4 ms·

Gnome Foundation Budget Troubles FAQ

49 points by okasaki 13y ago

dtech 13y ago
TL;DR version: Invoice/accounts receivable managment was subpar and there have been large expenses. Now there's a liquidity problem. Not an uncommon problem in non-profits/voluntary organizations.
- deleted 13y ago
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  - kevingadd 13y ago
    So you're arguing that Linux and Mozilla have no relation to the development of GNOME? The OS kernel that most GNOME installs run on, and the web browser used by a significant subset of GNOME users (that implicitly needs to interact well with GNOME & GTK), have no relation to GNOME? Really?
    - makomk 13y ago
      They certainly don't have the kind of relationship that could justify the GNOME Foundation running their women's outreach programs for them. GNOME's absolutely miniscule compared to both of them, in terms of money, developers, staff, users, everything. To put this in some perspective, the Mozilla Foundation alone has approximately 3 orders of magnitude more income than the GNOME Foundation, so it's no surprise the majority of GNOME foundation cash flow was for the Outreach Program for Women rather than for GNOME. I could understand if, say, Mozilla decided they wanted to help other open source organisations that were only tenuously related to them in this way because they can afford to, but the GNOME Foundation is simply too small to take on this kind of big project.
    - coldtea 13y ago
      >have no relation to GNOME? Really? Yes, they have no relation to GNOME. "A significant subset of GNOME users" running Firefox does not constitute a "relation to the development of GNOME". Neither does Linux being the "OS kernel that most GNOME installs run on". There's not much interroperability (or need for such) between them. The Gnome team develops GNOME, the kernel team develops Linux and the Mozilla team develops Firefox, and that is that. At best, the Mozilla folks tried at times to adapt to the default GNOME themes etc. Not much besides that. Now, Gnome and Gtk, that's a real development relation. Or Linux (kernel) and libc.
leoc 13y ago
> If anyone is familiar with Guile/Scheme, the Foundation would benefit from a custom printable invoice stylesheet for GnuCash. Contact the board for a PDF of what it needs to look like. This is almost too good to be true. :)
elipsey 13y ago
Perhaps this is an opportunity for Gnome users to bribe the foundation to revert some of Gnome's insane UI decisions. Example: A series of kickstarters such as "Bribe Gnome to remove pop ups that say 'Your window is ready'" or "Bribe Gnome to let me Hibernate my computer again".
- okasaki 13y ago
  I never understood people's attachment to GNOME. When GNOME 3 came out I didn't like it so I permanently switched to XFCE. What is it that GNOME devs do that is so valuable and unique? Why are distributions committed to waiting for years for it to improve despite the users' ire?
  - gkop 13y ago
    I run GNOME 3 because it underpins Debian and Debian is the least fragmented developer-friendly Linux desktop. It's got the reliability I need for a work environment and the shininess that makes me happy and is as usable out-of-the-box as OSX, Windows 7, or Ubuntu. Also I appreciate Abiword and Gnumeric, GNOME's word processor and spreadsheet respectively, for sucking the least among their FOSS alternatives. I donate.
    - okasaki 13y ago
      Oh, I forgot about applications. It's probably because they've very loosely coupled to the rest of GNOME (unlike KDE applications and KDE). By the way, if you like Abiword, you might also like LyX.
    - qwerta 13y ago
      Have a serious look at KDE.
    - reality_czech 13y ago
      Debian shipped Xfce for a while as the default (I'm not sure what the latest default is). http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/11/debian-8-0-switches-xfce-default http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/11/debian-8-0-switches-xfce-... In general, most of the GNOME devs work for Red Hat. Debian is not really that closely associated with GNOME, and a lot of the Debian devs have gotten annoyed by GNOME decisions in the past. I think the latest example was when GNOME started to depend on systemd, some Debian developers were annoyed.
ldng 13y ago
"we made assumptions based on previous years' incomes and expenditures [...]. Those assumptions proved to be more optimistic than reality." The foundation overspent on the OPW program. But I can't help wondering ... isn't the budget problem a direct result of Gnome getting less ans less popular over the years ? When the user base is shrinking, so will the donations, hence the budget problems, right ? People make donations to projects they supports. As developer are not willing to listen to its user base, why would they donate ?
- comice 13y ago
  Instead of just baseless thinking out loud, let's turn to some actual facts: http://www.gnome.org/foundation/reports/ http://www.gnome.org/foundation/reports/ Their 2012 annual report in particular says: "Corporate sponsorship ... up 41.6% from the previous year." "Personal donations rose by 45.4% ... this appears to be the highest amount of personal donations that the GNOME Foundation has ever received." If you've got some real reason to believe 2013's finances are different, and believe the foundation is lying about their reasons for the shortfall, then do let us know.
  - ldng 13y ago
    I've never said they were lying. And as stated, I was "wonderind" or "thinking out loud" as you put it. Should have checked the facts, you're right, I stand corrected. But still, there are reasons to think 2013's finances are different. They said they've overspent based on projection on previous years income. Maybe it still growing but not as much as expected. We'll see in the 2013's report.
deleted 13y ago
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Peter1337 13y ago
I really feel all the haters here are emotionally attached to GNOME deep down their hearts. Also, I feel that they want GNOME 3 to prove them wrong, to succeed, but not on their desktops ... maybe on their tablets. I felt the alienation too buddies, but maybe GNOME hasn't forgotten us after all, by introducing GNOME Classic (http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/new-classic-mode-forking-gnome-3-waste-time http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/new-classic-mode-...). I urge everyone of you to donate, not just because of this crunch. Donate to fulfil your expectations from GNOME, to see GNOME 3 succeed, maybe on your tablet. We, the open source hackers build such foundations. Foundations that aren't like hoarders Samsung & Apple who burn their money away on destructive litigations. Support GNOME at http://www.gnome.org/friends http://www.gnome.org/friends A friend in need is a friend indeed :-)
abalashov 13y ago
Idea: spend money on development, not "outreach foundations". The director took donations intended for one purpose and used them to fund political pet projects in another. She resigned before the 2013 financial reports came to light.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]

