On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 5:26 PM, Tomeu Vizoso <[email protected]> wrote: > While I think this is a big step forward towards sustainability of > Sugar development, I'm still concerned about the not-so-long-term > future because there's a good amount of work that needs to be done
Unfortunately I don't read your blog. Maybe I should. I share your concern, and I think everyone here does. My personal experience is of 10 years of doing FOSS development almost always paid by interested clients / end-users. Before OLPC, my last job was at a large company doing exactly that. It takes a lot of professionalism*, and a lot of hard work. But it can work. I am 200% supportive of Sugaristas being contracted by deployments, and where possible, you'll find me encouraging both sides to talk and negotiate. * - As we are more exposed than the norm with this development model: these mailing lists where we sometimes think we can voice our opinions (however strong) and discuss key strategy are actually our professional working space... within earshot of clients and competitors. Clients who might not like strategic decisions, or positions aired; competitors who might be hoping for good info on where to hit. Bear in mind there are many practical hurdles. Many of the potential clients are governments, which on top of usual govt contracting complexities, have extra fun bits in this case. They may not be able to pay a foreigner (or foreign company) easily. Might have tricky payment rules for contractors. Might be unable to pay international consulting rates, or unable to get tele-commuters. I don't mean the above as a discouragement -- in the least! -- but to hint that preparation is key. In some places, you might need a local company or non-profit to take the local contract. Or to setup a short-lived tax registration. In some cases it might be "more possible" to hire someone to be present physically, at higher costs, than teleworking. As others have said, it might be easier to have non-govt players (local foundations for example) fund your work. It sure is a challenging space. But not impossible, and I think 200% worthwhile. m -- [email protected] [email protected] -- School Server Architect - ask interesting questions - don't get distracted with shiny stuff - working code first - http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User:Martinlanghoff _______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) [email protected] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
