Re: Google ads on debian.org
On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 11:24:32 -0500, Stephen Frost <sfrost@snowman.net> said:
> * Manoj Srivastava (srivasta@debian.org) wrote:
>> I would. Money only from donations keeps us honest -- and keeps us
>> to the core of what we started out to be. Turning us into a
>> business, even a not-for-ptofit business, may taint the decisions
>> made, and the decisions may be made inthe interest of more revenue
>> rther than "our users", like the SC lays it out to be.
> SPI *is* a business, a not-for-profit one,
Well, then, SPI can chose to have web ads on its web pages,
and I would have nothing to say about it.
> and Debian is by *far* the controller of SPI.
It is? I would tend to agree that people who are interested in
debian also are invovled in SPI, but that is as far as I would
go. Even if your statement were correct (which I do not think it is),
these are two independent entities, and may come to different
conclusions.
> I don't think it's money only from donations that keeps us honest,
Well, not only, no.
> it's the *SC* that keeps us honest, and each other through the SC.
Pull enough money into the picture and that shall crumble --
and this has indeed been my experience. Not very many friendships
survive someone winning a lottery, for instance.
> I seriously doubt that the number of flamewars we have over if we're
> following the SC by doing x, y or z would somehow decrease because
> we're getting money from ads or whatever.
OK. I think the flame wars would increase, really.
> Really, if there was even a smell of someone going against the best
> interests of our users in order to increase revenue the noise from
> the rest of us would be deafening, just like it is from this
> *proposal* that we *might* consider other methods of funding.
Well, depends on how much each of us stands to benefit. In
scenarios I envision, it always starts small. Do work on paying jobs
or free ones? (I tend to put my day job first, for example).
> In addition, the money from donations can be abused just as easily
> as money from anywhere else. Developers could solicite donations
> from companies if they feel they've got a chance of then being able
> to pocket that money.
Lets try another tack. I find web ads, even googles, mildly
annoying. From what I hea (an informal sample, sure) so do most
people. We are trading something annoying to the majority of the
users of our web page, which benefits someone paying for the service,
to make life easier for the project (and, by extension, its members)
by raking in money.
Kinda goes against the spirit of the social contract, no?
manoj
--
I suppose that in a few hours I will sober up. That's such a sad
thought. I think I'll have a few more drinks to prepare myself.
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org> <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
1024D/BF24424C print 4966 F272 D093 B493 410B 924B 21BA DABB BF24 424C
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