February 2012 - Inkscape Board of Directors

Re: [Inkscape-board] Please decide if Inkscape will give mentors option of taking payment for the SoC 2011.
by Bryce Harrington 15 Feb '12

15 Feb '12

On Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 10:47:22AM -0800, Bradley M. Kuhn wrote: > Ted Gould wrote at 19:19 (PST) on Monday: > > Don't know if it's needed, but I'll throw in a +1 on both as well. > > So, Bryce, I'd appreciate if you can tell me, as Representative, if the > discussion on this is done and the Inkscape Committee now approves to > pay mentors who want to be paid for SoC 2011? Yes, I think we've gathered sufficient feedback to consider this done, and approve payment of mentors that desire it. Thanks, Bryce

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Stepping down
by Josh Andler 15 Feb '12

15 Feb '12

Hey Bradley & fellow board members, Both Aaron and I are looking to step down from our positions on the board but are unsure of what the process for this is. For me, I would just like to others the opportunity to take part and it's a piece of my reducing involvement in the project to avoid burn out (I've gotten pretty close lately). What is the process to make it official and how does the board go about nominating new members? I have a few people I'd recommend (as I've mentioned in the past) if it is of interest to you all. Cheers, Josh

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Re: [Inkscape-board] Please decide if Inkscape will give mentors option of taking payment for the SoC 2011.
by Nathan Hurst 14 Feb '12

14 Feb '12

On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 04:36:10PM -0500, Bradley M. Kuhn wrote: > >> 0. Will Inkscape offer to pay a stipend to the mentors who mentored > >> students in Summer of Code 2011? > Bryce Harrington wrote at 20:52 (EST) on Thursday: > > > I think our unofficial policy has been that mentors have first dibs on > > the money, but can gift it back to (i.e. leave it with) Inkscape at > > their discretion. They did the work to earn it, they should have the > > say over its disposition. > > Yes, that's been how it was handled in the past. > > > Despite that, early on all the mentors all pretty much just let Inkscape > > keep the funds, so there wasn't a question of paying it out. > > It's been mixed in previous years -- some were paid out, some weren't. > > > Does anyone feel more that the money should go directly into the > > Inkscape fund, and only paid to mentors on a case-by-case basis? > > Ok, while you do say below that you're still the Rep (sorry for > misremembering) I can take instruction from you about what to do, but I > presume that statement above is you polling everyone else... in which > case, I am going to wait to tell me the polling is done and you've > decided. I support Bryce's position. > >> 1. If the answer to (0) is yes, what is the maximum amount will be paid > >> to each mentor? > > > > It would be the maximum amount from Google ($500) less any fees. > > > > Does anyone else feel that the amount should be something different? > > Same here. $500 works for me. njh

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Re: [Inkscape-board] Please decide if Inkscape will give mentors option of taking payment for the SoC 2011.
by Bryce Harrington 10 Feb '12

10 Feb '12

On Wed, Feb 08, 2012 at 05:46:16PM -0500, Bradley M. Kuhn wrote: > Inkscape Committee, I was going to hold off on comment until others had a chance to speak, but since no one has replied yet guess I'll start. > > Bryce Harrington wrote on 2011-12-05: > >> Still, it feels kinda weird to be essentially floating a loan for > >> Google. > > I wrote on 2011-12-06: > > That's actually a separate issue entirely. In other words: "whether > > or not to pay stipends to mentors" vs. "when to pay". > ... > > It will take Google time to pay, but Google will pay. And, as I said, > > this is a "when" question. The "if" question should be answered > > separately, IMO. > > The funds from Google for SoC 2011 have arrived. Therefore, the > discussion of whether or not we'll "float" Google can fully be dropped > since it's moot now. I'm guessing this issue might come up in the future? If so, perhaps this committee should still come up with a decision on how to handle this situation. Others have commented already they don't see a problem with this. I stated my reservation but don't have strong feelings and can support the group consensus here. Does anyone else have reservations? > However, we still need an answer to these questions: > > 0. Will Inkscape offer to pay a stipend to the mentors who mentored > students in Summer of Code 2011? I think our unofficial policy has been that mentors have first dibs on the money, but can gift it back to (i.e. leave it with) Inkscape at their discretion. They did the work to earn it, they should have the say over its disposition. Despite that, early on all the mentors all pretty much just let Inkscape keep the funds, so there wasn't a question of paying it out. However, given that the Inkscape project really hasn't made much use of the cash, it sounds like lately mentors are becoming more interested in having the money to put to use themselves. Does anyone feel more that the money should go directly into the Inkscape fund, and only paid to mentors on a case-by-case basis? > 1. If the answer to (0) is yes, what is the maximum amount will be paid > to each mentor? It would be the maximum amount from Google ($500) less any fees. Does anyone else feel that the amount should be something different? > Once I have answers to these two questions from the Inkscape Committee, > I can take care of the rest. > > Below is some context from the discussion we had back in December about > this. Please note that now that the SoC 2012 is open, it might be very > good to get this settled right away. > > > I should also note that I don't currently have record who the official > "representative" of the Inkscape Committee is to Conservancy. Who is > that? Whoever it is needs to be the person to tell me officially the > answers to the questions above. I believe that would be me. I haven't been very involved in Inkscape day to day matters though since I started my current job, but then I think the other committee members are in similar situations, so maybe that's not a big deal. I'm happy to continue in the role, but if any committee members feel it's time for a new rep, I'm also fine with passing the baton. Bryce > >> That's likely one reason why mentors prefer to keep the $500 rather > >> than give it back. > > > So, as I mentioned it before, it's not accurate to say "give it back". > > To be abundantly clear, the money belongs to Inkscape as a project, > > and Inkscape can chose what to do with it. Inkscape has in the past > > chosen to give the mentors a choice to take the money or leave it with > > Inkscape. > > > > On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 1:14 PM, Nathan Hurst <njh@...19...> wrote: > >>> > As a mentor from previous years I would like to say that the > >>> > time(s) ... when I've been paid the money was very much > >>> > appreciated. I'm not convinced the money going to the inkscape > >>> > kitty has much direct value for the project - mentors put in a lot > >>> > of work for the $500 which in turn leads to successful SoCs which > >>> > lead to a) better inkscape and b) a higher chance of continued > >>> > involvement from the student and the mentor. We're not paying > >>> > oncosts or a mortgage, so sitting on cash doesn't really make > >>> > sense, it is better to spend it while it still has value. > > >> I wish we were making better use of the cash. Nathan's right that > >> it's silly for it to just sit in the bank not helping the project. > > > So, one thing worth noting is that the number $500/mentor is just what > > Google's giving to Inkscape. If Inkscape feels the mentors are > > particularly valuable, then giving more is possible. For example, > > there's plenty of funds available to Inkscape and you could chose to > > give $750/mentor, knowing that $500 will be covered by Google. > > -- > Bradley M. Kuhn, Executive Director, Software Freedom Conservancy

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