Re: Debian's relationship with money and the economy
Hello,
Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org> writes:
> The Debian ecosystem includes many economical actors, be it companies
> or individuals, but we tend to hide those aspects as if they didn't
> exist.
Well, we have the debian-companies[1] list, we also have a partners
page[2], and the debian-sponsors-discuss[3] list too (although this
latter one may not be in the same category as the other two).
[1]: http://lists.debian.org/debian-companies/
[2]: http://www.debian.org/partners/
[3]: http://lists.alioth.debian.org/mailman/listinfo/debian-sponsors-discuss
So, no, I don't think we hide this information. Rather, in recent years,
I've seen efforts towards the exact opposite.
> Despite Debian's non-profit status, IMHO Debian's growth and success
> relies on the capacity of those "actors" to have some "economical
> success". And there are many ways to help those actors, without involving
> any direct flow of money from Debian to them, in particular at the
> press/publicity level.
Perhaps. I'm not entirely convinced that most actors would need
press/publicity from Debian. As far as press and publicity goes, I'd
defer to our very own press team to do as they feel appropriate.
Personally, I would not set up a general rule, but decide on a case by
case basis, and leave it up to the companies (or any other for-profit
organisation, project, whatever) to approach us would they believe that
press/publicity from Debian would help them. They'll see this better,
and I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out to benefit both
parties.
> When a project ultimately benefits to the Debian project, we should
> not fear to promote it even if that promotion helps the project
> initiator to make money (and IMO even more so when the project initiator
> is a Debian member).
I agree with this. How we'd promote said project is another matter
though. I would not issue a press release in the general case,
but... see above! Our press team is doing a great job, this is a task
they excel at, and I do not want to intrude into their territory.
> If yes, how can we shift our culture and our policies towards this goal?
As I explained above, I would not want to set up a general rule, nor
even a guideline. Not at this point yet, anyway. Rather, have these
actors seek us out, and we'll come to a conclusion on a case by case
basis. There's no hat that fits all, as the saying goes, especially when
it comes to this topic.
--
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