4 ms·

> During this time, I learned that all the "donations" to tdf are used for "conferences and shit" I am paid by TDF to onboard new contributors. I think it is g

> During this time, I learned that all the "donations" to tdf are used for "conferences and shit" I am paid by TDF to onboard new contributors. I think it is going rather well, with many FOSS outsiders being lured in. Conference expenses are a small part of the budget. A software project is much more than pure development.

MikusR 6y ago
So you are paid to lure people to do free work for commercial companies?
- buovjaga 6y ago
  That is a weird way of referring to value being collectively added to a free software project. I contributed to LibreOffice for five years before being hired. I even did onboarding without compensation, with increasing intensity and regularity. I quite happily worked alongside people employed by various companies and I learned a lot.
2Gkashmiri 6y ago
why isnt TDF hiring actual programmers? why are you looking for outside volunteer help when you can do programming in house? its not like TDF is cash strapped or anything? or does leadership at TDF have that mozilla ceo style BS mindset (paying herself millions of dollars salary while laying off actual developers because of cash issues)
- buovjaga 6y ago
  TDF board works without compensation. TDF was set up as a German charity in a way that it can not operate like a full-blown software company. It has a staff of 11 (some part time like me). TDF is funding development constantly by contracting out work. Budget item proposals for this year: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/Budget2021 https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/Budget2021 TDF ledgers are public: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/TDF/Ledgers https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/TDF/Ledgers Annual reports are also produced as required by German law: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2020/08/10/tdf-annual-report-2019/ https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2020/08/10/tdf-annu...
  - 2Gkashmiri 6y ago
    why? why was this set up in this particular way that >that it can not operate like a full-blown software company why? isnt mozilla working just fine as a software company run on donations? why is libreoffice dependent on 70% development commits by collabora? this model has clearly not worked in the interest of community so why is TDF even pretending to be someone they are not? contract work is not same as full time employees. why this pretence?
    - buovjaga 6y ago
      I think the reasoning becomes apparent when considering the environment and situation that TDF was created in. Refer to the history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Document_Foundation#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Document_Foundation#Histor... In a delicate situation like that, don't you think it would have been rather brazen to go for a Mozilla Corporation type of model?

MikusR 6y ago

So you are paid to lure people to do free work for commercial companies?

buovjaga 6y ago
That is a weird way of referring to value being collectively added to a free software project. I contributed to LibreOffice for five years before being hired. I even did onboarding without compensation, with increasing intensity and regularity. I quite happily worked alongside people employed by various companies and I learned a lot.

2Gkashmiri 6y ago

why isnt TDF hiring actual programmers? why are you looking for outside volunteer help when you can do programming in house? its not like TDF is cash strapped or anything? or does leadership at TDF have that mozilla ceo style BS mindset (paying herself millions of dollars salary while laying off actual developers because of cash issues)

buovjaga 6y ago
TDF board works without compensation. TDF was set up as a German charity in a way that it can not operate like a full-blown software company. It has a staff of 11 (some part time like me). TDF is funding development constantly by contracting out work. Budget item proposals for this year: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/Budget2021 https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Development/Budget2021 TDF ledgers are public: https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/TDF/Ledgers https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/TDF/Ledgers Annual reports are also produced as required by German law: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2020/08/10/tdf-annual-report-2019/ https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2020/08/10/tdf-annu...
- 2Gkashmiri 6y ago
  why? why was this set up in this particular way that >that it can not operate like a full-blown software company why? isnt mozilla working just fine as a software company run on donations? why is libreoffice dependent on 70% development commits by collabora? this model has clearly not worked in the interest of community so why is TDF even pretending to be someone they are not? contract work is not same as full time employees. why this pretence?
  - buovjaga 6y ago
    I think the reasoning becomes apparent when considering the environment and situation that TDF was created in. Refer to the history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Document_Foundation#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Document_Foundation#Histor... In a delicate situation like that, don't you think it would have been rather brazen to go for a Mozilla Corporation type of model?