On Jan 26, 2011, at 7:48 AM, Richard Broersma wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 26, 2011 at 7:38 AM, David Fetter <david@fetter.org> wrote:
>
>> I'm thinking that we should consider *very* carefully before we
>> introduce payments into what had been an all-volunteer effort. You
>> may get people to do things they might not otherwise have done, but
>> you'll also make people wonder whether they should be volunteering at
>> all.
>>
>> Offhand, I'd say this is a really bad idea.
>
> Wow, I hadn't considered this.
>
> But I'm reminded of GSOC, which is essentially doing something similar. Has this effect already taken place among
thevolunteering patch writers?
GCOC has been great. It helps bring in people who otherwise might not have participated in a project. IME, those who
werealready on a project were glad to have them.
I think M. Fetter is completely wrong. If people are rethinking whether they should volunteer based on whether other
peopleare being funded for their time to review patches, we don't want such people around anyway. Let them leave.
You might consider targeting a specific audience, though. Part of GCOC's success has been in allowing a class of people
toparticipate who otherwise would have had to get summer jobs flipping burgers. If you're helping people to help the
projectwho otherwise could not have, it's a good thing.
Best,
David