On Mon, Jun 24, 2019 at 5:28 PM Ross Gardler <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm afraid that this isn't how the foundation works. One cannot > unilaterally decide that a policy doesn't apply because it doesn't directly > have a measurable impact on neutrality. > I'm not proposing that make any unilateral decisions. Which is why I'm participating in the conversation on fundraising too. This needs to be a conversation. > The committee could make an argument for an exception to be added to theft > policy. I'd advise against that, as if will likely raise concerns about a > slippery slope. > > It has been suggested that interns be limited to internal projects, but > this is countered by the fact that these are not true ASF public projects > and thus the educational value is limited. > > It has been suggested that we ask spomsors to donate directly to > Outreachy. I've not seen anyone argue against this proposal (apologies if I > missed something). > I'm not arguing against asking sponsors to skip us and go to Outreachy. But it doesn't actually solve the neutrality problem. And you are absolutely right that neutrality is important. The neutrality problem *needs* to be solved. Neutrality, or lack of it, comes when we pick the winners. We can lose our neutrality without ever seeing a dime of the money an Outreachy intern is paid. We need to do more than just not touch the money to preserve our neutrality. > > Maybe there are other approaches. > > This is one of the fundamental differences between the ASF and every other > foundation or there. It is at the core of why we are successful. I cannot > see the board accepting a proposal that does not directly address this > concern. > That's what I'm trying to do here. For myself too. > Personally I believe the simpledt approach is to have sponsors give their > money to Outreachy while ASF offers self-nominating volunteer mentors. This only solves the problem if we have less mentors than we have resources for the Outreachy interns. But in that case we don't have a neutrality problem anyways. Best Regards, Myrle
