I have heard some disturbing rumours regarding Debconf13, site choice and funding. It seems to be difficult to find clear facts and of course I don't want to be spreading unverified rumours.
What I have found out from public sources, for example this message http://lists.debconf.org/lurker/message/20121031.082232.2c9c4f00.en.html is that apparently some "anonymous donors" proposed to give or loan Debconf 13 CHF40K (~Eur33K). I'm uncomfortable about the idea of such a sum of anonymous money flowing towards Debconf. One natural worry would be that it would come with strings attached. Can the Debconf global team, and/or the DC13 local team, please answer the following questions ? 1. Is it true that there was a proposal that anyone should make an anonymous donation or loan to Debconf 13 ? If so: 2. Exactly what was proposed, and when was it proposed ? 3. Were any conditions attached ? If so what were the conditions ? 4. How far did the discussions progress (so far) ? Has the proposal now been abandoned and if so, when ? 5. Were the proposed donors individuals (if so how many?), a company, a government, or an NGO ? 6. Were the proposed donors in positions of authority or governance in relation to Debconf ? Examples of people in positions of authority or governance in relation to Debconf include the DPL, the DPL helpers tasked with Debconf-related tasks, people involved with Debconf accounting on behalf of SPI or FFIS, and of course members of the Debconf global or local teams. 7. Who initiated the proposal ? Was it (a) the prospective donor; or (b) a member of the DC global team; or (c) a member of the DC13 local team; or (d) some third party ? If (b) or (c), which individual member(s) of the team ? 8. Was the existence of this proposal made formally known to the full DC team (eg on the internal private mailing list) ? I think these are the most critical questions the answers to which might shed some light on the situation. I'm hoping the answers will be prompt, full, and frank - and of course, reassuring. Thanks, Ian. _______________________________________________ Debconf-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.debconf.org/mailman/listinfo/debconf-discuss
