Re: Q to all candidates: increase diversity with DDs outside Europe and USA
* Paulo Henrique de Lima Santana <phls@debian.org> [2019-04-01 14:51]:
> I agree we can have MiniDebConfs but the problem is the local DDs
> are usually involved on the organization too. So it's important
> Debian developers from Europe (and other countries) been encouraged
> to join these MiniDebConfs.
I definitely think it makes sense for people to attend mini DebConfs
in other regions and as DPL I would support travel support if there's
a good justification (e.g. you give a talk, hold a sprint at the mini
DebConf).
> I can add we should have sprints outside Europe too.
The problem here is that you try to minimize travel time and cost for
the whole group. So if most attendees are from Europe, it makes sense
to hold the sprint in Europe.
But the more people we get actively involved in other regions, the
less of a reason to hold the majority of sprints in Europe.
(I know there's a bit of a chicken and egg problem here, but you
typically get involved online first, so the problem isn't that big.)
> In 2016 the Ruby Team come to Curitiba for their sprint (because
> Terceiro was organizing it). And we have our first MiniDebConf on the
> same week.
> And in 2018 we had Stefano and Holger joining MiniDebConf here, and it
> was great.
Yeah, that's good!
> I can add the high prices for tickets airplane to travel from Brazil to
> Europe
...
> It's hard to us to ask help from Debian If I would like join a
> And it's not only the tickets airplane. Costs with food and accomodation
> are very expensive for us.
Obviously, the benefits must outweigh the costs (and not just in terms
of money; also considering time, etc). So a trip that's, say, 2000
Euro needs more justification than a trip that's 100 Euro.
But if there's a *good* reason to attend, I don't think Debian has a
problem paying for airfare, accommodation and food.
I didn't have the impression lamby had a problem with this and I
wouldn't have one. Maybe the problem (as you hint) is that some
people are afraid to ask for support from Debian. I think recent DPLs
(including lamby) have done a good job in asking people who go to
events to post trip reports. This creates more awareness of how to
use trips effectively (and that it's ok to ask Debian for support if
there's a good reason).
A few points that are not directly related to your question but which
are part of the bigger picture: I think Debian needs to get better at
financial reporting and budgeting. Even though the reimbursement
process is documented, everything seems quit ad hoc to me. There's
not much strategic thinking in how to use our resources. Basically,
the DPL approves expenses if someone asks, but it's very reactionary
instead of proactively asking: which events should we attend, where
are gaps, etc (and this is not just about events). If we had a better
idea of what we want to do with our money (and better reporting of
what we did the previous year), we could do more fundraising to
support these activities.
For example, approaching a company to ask for funding because we want
to send more developers from other regions to events or because we
want to purchase more servers to do X is much easier than because we
want to increase our bank balance from X to Y.
--
Martin Michlmayr
https://www.cyrius.com/
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