Small donation offer for Debian Events Box (WAS Re: bits from the DPL for January 2012
On Sat, Feb 4, 2012 at 6:51 AM, Stefano Zacchiroli <leader@debian.org> wrote:
> Money
> =====
>
> - Thanks to the help of Luca Capello, we advanced quite a bit on forming
> the Debian Event Box kit [6] that should make it easier to set up
> Debian booth at FOSS events. We bought the machine for it (for about
> ~755 CHF) and the box to contain it will soon be on its way as well.
> If you're at FOSDEM, tend to the Debian booth to check it out (and
> possibly help out with the technical setup).
>
> [6] http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Events/DebianEventsBox
I just read this. I've also looked at the DebianEventsBox wiki page,
the announcement linked to from there by Luca Capello, and the last
several months of debian-publicity mail archives. I fully agree that
this would be a Good Thing to have for Debian.
I currently work at a hardware store (located in Florida, USA) where I
can get things like power strips (actually, surge suppressors would be
better), at least some types of cabling, padlocks, and other assorted
things at a significant discount from normal retail price (my price
would be the wholesale price the store pays plus 10% markup, plus
local sales tax).
As a token of my esteem for Debian (and, honestly, because I don't
think it is going to cost too much), I am proposing and willing to
purchase at my own expense, and ship at my own expense at least within
the USA (possibly within North America, e.g. Canada / Mexico, and
using a cheap shipping method like US Postal Service or UPS Ground),
at least some reasonable quantity of items of this sort to whomever is
coordinating the assembly of the Debian Events Box for North America.
I am also proposing and willing to do the same to whomever within the
USA / NA can get items of this sort to whomever is assembling the
Debian Events Box for Europe (the latter assuming shipping from the
USA / NA costs less than would just buying these items locally within
Europe, and also assuming the items would be useful in Europe --
remember, the USA power system, including plug shapes etc, differs
from that of Europe). By reasonable, I'm thinking at a first glance
maybe on the order of up to 50 dollars or so, more or less, depending.
This would be a donation to Debian, without any expectation of return.
(Note that if shipping turns out to be much more than I expect it to,
I might ask to ship it at Debian's expense, but that would be T.B.D.
and only with Debian's explicit prior agreement to this.) I would not
require and do not want any form of receipt for a charitable donation
-- I do not itemize my taxes and would not use it. I would not
require and do not want any sort of paperwork allowing me to purchase
these items for Debian without paying sales tax -- the local sales tax
rate for me is 6% and, frankly, it's not worth the hassle for the
amount I am willing to spend.
To get a notion of what sorts of items are available to me, you can
look at the web site http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com/ . I do not
work at this particular store, but as far as I can tell they pretty
much have the same full catalog for the wholesaler that I would be
ordering from available online, so it makes for a good example.
You can ignore the prices listed at this website -- I would be paying
wholesale, not retail prices. (If you care, I can find out what my
price would be for any item listed at that site.) However, you do
need to pay attention to the order multiples shown there -- if that
web site says you have to order 2, or 3, or 6, or 12 of a given item,
that is the least quantity the wholesaler will ship to a retail store,
and if it is an item my store does not normally stock, that is the
quantity I would have to purchase as well.
I can also get items not shown at that site that would typically (or
at least possibly) be available at a hardware store, from other
wholesalers.
All items would be new, off the shelf, retail items. Items might or
might not be shipped in their retail packaging, T.B.D.; it depends on
if shipping it in packaging would add significantly to shipping cost,
and on if the item seems likely to be damaged if removed from its
packaging for shipping. I would include the sales receipt for the
items in case Debian needs it for any reason.
I am sending this message to the DPL, with CC to debian-publicity
(that based on what I read at the DebianEventsBox wiki page); I have
subscribed myself to debian-publicity at least for the time being so I
should see any discussion there. If there is a better address / list
within Debian I should make this offer to, please tell me and I will
forward this message there (and subscribe myself for a time to the
list as applicable so I can see any discussion).
I think the next step, assuming Debian wishes to accept this offer, is
for you all to tell me what you would like, either in general (e.g.
categories of items) or in specific (e.g. specific models or part
numbers as shown on the web site I mention above). If you give me
categories, I can tell you what is available to me off the shelf
and/or via special order, and what seems most useful / reasonable in
my opinion. I would also prefer it if you ranked or ordered your
request in order of importance; that way, if you want more than I am
willing to spend out of my pocket, I can try to get the stuff that is
more important to you.
Hope this is of some use, interest. Thanks for your time. I look
forward to your response. Be well.
Joseph
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