Re: Using money to fund real Debian work
Raphael Hertzog writes ("Re: Using money to fund real Debian work"):
> But if the structure is open to everyone, then everybody has a
> chance to request funding.
This is precisely what is wrong with funding the RMs, and what makes
it different from funding some particular package development or
feature or what have you. The structure is _not_ open to everyone.
The RMs personally are in a privileged position for requesting
funding: their role within Debian is critical for the whole project;
it is not easy for someone else to come and learn how to do it; it is
not easy for someone else to get permission to do the work instead;
and of course their decisions are politically important for many
people (so it's right and proper that we are cautious about who we
give the RM power).
If I decide I can do the RM job better than the RMs, and my pet
benefactor agrees with me, I still can't get paid to do it unless I
can get the existing RMs and/or the DPL to agree. And of course there
is a (financial, now!) incentive for the existing RMs not to agree. [1]
This is quite different from the case with a programming task: if I
decide I can do some D-I work that needs doing better than the D-I
maintainers, I can just do it, and if my pet benefactor agrees with
me, I can get paid to do it and the result _will_ end up in Debian, if
it's actually any good.
Ian.
[1] I want to make clear once again that I do not think the RMs have
anything but the purest of motives. But if we set up a system where
those who are impure of motive are rewarded with money as well as
power, we're asking for trouble.
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