On Thu, Jun 27, 2019 at 1:47 AM Sage Sharp <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Wed, Jun 26, 2019 at 3:26 PM Ross Gardler
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I'm on my mobile and not able to conduct a full search of the project
> site
> > but...
> >
> > It is a fact that the ASF does not pay for code, by design. Nobody here
> > has the right to ignore that. Challenge it, through the membership, sure.
> > But do not ignore it.
> >
>
> Is the ASF policy limited to *software*? Does ASF also have a policy for
> not paying for documentation, translation, graphical design, or user
> experience work? Outreachy internships are not limited to programming.
>

As Roman already said elsethread, it is basically limited to what lands in
a community  github/svn repository.  But.  We just approved funds for an
ASF-wide website redesign.  And we do pay producers to run our events,
including website hosting and CMS systems, and I'm quite certain they use
some of their time contributing to open source projects like Drupal.  And
we also pay for capturing statistics about our projects which requires
software development.  So there's a lot of gray around the edges.  The
pattern as I see it (and I'm not always in-line with my fellow directors,
so take this with a grain of salt ; o), is that if the expenditures go
through Marketing & Publicity or through Infra or through Events, they
don't get questioned.  This is because they are viewed more as
foundation-wide services with code as a by-product.

Reframing Outreachy involvement as a foundation-wide attempt to better
understand our diversity problems with code as a by-product has had limited
success.  There is a gray area, and some people (full-disclosure: including
myself), tend to view Outreachy internships more on the end of
code-producing mechanisms.  Some people don't perceive a gray area at all.
The ASF is not a monolith of course. ; o)

In general, I *want* our Outreachy interns to be producing artifacts which
our communities consider productive.  This could mean code, or
documentation, or whatever.  But it means that we're talking about the
areas in which the ASF needs to maintain neutrality.  The reason I want
this, is because this is the vast majority of our activity at the
foundation.  This is our *purpose* as a foundation.  And this is where we
need to improve.  So this is where we need to understand our problems
better.


> Additionally, there is no policy that prevents the ASF from contributing
> directly to the Outreachy general fund and specifying that the funding not
> go towards internships or creating software. The funds can go towards
> running the Outreachy program, which takes approximately 400 organizer
> hours per round. It could go towards running career and interview workshops
> for Outreachy interns. The funds would have to not go towards improving the
> Outreachy internship website, although that code would certainly would not
> compete with any ASF member projects.
>

This comment here about the website tickles my "irony bone", after we just
approved funds for improving the ASF website. : o)  If we were to donate to
the Outreachy general fund, we'd probably have to make that restriction
about funding internships, but we'd be hypocritical if we restricted you
from spending on your website.

Best Regards,
Myrle

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