Gentoo Archives: gentoo-nfp

From: Stuart Herbert <stuart@g.o>
To: solar@g.o
Cc: gentoo-nfp@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-nfp] Re: [gentoo-core] Nominations?
Date: Tue, 01 Aug 2006 20:30:24
Message-Id: 44CFB9D5.3090903@gentoo.org
In Reply to: Re: [gentoo-nfp] Re: [gentoo-core] Nominations? by Ned Ludd
1 Ned Ludd wrote:
2 > This is a pretty long book you wrote. So I'll just say what I think
3 > here.
4 >
5 > No offense but this seems like a crack heads pipe dream and would
6 > probably not be a wise use of funds. Dump 300k in hardware, developer
7 > training, books, etc and we will get a lot more accomplished that make
8 > Gentoo itself better. Raise 300k and get us all together and you will
9 > see 250 people with hangovers and a small handful projects that come
10 > out of it in the end. SoC will probably of proved to be more successful
11 > (end results) for a lot cheaper.
12
13 You call it a crack heads pipe dream. But I say this: why are we the only
14 major distribution (or, heck, one of the few major open source projects)
15 that does nothing to get its contributors together offline? How can you
16 have a real community whose main interaction is bitching at each other via a
17 puny mailing list? That's not *my* idea of a community.
18
19 That's what it comes down to. I'm standing as a trustee, because this is
20 something I want to change.
21
22 Best regards,
23 Stu
24 --
25
26 PS: Here's the long argument if anyone's interested.
27
28 Does that mean that things like DebConf, GUADEC, aKademy, and so on, are
29 also a crack head's pipe dream? These things happen, and when you add up
30 how much money is spent on events like these - where hundreds of folks
31 travel from around the world to be in the same place at the same time -
32 you'll be looking at probably the same amount of money as a Gentoo
33 conference will cost.
34
35 300K in hardware's not going to make Gentoo better. I'm sure there are
36 folks out there who could use better hardware than what they have; we all
37 want better hardware ;-) But, ultimately, it's the time each individual
38 developer can dedicate to working on Gentoo that makes the difference.
39 Extra / faster hardware can help by speeding up tasks, but it only helps so far.
40
41 You can't dump 300K of hardware on infra either. Sure, infra needs more
42 money than it currently has - that's indisputable - but lots of extra
43 centrally-hosted hardware will just mean more boxes that waiting for the
44 very understaffed infra team to turn their attention to them. It already
45 takes weeks for infra to get things done, and that's not always for lack of
46 hardware. (This isn't an attack on infra; it's simply an observed fact).
47
48 300K will buy you a lot of books, but do you need it? Has anyone tried
49 talking to the big publishers, to see if we can arrange discounts on buying
50 books (and maybe getting copies for free)?
51
52 Developer training ... who's going to train Gentoo developers? The only
53 folks who are supposed to be more expert than us are $UPSTREAM, most of who
54 we couldn't buy training from if we wanted to. Sure, we could pay for
55 general C, C++, Python, PHP, Ruby et al training, but do we really need to?
56 If there's such a skills shortage atm amongst Gentoo developers, how did
57 they get to be Gentoo developers? ;-) Where will you buy PHP training from
58 for me? There isn't anywhere that you can. Is it fair that I won't get any
59 money from you, but others will?
60
61 How are you going to decide who to spend the money on? Will you agree to
62 buy every member of the web-apps team shiny OS X boxes, and pay for Windows
63 licenses for us all? After all, our work enables folks to put something
64 useful on Gentoo-based web servers. From a QA point of view, we really
65 should be testing all web-based packages against the top three browsers (IE,
66 Firefox on Windows, and Safari).
67
68 I believe that the difference between our point of view is that I think you
69 are measuring "end results" in terms of lines of code. X packages, Y
70 ebuilds, Z turn-around time. That sort of thing. I'm looking at the
71 intangibles, such as the effect that a fragmented and polarised group is
72 having on moving the distro forward, and on general morale. I look at other
73 opensource projects that I'm involved with, and I see that face to face
74 contact breaks down communication barriers. It's not a silver bullet, but
75 social interaction is an important part of a community, and it's something
76 that Gentoo sorely lacks. Having folks get to know each other offline will
77 help break down those barriers. I know it has here in the UK, amongst those
78 who have attended one of the annual UK meets.
79
80 300K sounds like a lot of money (especially if you have to raise it), but in
81 reality it's not. It's the annual turnover of a small business. It's the
82 annual cost of a small server cluster with a third-party hosting service.
83 At current exchange rates, 300K US is only 169K sterling. That won't even
84 buy you a house in many UK cities.
85
86 300K is a figure you've plucked out of the air. No-one actually knows how
87 much this sort of event will cost - and my proposal
88
89 Another point to consider. How are you going to raise any substantial sum
90 of money if you don't have clear targets to focus potential doners on? We
91 already say "Hi, we're Gentoo, donate to us" today, and the last available
92 financial report speaks volumes for how well that's working out [1].
