James G. Sack (jim) wrote:
Skipping the question of whether we should aim high-end or low-end, I
would like to ask for a steer-poll on whether (and/or how) we should
submit a recommendation (whatever becomes the consensus, here --
possibly even multiple choice) to the main list along with a couple of
paragraphs of justification/rationale.
We should present our good justification to the group. However ...
It should be made clear to the membership that the time for discussion
has passed and that we are at the approve/disapprove stage.
We are already discussing this openly. We have told people in a meeting
that we are discussing this on kplug-steer. We have told people on the
main list that we are discussing this on kplug-steer. Failure to
participate does not merit a reward.
I'm even a little torn about presenting this to the group at large given
the number of Cheap Bastards(tm). However, I'm going to have faith that
the Cheap Bastards(tm) have enough respect and trust in those folks
doing the work of running the group that they will actually take the
time to consider the implications.
I specifically suggest giving thought to justification/rationale to
assure the whole that the smaller committee has been both thoughtful and
responsible, and thereby (hopefully) avoid inviting open-ended rehash of
considerations already given.
I'm not convinced about discussion. We can certainly take *questions*,
but, again, open ended discussion was done online. It's not like we're
trying to hide anything.
- [gulp] why should we spend 1/3 to 1/2 our bankroll on this server?
Partially, we *need* to use the money. Non-profit organizations are not
supposed to accumulate large surpluses.
- [overkill] could not a smaller expenditure achieve the same benefits?
Using Neil's choices as a baseline (which I quite like, actually):
Almost 1/3 of the purchase price is RAM. 1/3 is the chassis, mobo,
power supply. 1/3 is *2* dual core Xeons. There's not a lot of slop in
this.
That machine should have enough headroom to run for quite a few years.
- [appropriate] are there better ways to contribute to our mission
(promotion, advocacy, education) that compete for these funds?
Maybe. But we have asked people many times to suggest such
expenditures. About the only thing we ever managed to agree upon was to
buy a projector bulb for SDCOE, who didn't want us do that. Sigh.
People have thought about buying some equipment for KPLUG. But there is
the whole "who is going to sign up to bring it to every meeting and
store it in between" problem.
Finally, even if someone were to step forward with some other idea, such
an expenditure still benefits a small number of people rather than the
group as a whole and will likely meet resistance. It's one of the
reasons why our treasury is the value it is.
- [mob-democracy] shouldn't we just spend it all on a party for the more
direct benefit of the very people who fed the kitty?
Well, given that most of this comes from auctioning off books and
donations for far under value, the people who are really feeding the
kitty are O'Reilly and some of the other book publishers. ;)
-a
--
KPLUG-Steer@kernel-panic.org
http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-steer
