Re: Please draft a policy for planet.debian.org
On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 14:27, Lars Wirzenius <liw@liw.fi> wrote:
> On to, 2010-11-11 at 14:01 +0200, Tshepang Lekhonkhobe wrote:
>> -1 for flattr; it's a great way to contribute a few cents; and these
>> people are great contributors to Debian anyways, so why don't they get
>> rewarded?
>> while on that topic, maybe each package on package.qa.d.o should have
>> a flattr button ;-)
>
> I see the smiley, but I object anyway: please let's not start promoting
> non-free services on debian.org.
>
> There's a bigger problem lurking in the background, though. We could
> replace Flattr with a (hypothetical) free service, but we would still
> have money involved. Money is a powerful motivator. It is not the only
> thing that motivates people, but it is powerful enough that it can
> easily warp decision making.
>
> If micropayments take off, and the amounts of money grow to become
> significant, then it's likely that people will work to increase the
> amount of money they get. If they have to choose between the technically
> correct option and the money-making one, there is a conflict. Right now
> that conflict is missing, and the quality of Debian is high because of
> it.
>
> Also, micropayments like Flattr are most likely to go to popular,
> high-visibility things. Debian mostly consists of the long tail: most
> packages have fairly few users, but Debian as a whole is stronger for
> having such a wide variety of packages. If people have to choose between
> money and working on an unpopular package, there is again a conflict.
>
> There's more source conflict: if there's a micropayment button on
> packages.debian.org, how will the money be divided between members of a
> packaging team? People who do NMUs? Should people who report
> particularly useful bugs be rewarded, too? What about people who
> maintain the Debian infrastructure?
You are exposing issues I didn't even think about, thanks.
> There may be a way to collect money via Debian and not have conflicts.
> But on the whole I would prefer for us to not experiment and avoid this
> entirely.
If there's a way, why not? Waste of time? Too busy fixing RC bugs?
This issue will keep coming back because it's left unresolved. There's
people who want to be financially rewarded for their work on Debian,
and there people who don't care. Both do matter. Don't let those who
don't care disadvantage those who do.
--
blog: http://tshepang.tumblr.com
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