Re: Q to all nominees: What plan do you have for Debian finances?
Hi Hector,
First of all, thank you to you and the other treasurers for carrying out
such high-responsibility work that our common project depends on. Your
efforts are highly appreciated, and I'm grateful that others take on
this role, as I personally would not volunteer for it.
Am Sun, Mar 16, 2025 at 08:14:29PM +0100 schrieb Hector Oron:
> Hello all,
>
> Congratulations for all the nominations and thanks for stepping up for this
> challenging role.
>
> I follow up with a couple questions for you:
>
> 1. Do you know how were Debian funds spent last year(s)? Do you know how
> much yearly income Debian has?
As Julian mentioned, I do have some advantage in answering this
question. However, rather than focusing on what I personally know, I
think it is more useful to consider how everyone could more easily
access and understand this information.
What I can say is that there are monthly reports from SPI, though they
are admittedly difficult to interpret. Thanks to the work of Hector and
the other treasurers, I have access to graphs illustrating the
development of our funds, though I believe these are not publicly
available.
So instead of simply answering whether I know Debian's yearly income,
I'd rather focus on whether we should improve the transparency and
readability of financial information-at least for Debian members, if not
for the general public. Ideally, the information should be presented in
a way that enables anyone interested to answer these questions without
needing special access or prior financial expertise.
Understanding Debian's financial situation is essential for the DPL, as
one of the DPL's responsibilities is making decisions on funding
requests. However, it is important to emphasize that the actual
financial management-including tracking income, expenses, and
reporting-is handled by the treasurers. Their work ensures that Debian's
finances are well managed and accounted for, and the DPL relies on their
expertise to make informed decisions.
For a long time, financial decision-making was relatively
straightforward. In his Bits from the DPL talk, Neil once mentioned at
DebConf15 that he approved every single funding request he received, and
Debian's financial reserves still grew during his term. Unfortunately,
these simpler times seem to be over, and the need for careful financial
planning has increased. I'd love to be in Neil's shoes, and I hope that
future DPLs will see those times return.
> 2. If elected DPL, how do you plan to use Debian funds? Which areas
> (social, events,
I'm not sure how meaningful it is to separate "social" and "events"
since any gathering of more than two people inherently has a social
component. While technical needs often drive in-person interactions, all
our meetings-whether among Debian contributors at (Mini)DebConfs, team
sprints, bug squashing events, or release parties-also have an important
social aspect.
Likewise, representing Debian at broader events such as FOSDEM and
FOSSASIA (as international examples) or local ones like Chemnitzer
LinuxTage (just to name a few current examples) is, in my view, highly
valuable. I would support all these activities as best as our funds
permit.
> hardware, etc)
When it comes to servers maintained by DSA, it seems obvious to me that
we should follow the recommended hardware refresh cycle to keep our
infrastructure at a modern and reliable level-ensuring that Debian
remains what it is. Fortunately, much of our hardware, as well as rack
space, is donated or made available at a reduced price. I sincerely hope
that our financial situation will always allow us to maintain this
without having to make cuts.
Sometimes we also support DDs in buying in some way "interesting"
hardware, be it open hardware like MNT Reform[1] or to some extend
consumer ready RISC-V hardware like Frame.work with RISC-V board.
For me it makes perfectly sense to make sure Debian runs on alternative
hardware which to some extend matches our values and I would support
if Debian developers will make sure that we can support our users
who are interested in it.
> would you prioritise spending?
I do not think it makes sense to imagine hypothetical conflicts between
different spending categories like "social" and "hardware." Decisions on
spending should be made on a case-by-case basis. What I can say is that
I will continue to apply Debian's high standards when making these
decisions.
Moreover, I can confirm that whenever I have faced important decisions,
I have always sought advice from Debian developers who I consider
knowledgeable in the relevant area. Looking back, this has always been a
good approach, and I intend to stick to this habit.
In short: For complex financial decisions, I will consult the treasurers
first and also speak with those directly affected by the decision.
> Do you have
> ideas for improve fundraising (if you think this is needed at all)?
I do not think improving fundraising is merely an option-it is a
necessity if we want to continue running the project as we have in the
past.
I am just back from FOSSASIA (hence my late response-your question came
in as I started my travels, and I am now slightly jet-lagged with
real-life work piling up). My motivation for attending was to see how
others are working and to find new supporters, whether for development
or financial backing of Debian.
Beyond this kind of outreach, I believe there are areas where we could
improve by involving professionals. Many tasks in Debian are handled by
people with a brilliant IT background, but who take on responsibilities
outside their core expertise. While many of our volunteers have
developed at least semi-professional skills in areas like conference
organization, press work, or financial management, it could be
beneficial to involve contributors with formal training in these fields.
At the same time, I know that some Debian users who are less technically
involved might wonder how they can help the project, assuming that their
lack of deep technical knowledge is a barrier. However, Debian has many
important non-technical tasks that need to be picked up-ranging from
event organization to outreach, documentation, fundraising, and more.
These are valuable ways to give back to Debian, and I would strongly
welcome contributors who want to support Debian in these areas.
We already do this in some areas-for example, in our publicity team,
where we have non-uploading DDs. I believe Debian would benefit from
strengthening our efforts in these non-technical fields. If we could
attract contributors who have expertise in fundraising and are eager to
support Debian in ways beyond technical work, I would strongly welcome
their involvement.
> Thanks again for your support to the project.
My thanks goes also to you as I said in the beginning
Andreas.
[1] https://mntre.com/
[2] https://frame.work/de/de/blog/risc-v-mainboard-for-framework-laptop-13-is-now-available
--
https://fam-tille.de
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