> You're proposing this for Red Hat. That's fine, I'm proposing a similar
> model for Debian. Maybe the membership idea is a good idea, maybe it
> isn't. I can see some advantages, but I can also see some drawbacks. The
> key is to get these ideas out on the table. We'll never know until we try.
> As for what you said about two classes of developers, that doesn't make
> any sense. If developers are willing to work for free now, why wouldn't
> they be able to work for free if some of the core group are getting paid?
> I certainly wouldn't have a problem with it.
Sure, it's a good idea to talk about different ideas.
As for the paid/un-paid developers issue... I know of organizations
which have had this structure. Where I live, the ambulance
association used to have half paid, half volunteer, ambulance workers.
This worked okay for a while, but eventually they had to abandon the
structure, getting rid of the volunteer drivers. Unfortunately
problems arose between the two groups. The paid people became
frustrated with the volunteers because the latter weren't nearly as
skilled --- the paid people obviously spent much more time at it, and
had to be good otherwise they'd lose their job. In turn the
volunteers became frustrated with the paid people. As volunteers they
believed they should have some rights and say in how things were run.
The paid people believed they should say how things were run, as they
were more skilled and spent more time doing it. As you can see, this
is an environment ripe for arguments and disputes. There would be a
real danger that similar problems would occur if Debian followed this
model.
I'm not saying it's impossible to have both paid staff and volunteers,
but if you do, you need to be very careful how you do it. I suggest
the best way would be to have a separate "Debian User Association"
with paid staff, as I have outlined in a recent email.
Mark.
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"They told me I was gullible ... and I believed them!"
