gene heskett <ghesk...@shentel.net> wrote on 31/01/2023 at 14:00:14+0100:
> On 1/31/23 05:43, Pierre-Elliott Bécue wrote: >> Hi, >> krys...@ibse.cz wrote on 31/01/2023 at 10:51:10+0100: >> >>> Hello everyone, >>> I ran into argument with my father about who pays Debian >>> developement. He says everyone want to eat something and since only >>> donation won't cut it, corporations and companies which use Debian >>> need to fund the developement. I understand that some task like kernel >>> maintanace are full-time job and someone needs to pay those people, >>> but I always thaught that since Debian is community software project, >>> most of the work comes from volunteers and enthusiasts. So my qustion >>> is - how does it actually work? Thank you for your answers. >>> >>> Best regards, >> Debian is a volunteer-run project and therefore, the standard >> situation >> is that people who build and maintain the Debian Ecosystem are doing it >> for free. True, some people are allowed by their employeer to do it on >> their work time, which could be seen as a sponsorship of the project, >> and there's even some who are paid specifically by their employeer to >> package some stuff in Debian, but this is not the majority of the >> Contributors. >> So, on the specific aspect of the development, I guess we can agree >> that >> it's, indeed, *NOT* funded by any corporation. >> That being said, many companies are making donations to the project >> (or, >> to be specific, to its Trusted Organizations - SPI/Debian >> France/Debian.ch), as a sponsorship, and to help the project covering >> its hosting costs (we need servers, hosting places, etc, to provide our >> websites and our packages/installers/...). >> There are also individuals making such donations. >> That being said, these donations can't be used to pay a Developer >> for >> its work in the project. At best it can be used to reimburse some >> specific expenses the Developer would make to contribute to the project >> (a flight ticket to go to a BSP, some specific hardware, ...). >> I hope this makes things clearer. > > It does, but we should all remember that TANSTAAFL is a universal > law. It cannot be broken. > > So something like this needs to be said: > > Make it easier for John Q. Public's like me to contribute to those > support funds. I'm not Elon Musk, but I could manage a $50 bill from > time to time. Make it easier for the users who have benefited > greatly, to supply some of those expenses, please. > > We are also very aware that info on the suppliers of such funds is a > valuable commodity to the hacker. There are quite a number of American > based charities I do not contribute to simply because they insist on > ones social security number. That ain't gonna happen. Make it the equ > of me handing you a $50 bill, untraceable cash, no strings > attached. It's my thank you. > > Cheers, Gene Heskett. That's nice to read,thanks. We actually take bills from people attending the events where Debian's booth is. In Europe, generally the bill ends up in Debian France's (the Euro Zone Trusted Organization for Debian) account and is credited to Debian's budget. The swag we sell (tshirts, hoodies, others) is bought and sold by Debian France, so the money goes in Debian France's own budget. Generally as soon as our own budget exceeds €40.000, we give €20.000 to Debian by moving the amount on Debian's budget. As a US resident, if you don't go to FOSS events in Europe, you should have a look at the events that occur in the US & Canada and see if a Debian booth is there, if so there's a great chance they'd accept your bill. Also, you can do a wire transfer, no strings attached, we ask nothing for donations we receive via bank transfer. We have a name, but we make no use of it outside of our ledger, which is not public and won't be (French law, yadda yadda). Cheers! -- PEB
