Raphael Hertzog writes ("Re: Using money to fund real Debian work"): > But if the structure is open to everyone, then everybody has a > chance to request funding.
This is precisely what is wrong with funding the RMs, and what makes it different from funding some particular package development or feature or what have you. The structure is _not_ open to everyone. The RMs personally are in a privileged position for requesting funding: their role within Debian is critical for the whole project; it is not easy for someone else to come and learn how to do it; it is not easy for someone else to get permission to do the work instead; and of course their decisions are politically important for many people (so it's right and proper that we are cautious about who we give the RM power). If I decide I can do the RM job better than the RMs, and my pet benefactor agrees with me, I still can't get paid to do it unless I can get the existing RMs and/or the DPL to agree. And of course there is a (financial, now!) incentive for the existing RMs not to agree. [1] This is quite different from the case with a programming task: if I decide I can do some D-I work that needs doing better than the D-I maintainers, I can just do it, and if my pet benefactor agrees with me, I can get paid to do it and the result _will_ end up in Debian, if it's actually any good. Ian. [1] I want to make clear once again that I do not think the RMs have anything but the purest of motives. But if we set up a system where those who are impure of motive are rewarded with money as well as power, we're asking for trouble. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]