93
94 I can't speak for US TV, but with UK TV, it's worth taking a bit of time to
95 watch the way that charities advertise. Back in the 70's and early 80's,
96 before the first Ethiopian famine appeals, they used to advertise in general
97 terms. "Hi, we're foo, and we help blah. Please give us some cash."
98 Today, the advertising is very focused, very personalised. "Hi, this is
99 so-and-so village. X pounds a month will give them, and countless villages
100 like them, clean water for the very first time." Or try applying for money
101 from any sort of funding body.
102
103 [1] http://www.gentoo.org/foundation/en/2005q4.xml
104
105 Best regards,
106 Stu
107
108 >
109 > On Thu, 2006-07-27 at 20:50 +0100, Stuart Herbert wrote:
110 >> Ned Ludd wrote:
111 >>> What are some of the things you would do to try and
112 >>> accomplish this goal?
113 >> In order to raise money, we need a budget - a target to focus folks on. The
114 >> budget depends on where we hold the event, when, and what we do at the
115 >> event. We need to tackle that, and build a ballpark figure. It also
116 >> depends on how many are attending, and whether or not everyone needs
117 >> financial assistance to attend. There's a lot to do there - including
118 >> convincing Gentoo devs to attend (not taking that for granted!) - we'll need
119 >> to build a team to handle the work between us, make sure it's transparent,
120 >> and that we're planning an event that Gentoo devs will want to be part of.
121 >> There are going to be folks in the wider Gentoo community who can help make
122 >> this happen - we'll be looking to engage them, and get them involved too.
123 >> We're going to need folks on the ground in different countries, because part
124 >> of the fundraising will probably require meeting donors face to face.
125 >>
126 >> Another important point, before we can set a budget, is scope. Should this
127 >> be a dev-only event, or should it also include something for Gentoo users
128 >> too? That would change the whole dynamic; the size & content would change,
129 >> the overall budget would change, and we could use attendee charges to help
130 >> assist Gentoo devs attending.
131 >>
132 >> When it comes to assisting devs ... what are the rules to qualify for
133 >> assistance? Are they means-tested? Do they depend on what you do for
134 >> Gentoo, or how long you have been a dev? Should we run an 'adopt a dev'
135 >> sponsorship campaign, where we ask users to donate to assist a named dev?
136 >> Is there another assistance scheme we could use instead?
137 >>
138 >> I am making a fundamental assumption here that we should be assisting devs,
139 >> so that they can attend. That needs looking at. Maybe we don't actually
140 >> need to do so. Maybe we shouldn't be doing so. I think we should, but
141 >> there hasn't been any sort of debate about this.
142 >>
143 >> Once we have our estimated budget, we need to raise the money. Here, there
144 >> are issues to sort out. I'm unclear about the financial (and, tbh, legal)
145 >> situation of the Foundation, and I doubt I'm the only one. Even before we
146 >> start figuring out how to raise the money, we need to ensure that the
147 >> Foundation has the capability of handling the money, and the financial
148 >> controls in place to ensure that the money does not get mis-appropriated.
149 >>
150 >> Actually raising the money ... we need to identify different sources of
151 >> money, and pursue the right strategy for each source. Some sources include:
152 >>
153 >> - our users,
154 >> - companies that make money from Gentoo,
155 >> - companies that use Gentoo,
156 >> - the wider Linux community, who like our docs and our forums and
157 >> our willingness to help folks from other distros
158 >> - the media, and other folks who have things they could sell to
159 >> folks @ the conference
160 >> - foundations and trusts that exist to donate money to appropriate
161 >> causes
162 >> - local and national governments and their agencies
163 >> - folks who don't use Linux at all
164 >>
165 >> I'm sure that there are more that we can find.
166 >>
167 >> We could just do what the local hospital does ... we put a big
168 >> target-o-meter in a prominent place, and appeal to people's conscience to
169 >> help it move up from zero to what we need. Has the advantage of being a
170 >> clear and easy-to-digest concept to sell.
171 >>
172 >> Companies are traditionally tackled through the "sponsorship" approach. We
173 >> could just hope that companies sponsor our conference out of the goodness of
174 >> their hearts - it's worked for the UK conferences to date :) - but a more
175 >> successful approach would be to create a valuable package for a sponsor to
176 >> buy into. When I say "package", I'm not talking software. I'm essentially
177 >> talking marketing - taking their currency in exchange for giving them value
178 >> in return. It'll take us numerous iterations to get this one right, but
179 >> longer-term it'll be a more successful approach than simply handing round
180 >> the begging bowl.
181 >>
182 >> The Foundation's legal status could have a bearing on the fundraising.
