> I can see only two changes in Debian due to this corporation. Development
> would (presumably) go faster because the developers are getting paid, and
> Debian would become more well-known.
>
> I also liked the idea that someone suggested earlier, that people could
> pay dues into this corporation and get a vote. A democratic corporation
> indeed.
I was actually suggesting this for RedHat rather than Debian. I
believe such a model would fit RedHat much better than Debian. The
Debian model gives the votes and power to the developers and the role
of developer is a voluntary position. This is right and proper ---
the developers give their time and efforts for free, and because of
this, expect to have complete control over what they do. If Debian
moved to a democratic non-profit corporation model, the nature of
Debian would change dramatically. The power would move from the
developers to the users, and there would become two classes of
developers: the paid and the unpaid. This environment would not be
nearly so attractive to volunteer developers and would probably result
in a deteriorating distribution. Certainly I don't believe existing
developers would be keen to change models.
RedHat on the other hand, already is much nearer to this model. They
already have the separation between paid and unpaid package
developers. And because the main developers are paid --- via income
generated from users --- it is reasonable that users expect some say
over how the organization is run. Of course this isn't how it works
currently. Because RedHat is a for-profit company, it is answerable
only to its shareholders. My suggestion to RedHat was that they move
to a different not-for-profit model, with the power base shifted to
users who pay a membership fee. It would be a big sacrifice on the
part of the current owners of RedHat, but I believe it would be a
wonderful gift to the linux community.
Mark.
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"They told me I was gullible ... and I believed them!"
