* Paulo Henrique de Lima Santana <p...@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/