183 >> We'll need advice on exactly where we can accept money from, and in what
184 >> amounts. I know Freenode are affected by this; at this moment in time, I
185 >> don't know whether we are also affected by this or not. It's worth asking
186 >> the question of whether we should organise this directly through the
187 >> Foundation, or whether a separate legal entity would be more appropriate.
188 >>
189 >> Speaking of which ... simply getting folks worldwide to donate to the
190 >> US-based Foundation misses out on some sources of funding. The UK (for one)
191 >> runs a scheme called Gift Aid, where tax can be reclaimed on money donated
192 >> to UK charities. Although it would create an administration overhead,
193 >> establishing a world-wide network of local Gentoo Foundations would
194 >> longer-term increase our ability to raise money. Such a network would also
195 >> allow us to cast a wider net, and apply for funding from sources within each
196 >> country, and would also make it easier for local businesses to donate to
197 >> their national Gentoo charity / not for profit.
198 >>
199 >> Let me sell that idea another way. Imagine going to www.gentoo.org/donate/,
200 >> and being presented with a form for you to donate money. The first page,
201 >> there would be a dropdown box, allowing you to indicate which country you
202 >> reside in. When you select your country, we would take you to a second
203 >> page, which would be a localised donation form for your country, which would
204 >> take advantage of whatever tax breaks your country offered. We make sure
205 >> that the money goes into your country's Gentoo bank account, where the local
206 >> trustees become responsible for it.
207 >>
208 >> Establishing this local charity network is a massive undertaking, and it's
209 >> unlikely to be in place in time for the 2007 conference. But it's worth
210 >> doing in the longer term, not only because we can raise more money than by
211 >> having a distant Foundation in the U.S., but also because a local charity
212 >> can also do local educational things with Gentoo - and that will keep
213 >> bringing in new blood to our ranks. It's not just about the money - it's
214 >> about building a global organisation to take Gentoo from the Internet and
215 >> into local communities. And without having to try and establish a
216 >> commercial arm, to compete with the other distros. We remain a community
217 >> distro, and we get to widen our community far beyond the propeller head ranks.
218 >>
219 >> To increase the chance of success, we need Gentoo's PR machine fixing (work
220 >> has started on that today, interested volunteers should knock on frilling's
221 >> door), and that will probably have a knock-on effect on www.g.o's homepage.
222 >> We need to make Gentoo more accessible to the folks in the media, and we
223 >> need to improve the understanding that we are truly a community distro, and
224 >> all that being a community distro means. We need a PR machine that can
225 >> create the right associations in people's minds, so that they feel more
226 >> inclined to part with their money. We need a PR machine to "sell" Gentoo as
227 >> a concept, and as a movement.
228 >>
229 >> One thing I haven't done yet is get in touch with the organisers of other
230 >> events. There are plenty of people who have been successfully running
231 >> international conferences for years; their experience and advice will help
232 >> us a lot too.
233 >>
234 >> Why do I think I'm the right person to make this happen? (You haven't
235 >> asked, but it seems appropriate to include here). First, I'm proposing to
236 >> act when no-one else is. My apologies if I've missed it, but I'm not aware
237 >> of any existing trustee, or any candidate for this year's election, who is
238 >> proposing that we do this. From other open-source projects that I'm
239 >> involved with, I've seen first-hand that there is no substitute for folks
240 >> having met and spent time with each other to resolve communication problems.
241 >>
242 >> I've never run a legally-formed charity, but I have repeated experience of
243 >> setting up and running volunteer organisations, and departments and teams
244 >> within commercial organisations spanning back 14 years. I have run my own
245 >> business. My roots are in free software. I've been maintaining GPL'd
246 >> software since 1994; first of which was to create dialog-0.4 specifically
247 >> for Slackware 2.0.1. (No, this does not mean that I'll be accepting bugs
248 >> against dialog ;-) dialog is the tool that manages the text-based UI for
249 >> nearly all Linux text-based installers; lxdialog included in the kernel is
250 >> derived from it.
251 >>
252 >> I setup the successful Gentoo UK conference, which has now been running for
253 >> three years. I'd like to now take things to the next level, and create a
254 >> world-wide conference for all our devs.
255 >>
256 >> I really believe that we can create an international conference - *if* we
257 >> want it enough - and make it a recurring event.
258 >>
259 >> Best regards,
260 >> Stu
261
262
263 --
264 Stuart Herbert stuart@g.o
265 Gentoo Developer http://www.gentoo.org/
266 http://blog.stuartherbert.com/
267
268 GnuPG key id# F9AFC57C available from http://pgp.mit.edu
269 Key fingerprint = 31FB 50D4 1F88 E227 F319 C549 0C2F 80BA F9AF C57C
270 --

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Re: [gentoo-nfp] Re: [gentoo-core] Nominations? Ned Ludd <solar@g.o>