On Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 10:10:14PM -0400, Jimmy Kaplowitz wrote: > On Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 03:18:03AM +0200, Steve Langasek wrote: > > When is the travel sponsorship process going to be fixed to stop asking > > about total travel costs vs. sponsored travel costs, and instead focus on > > what's important: the amount of sponsorship moneys the individual requires > > in order to be able to attend DebConf? > We already ask about both numbers, as you imply. I was not implying asking about *both* numbers. My point is precisely that there is only *one* number that is relevant in the principal case: the amount of money that DebConf would have to give to enable that person to attend the conference. All this talk of need vs. ability entirely misses the point, which is to help as many people as possible make it to DebConf so that the conference is the best it can be. Now, if everyone we think we want to get to the conference has been allocated the money they *need* in order to come, and there are funds left over, then it would be reasonable to allocate additional funds and take into consideration such questions as total travel expenses in determining the allocation. But it's my understanding that this is not a problem that DebConf has had to contend with in recent memory, since sponsorship funds only go so far. > I do think it's reasonable and helpful to know the total cost and at least > some assertion about the applicant's financial situation (we're not asking > for tax documents here). This allows herb team members to infer whether > the applicant is doing their part to pay what they can. I think this is an entirely inappropriate inference to make, and that this gets to the core of what *I* think is wrong with how sponsorship is being done. (And I have raised this concern in the past as well, back when I was on the travel sponsorship committee.) It's perfectly in keeping with the purpose of the sponsorship committee to weigh questions of whether to sponsor someone who needs as much sponsorship money as three other people combined. But judging someone for whether they're "doing their part" to get to DebConf is appalling. We're talking about contributors whose committment to Debian is unquestionable, and who are proposing to attend DebConf on their own time. Any one of these folks should be considered *eligible* for sponsorship, and it's only a shame that we can't actually bring every Debian contributor to DebConf who would like to attend. The process should be simple. - The attendee states how much sponsorship assistance they need in order to attend DebConf. - The committee decides whether that's a reasonable amount to pay to ensure their presence at the conference. Yes or no. None of this second guessing of the attendee's financial needs. - If everyone that the committee thinks is worth sponsoring to attend has their sponsorship needs met and there's still money left over, do whatever makes most sense with the remainder of the money - spread it evenly between the sponsored attendees who have additional unsponsored travel costs, allocate it to cover all the costs of the highest ranked attendees, save it for the next year's budget so that sponsorship can be done sooner and people can secure cheaper plane tickets. Doesn't matter, it should be orthogonal to the process of ranking sponsorees. That's it. There's no reason, with a proper decision making process, for the sponsorship committee to even *know* the total travel costs of the attendees - and the fact that this is part of the information being fed into the system contributes to making poorer decisions. -- Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world. Ubuntu Developer http://www.debian.org/ slangasek@ubuntu.com vorlon@debian.org
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