Re: KickStarter for Debian packages - crowdfunding/donations for development
On 06/16/2013 04:47 AM, Philip Hands wrote:
> Manu Sporny <msporny@digitalbazaar.com> writes: ...
>> With respect to Debian-packaged software, if we address both
>> issues, the benefit is that more resources can be directed toward
>> Free Software development.
>
> It is bound to direct money to highly visible projects, regardless of
> the effort required to package them, while people working on vital
> but largely invisible infrastructure will get nothing much -- how
> good is that going to be for the project?
Did you see the proposal to just send all donations to the Debian
project (or appropriate organization)? What do you think of that approach?
> I presume we'd be open about what people were being paid? How about
> if we end up publishing that we've given someone what amounts to a
> fortune in their locale?
Donations would be between the benefactor and the entities receiving the
donation. It would be up to the people receiving the donation to be
transparent about it. This is the current state of affairs, btw. DDs
don't tell other people how much they're being paid to work on Debian.
> I'm not against people being paid for Free Software work -- that's
> what pays my mortgage after all, and much of my income for the last
> 20 years has been at least peripherally related to Debian. I just
> don't like the idea of Debian being the conduit for the money.
How is Debian being the conduit for the money in the proposal on the table?
> If a developer and their customer negotiate a deal, nobody but the
> developer need worry if they think it's a fair deal, and nobody but
> the developer's reputation is at risk. Otherwise we'll start to see
> complaints like: "I gave Debian $1000 and they don't even
> acknowledge my bug reports"
Why isn't this an issue w/ Debian donations today?
> If it were needed or useful, Debian would not exist.
>
> If it was a really good idea then we'd all be using something like
> Mandrake instead.
I don't follow your logic here, could you elaborate, please?
>> What do you think about the counter-argument to that statement
>> posed by Martin Owens?
>>
>> http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2013/06/msg00031.html
>
> The idea that it's currently impossible to fund Free Software is
> nonsense.
Could you please point to where the argument presented makes that claim?
> Where payments to work on Debian make sense, removing friction is a
> good thing for all involved, but that should all be done (far)
> outside Debian.
What do you mean by this? Do you mean "If there was a program that made
it easier to donate money to software projects, I think that's fine and
I'd support such a program"?
-- manu
--
Manu Sporny (skype: msporny, twitter: manusporny, G+: +Manu Sporny)
Founder/CEO - Digital Bazaar, Inc.
blog: Meritora - Web payments commercial launch
http://blog.meritora.com/launch/
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