Re: Debian goes big business? [was: Re: Suggestion for RedHat (was: RH vs Debian)]
On Wed, 20 Jan 1999, Mark Phillips wrote:
> I was actually suggesting this for RedHat rather than Debian. I
> believe such a model would fit RedHat much better than Debian. The
> Debian model gives the votes and power to the developers and the role
> of developer is a voluntary position. This is right and proper ---
> the developers give their time and efforts for free, and because of
> this, expect to have complete control over what they do. If Debian
> moved to a democratic non-profit corporation model, the nature of
> Debian would change dramatically. The power would move from the
> developers to the users, and there would become two classes of
> developers: the paid and the unpaid. This environment would not be
> nearly so attractive to volunteer developers and would probably result
> in a deteriorating distribution. Certainly I don't believe existing
> developers would be keen to change models.
>
> RedHat on the other hand, already is much nearer to this model. They
> already have the separation between paid and unpaid package
> developers. And because the main developers are paid --- via income
> generated from users --- it is reasonable that users expect some say
> over how the organization is run. Of course this isn't how it works
> currently. Because RedHat is a for-profit company, it is answerable
> only to its shareholders. My suggestion to RedHat was that they move
> to a different not-for-profit model, with the power base shifted to
> users who pay a membership fee. It would be a big sacrifice on the
> part of the current owners of RedHat, but I believe it would be a
> wonderful gift to the linux community.
>
> Mark.
>
>
You're proposing this for Red Hat. That's fine, I'm proposing a similar
model for Debian. Maybe the membership idea is a good idea, maybe it
isn't. I can see some advantages, but I can also see some drawbacks. The
key is to get these ideas out on the table. We'll never know until we try.
As for what you said about two classes of developers, that doesn't make
any sense. If developers are willing to work for free now, why wouldn't
they be able to work for free if some of the core group are getting paid?
I certainly wouldn't have a problem with it.
/----------------------------------------------------------\
| pretzelgod | epgilles@olemiss.edu |
| (Eric Gillespie, Jr.) | epg@pretzelnet.cx |
|---------------------------<*>----------------------------|
| "That's the problem with going from a soldier to a |
| politician: you actually have to sit down and listen to |
| people who six months ago you would've just shot." |
| --President John Sheridan, Babylon 5 |
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