Hello, Ekaitz Zarraga <eka...@elenq.tech> skribis:
> Second, grants work kind of well for specific tasks, but what happens > with the structural work? Is anybody actually getting paid for it? Should the project have the ability to pay people, I think it should first and foremost reward thankless tasks—from system administration to boring but crucial packaging work. > Finally, grants push individuals to try to do things, but don't > encourage collective action (also the amounts are not high enough for > collective action). That's not necessarily bad, but those individual > projects also drain energy from those who are structural to > Guix. Patches have to be reviewed, and commits need to be merged. I once proposed having a space where those applying for NLnet grants for a Guix-related project could discuss and coordinate, and to arrange so that “the project” knows who’s applying for what. That would still be individual grants, but it would be a step towards collective action, as you write. Now, the problem is that we cannot force applicants to follow that path; they might have good reasons to not discuss openly about their plans or event to avoid the extra burden of coordinating with others. > I think free software projects use to be precarious and we are too > used to that. However, I think we should try to break with that image, > and try to push for funding collectively, so we can cover structural > costs: people and machines. On one hand, I like the good vibes that come from collective funding: see Spritely or the Reproducible Builds project, for instance. OTOH, I sympathize with those concerned with the negative effects this could have on the many excluded from said funding; a further concern is the administrative burden with actually employing people. Besides, note that it is becoming easier to work on Guix as part of one’s paid job as Guix becomes more useful (quite a few people at the Guix Days, myself included, were on a “business trip”!). That’s another option to keep in mind, even though it’s again focusing on individuals. What we do need and can have is a strong non-profit to cover costs like machines, events, internships. That’s the goal of Guix Foundation and it’s been helping a lot in these areas, but it desperately needs love and energy. Thanks, Ludo’.