49 points by okasaki 13y ago

dtech 13y ago

TL;DR version: Invoice/accounts receivable managment was subpar and there have been large expenses. Now there's a liquidity problem. Not an uncommon problem in non-profits/voluntary organizations.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- kevingadd 13y ago
  So you're arguing that Linux and Mozilla have no relation to the development of GNOME? The OS kernel that most GNOME installs run on, and the web browser used by a significant subset of GNOME users (that implicitly needs to interact well with GNOME & GTK), have no relation to GNOME? Really?
  - makomk 13y ago
    They certainly don't have the kind of relationship that could justify the GNOME Foundation running their women's outreach programs for them. GNOME's absolutely miniscule compared to both of them, in terms of money, developers, staff, users, everything. To put this in some perspective, the Mozilla Foundation alone has approximately 3 orders of magnitude more income than the GNOME Foundation, so it's no surprise the majority of GNOME foundation cash flow was for the Outreach Program for Women rather than for GNOME. I could understand if, say, Mozilla decided they wanted to help other open source organisations that were only tenuously related to them in this way because they can afford to, but the GNOME Foundation is simply too small to take on this kind of big project.
  - coldtea 13y ago
    >have no relation to GNOME? Really? Yes, they have no relation to GNOME. "A significant subset of GNOME users" running Firefox does not constitute a "relation to the development of GNOME". Neither does Linux being the "OS kernel that most GNOME installs run on". There's not much interroperability (or need for such) between them. The Gnome team develops GNOME, the kernel team develops Linux and the Mozilla team develops Firefox, and that is that. At best, the Mozilla folks tried at times to adapt to the default GNOME themes etc. Not much besides that. Now, Gnome and Gtk, that's a real development relation. Or Linux (kernel) and libc.

