Hi On 2006-11-19, at 06:04 , Sophie Gautier wrote:
Hi all, Louis Suarez-Potts wrote:On 2006-11-15, at 13:25 , Jean-François Donikian wrote:That depends on the amount. I am also considering a sliding scale. This was the logic previously discussed wrt CDROM page and elsewhere (these discussions are quite old).Hello all,It's a very good idea to make a policy in order to be listed on the directory. But I'm not sure that a ''registration'' fee even a small one, is a good idea, because :1 - it's easier for the big companies (vs the small ones) to pay,And where is the quality here ? Only those who have the money will pay (big companies) and the other small one who are often providing good services won't be listed. It would be enough to buy the right to be listed ?
The current list makes no mention of quality.My point--was I not clear?--was that we list those who pay and those who do not pay on the *same page*. If they do not pay, though, they must demonstrate that they are doing good for OOo--contributing meaningfully, and we are the judges of that.
To repeat: I want one list. To be included: you pay. If you can't pay, you do good. A sliding scale may simply not work--too much thinking behind it. So, flat fee or no fee and one page for all, those who trade in lucre and those in virtue :-)
But as to quality? Who is to judge? I'd like to think the user, but we don't have an eBay like mechanism for that...
I maintain the francophone page since several years (before the bizdev list) and its purpose was to show the services existing around OOo and it has served our project a lot. As is has served the OOo ecosystem in the listed countries.
But you don't list quality, do you?
This page is consulted and I checked that those company still exist (behind the fact that I know most of them).
The current page is not very much consulted, or at least not as much as it should or could be. I think if we were to place this in a more prominent way it would have more appeal.
2 - it's always easier to pay for something rather than to do something (to contribute per exemple ;-) )The two are not mutually exclusive. Right now, for most listings, those listed neither contribute nor pay.I don't see it that way, most of them have helped the odf propaganda and credibility.
Perhaps, but for the present list, I don't have much data one way or the other, except what I see in work done for OOo directly, not ODF. I'm also a little unpersuaded by "credibility" and other good PR. So, defining what "good works" means would be useful. It could include that--good propaganda--but then we should know about it.
Team OpenOffice.org or Software in the Public Interest, held in trust for OOo marketing, development, hosting. The CC is the ultimate arbiter. Jean-F., you are asking qs. before I've had time to present the complete policy :-)3 - who will have the money, for what ?It's always possible. We've had this discussion many times. Many times. Many, many times. 8-). The consultants list was in fact created with the aim of being the list of those who were not paying; those wanting bigger listing were mentioned on the Support Page (http://support.openoffice.org/.Perhaps it's possible to mention in the directory if a company participates to the OOo community. In France, I sometime loose businesses because of the price against compagnies that never participate.This page is English only so not relevant for our projects, this will bring nothing to non English companies to be listed here (sigh... I'm quite tired to see how our work is not considered this last days...)
The page was actually designed as a catch-all and could be in different languages. Ie, could reference other NLC projects. Sophie, please :-) Before you sigh in exasperation, you could easily consider changing the page *however you like* ;-) And now is the time, ne c'est pas? :-)
I'm not against a fee, but you should be very cautious of not breaking the relation ship we have built with all these companies over the years, they have served our project too (this provided you consider our communities belonging to it, I mean not only contributing to the code).
Of course I would not want to spring a fee on them without consideration. I should add: they are all (or should be) subscribed to this list, anyway. The fee would be in exchange, too, for more prominent placement and better visibility, at least I hope so.
My policy now: * sliding scale with a minimum of x/ euros/month* if *significant* work can be demonstrated on behalf of OOo, then no payment. Each exception must be demonstrated on a case-by-case basis, to me (or whomever) and the relevant NLC lead, if germane.I wonder what you place in *significant* ?
We are ultimately the judges, but I think this is something that merits policy thinking. Some examples: contributing code, patches, art, documentation, servers, money; donating marketing things, collateral, equipment, expertise. And so on.
As to who would have to pay: if a business is doing well, well enough to afford, say, 100 euros a month, then they should pay. If they cannot, then their good works is payment enough.
Does this make sense?
Kind regards Sophie
best, louis
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