On 2 January 2013 22:50, cyrano <cyrano.faw...@gmail.com> wrote: > Le 02/01/2013 18:42, Oliver Keyes a écrit : > >> On 2 January 2013 19:25, cyrano <cyrano.faw...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> You're comparing your standard of living with extreme ways of life, and >>>> >>> you reach the conclusion that yours is moderate. However, if you compare >>> with the rest of mankind, you're still getting things that 99% of them >>> don't get. >>> >>> I think that's probably true, but the fact of the matter is that Leslie >>> is >>> >> not saying "here is an extremity, I get less" - she's saying "here is an >> extremity that is Standard Operating Procedure at >> Facebook/Google/Twitter//**insertyourorgofchoice, where almost any of us >> could get a job...I get less". In the context of a conversation comparing >> WMF benefits with those of similar orgs in the Bay Area that makes total >> sense as a statement. I would agree that it is better than 99 percent of >> humanity, but I'm not sure who *dis*agrees with that statement: you appear >> >> to be arguing against a position that hasn't been made. >> >> > I'm proud of people like Leslie who work for less money than other > opportunities but for a cause. They stand for their beliefs and their > values, I strongly respect that. > Yet the money of the donations, which is given for a universal cause, is > paying an incredibly tiny subset of humanity with very expensive standards > of life. I think that's something pertinent to consider given the topic. > > I think it's worth considering, but I wouldn't say it has any specific ramifications. So, the donations are given to a universal cause. This universal cause is free knowledge for all, which is an incredibly worthwhile thing (I wouldn't be here if it wasn't. Well, okay, so I'm a massive pedant. I'd probably still be editing ;p). For us to be able to achieve that cause, we need lots of things: volunteers, to curate the content. Reliable hosting space for that content. People building newer and better features and fixing software bugs to make the process of volunteering as painless as possible. Revenue streams to support all of the above. The last one requires us to be able to attract world-class talent in Engineering, Fundraising and all our other departments and teams, and talented people tend to be clustered around major metropolitan areas like the Bay, which was one of (if not the main) reason, iirc, that the Foundation moved to SF from St Petersburg, FL in the first place. We are ultimately pulled along by reality and human nature, and for the moment, both of those things seem to prefer clustering of talent and the inevitable cost upswing it produces.
Now, me, I live in Cardiff, Wales. The cost of living is a lot cheaper than in SF (as I mock my friends about every time I visit). I can survive relatively nicely on what I'm paid, although I benefit from not having dependants or a mortgage or whatnot. But nobody goes to Cardiff to recruit engineers or most other people - they go to London. They don't go to St Petersburg, they go to SF. And so we have to, and we have to rebalance our cost expectations accordingly. Of course, if we're talking *global* costs - a heck of a lot of people are going to fall above the mean. I am, here in Cardiff ;p. A more productive measurement is where we fall in balancing our non-profit status and the market in that section we care about: skilled, brilliant maniacs with the best of intentions. And I'm very proud of the Foundation for finding a middle ground in that market - between the "industry going rate" and a salary situation that would make it untenable for the people they're trying to recruit. At the same time, I'm *incredibly* proud of the people who come to work for us. I'm an editor; being here is, from my point of view, the best possible situation. I've literally turned my hobby into a job :D. But I walked into an environment populated by people who not only feel the same way, but walked away from a heck of a lot of creature comforts to work for an org they could believe in. I don't think we recognise this often enough. > ______________________________**_________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.**org <Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> > Unsubscribe: > https://lists.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l<https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l> > -- Oliver Keyes Community Liaison, Product Development Wikimedia Foundation _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l