leoc 13y ago

> If anyone is familiar with Guile/Scheme, the Foundation would benefit from a custom printable invoice stylesheet for GnuCash. Contact the board for a PDF of what it needs to look like. This is almost too good to be true. :)

elipsey 13y ago

Perhaps this is an opportunity for Gnome users to bribe the foundation to revert some of Gnome's insane UI decisions. Example: A series of kickstarters such as "Bribe Gnome to remove pop ups that say 'Your window is ready'" or "Bribe Gnome to let me Hibernate my computer again".

okasaki 13y ago
I never understood people's attachment to GNOME. When GNOME 3 came out I didn't like it so I permanently switched to XFCE. What is it that GNOME devs do that is so valuable and unique? Why are distributions committed to waiting for years for it to improve despite the users' ire?
- gkop 13y ago
  I run GNOME 3 because it underpins Debian and Debian is the least fragmented developer-friendly Linux desktop. It's got the reliability I need for a work environment and the shininess that makes me happy and is as usable out-of-the-box as OSX, Windows 7, or Ubuntu. Also I appreciate Abiword and Gnumeric, GNOME's word processor and spreadsheet respectively, for sucking the least among their FOSS alternatives. I donate.
  - okasaki 13y ago
    Oh, I forgot about applications. It's probably because they've very loosely coupled to the rest of GNOME (unlike KDE applications and KDE). By the way, if you like Abiword, you might also like LyX.
  - qwerta 13y ago
    Have a serious look at KDE.
  - reality_czech 13y ago
    Debian shipped Xfce for a while as the default (I'm not sure what the latest default is). http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/11/debian-8-0-switches-xfce-default http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2013/11/debian-8-0-switches-xfce-... In general, most of the GNOME devs work for Red Hat. Debian is not really that closely associated with GNOME, and a lot of the Debian devs have gotten annoyed by GNOME decisions in the past. I think the latest example was when GNOME started to depend on systemd, some Debian developers were annoyed.

ldng 13y ago

"we made assumptions based on previous years' incomes and expenditures [...]. Those assumptions proved to be more optimistic than reality." The foundation overspent on the OPW program. But I can't help wondering ... isn't the budget problem a direct result of Gnome getting less ans less popular over the years ? When the user base is shrinking, so will the donations, hence the budget problems, right ? People make donations to projects they supports. As developer are not willing to listen to its user base, why would they donate ?

comice 13y ago
Instead of just baseless thinking out loud, let's turn to some actual facts: http://www.gnome.org/foundation/reports/ http://www.gnome.org/foundation/reports/ Their 2012 annual report in particular says: "Corporate sponsorship ... up 41.6% from the previous year." "Personal donations rose by 45.4% ... this appears to be the highest amount of personal donations that the GNOME Foundation has ever received." If you've got some real reason to believe 2013's finances are different, and believe the foundation is lying about their reasons for the shortfall, then do let us know.
- ldng 13y ago
  I've never said they were lying. And as stated, I was "wonderind" or "thinking out loud" as you put it. Should have checked the facts, you're right, I stand corrected. But still, there are reasons to think 2013's finances are different. They said they've overspent based on projection on previous years income. Maybe it still growing but not as much as expected. We'll see in the 2013's report.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

Peter1337 13y ago

I really feel all the haters here are emotionally attached to GNOME deep down their hearts. Also, I feel that they want GNOME 3 to prove them wrong, to succeed, but not on their desktops ... maybe on their tablets. I felt the alienation too buddies, but maybe GNOME hasn't forgotten us after all, by introducing GNOME Classic (http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/new-classic-mode-forking-gnome-3-waste-time http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/new-classic-mode-...). I urge everyone of you to donate, not just because of this crunch. Donate to fulfil your expectations from GNOME, to see GNOME 3 succeed, maybe on your tablet. We, the open source hackers build such foundations. Foundations that aren't like hoarders Samsung & Apple who burn their money away on destructive litigations. Support GNOME at http://www.gnome.org/friends http://www.gnome.org/friends A friend in need is a friend indeed :-)

abalashov 13y ago

Idea: spend money on development, not "outreach foundations". The director took donations intended for one purpose and used them to fund political pet projects in another. She resigned before the 2013 financial reports came to light.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]