
like what they see, and want more of it or etc.

Just ideas, if they aren't wanted, as stated many times. I have my own
business and the time can surely be used there :)

-- 
William L. Thomson Jr.
Gentoo/Java