As I understand, one of the reasons for the Foundation to avoid targeted contributions is to preserve the independence of the project - in the current model they are accountable for allocating the resources as they see fit. So IMHO there is value in that model for that regard. On the other hand, the fact that none of the donations is directed specifically to compensate for the hard work of the developers (and more specifically Theo's) gives the foundation the prerogative to, for example, have at the donation page one donation account separate, specific for developers, with a clear message that those resources would go directly to the developers (or to one developer...), in contrast with the "standard" donation channel, which funds only events, infrastructure, etc. It would a reasonable exception. I think if this done with the same transparency things have being managed so far, there's no problem.
And by the way, this suggestion is mine, not Theo's (and I'm far from being a developer!), so I'm cc'ing the foundations' e-mail address - I see this as matter of interest to the foundation because it touches directly their purpose of providing the administrative support for the project to keep it moving forward - e.g. providing a channel through the donations page for developers to receive direct contributions would permit them the flexibility to dedicate even more time to the project. It would also be one more "communication channel" for recognition to the developers high-quality code that's been produced over the years. Anyway, just my $0.02... (I think this is a matter that's between the non-developers community and the OpenBSD Foundation, Theo and the other OpenBSD developers should not need to get involved on this discussion). Kind regards, On Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 4:35 PM, Theo de Raadt <dera...@cvs.openbsd.org> wrote: > > > > Now to be clear Theo, are donation via the paypal on the donations > page > > > > are directly to you and you can do as you see fit, and/or only checks > > > > would be best? > > > > > > Correct, as I see fit. I try to use it for the Project for things the > > > Foundation doesn't fund. I declared it that way on the web site. I > > > have not used it much for my own needs. > > > > I'd guess this has been thought of and just throwing in lame ideas > > on the off chance it's of any use and maybe it's just extra site coding > > work and there are legal complications, if not then are the people in > > charge of the foundation website/operation privvy to this list? Is Bob > > part of that? > > > > .... > > I wonder if it would gain any traction if there was a separate donation > > box and cheque address with a statement along the lines of The OpenBSD > > project leader works full time and receives no support from donations > > to the foundation. If you would like to also support The project > > leader directly then you can do so here or by sending a cheque to. > > > > _______________Made up example, Don't send here________________ > > > > Theo De Raadt > > The OpenBSD project leader > > 8101 160 Street > > Edmonton, Alberta, Canada > > T5R 2G9 > > _______________________________________________________________ > > > > Alternatively but perhaps more complex behind the scenes?.. a percentage > > box so everytime someone makes a donation they can choose a percentage > > of their donation to the foundation from 0%-?% that goes to support the > > project leader. > > > > That way I guess the project leader could choose to waive it if the > > foundation is ever in trouble financially should they wish so long as > > the site foundation site discloses that possibility for legal reasons I > > guess? > > We've heard numerous times that the OpenBSD Foundation avoids > targetted contributions. I don't think what you suggest is the > right method of solving this (essentially, splitting a pie).
