>>>>> "martin" == martin f krafft <madduck@debian.org> writes:
martin> also sprach Lucas Nussbaum <lucas@debian.org> [2015-03-12 10:16 +0100]:
>> All candidates: how will you reconcile that with the fact that the DPL
>> currently only has a limited vision of what funds are available, and how
>> they evolved over time?
martin> All candidates: what do you think about outsourcing some of the
martin> gruntwork related to accounting and treasury to professional
martin> agencies? The goal here would be to free up our volunteers to
martin> develop Debian and actually force us into more discipline.
While I understand the concerns of doing so, but I would support
outsourcing accounting & treasury to a professional agency. Even if it
wouldn't help us having a better overview of our current and past
financial status, we'd have a much better idea of it in the future.
I wouldn't worry about locking ourselves into one such agency. Switching
agencies isn't that terrible: we have all the data and papers, which we
can transfer to the new agency, if so need be. On an arguably much
smaller case, I switched accountants a number of times, with no issues
at all. I had insights into businesses that did the same, without a
hiccup.
I do not think we need to find an agency that uses free software
only. We do not apply that principle to other companies we work with,
either. We buy hardware designed with non-free tools. We take part in
programs run by companies that use and write a lot of non-free
software. And I could continue the list.
What counts, is that we get the job done, and we can work together in
such a way that *we* only rely on free software. I do not think we'd be
any less Free, would we pay a professional agency to handle our
accounting and treasury.
It would cost us money, though. But seeing as our funds are growing, and
we're talking about how to spend that money, this would be a good
option. It would help us see clearer, and would take the burden off of
volunteers, who would rather do something more enjoyable instead.
Of course, if there are enough people within the Debian project, who
want to handle these issues, all the better. Yet, if over the years,
they didn't make themselves known, I don't think we should expect them
to magically appear.
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