January 2014 - Inkscape Board of Directors

Upcoming votes
by Bryce Harrington 19 Feb '14

19 Feb '14

Hi all, We've got several proposals in various states of discussion, which I think would be good to bring to a vote over the coming month. In general do you guys prefer having a bunch of different things to vote on in one go, or to have them spaced out time-wise to permit deliberation? Here's the topics I'm thinking we should vote on: a. 2013 Developer Education Book Campaign b. Funded Development Procedure c. Job Exceptions for Priority Projects d. Move Inkscape Board mailing list from SourceForge to Launchpad Anything else that'll need votes? Bryce

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[RESULTS] Developer Education Book Campaign 2013
by Bryce Harrington 19 Feb '14

19 Feb '14

Here is the breakdown for the voting on this issue: Josh Andler Yes Tavmjong Bah unknown Ted Gould Yes Bryce Harrington Yes Johan Engelen Yes Tim Cole unknown Jon Cruz unknown With 4 yes votes we have a majority decision. Johan, please go ahead and proceed with step #3. Once that's done, I'll follow up with step #4. Bryce ----- Forwarded message from Johan Engelen <jbc.engelen@...31...> ----- Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 17:59:50 +0100 From: Johan Engelen <jbc.engelen@...31...> To: Bryce Harrington <bryce@...2...> Subject: Re: [Inkscape-board] [REFERENDUM] Developer Education Book Campaign 2013 Hi Bruce, I thought I had already re-voted, sorry. I vote a. Yes Cheers, Johan ----- Reply message ----- From: "Bryce Harrington" <bryce@...2...> To: "Johan Engelen" <j.b.c.engelen@...51...> Subject: [Inkscape-board] [REFERENDUM] Developer Education Book Campaign 2013 Date: Wed, Jan 15, 2014 02:43 Btw, I need you to officially re-vote for the update so it's on record. Bryce On Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 06:29:20PM +0100, Johan Engelen wrote: > a. YES > > - Johan > > > On 13-1-2014 9:46, Bryce Harrington wrote: > > A majority Board vote is required for the following proposal. > > > > > > Proposal: > > > > 1. Purchase and distribute a programming book to the top 10 Inkscape > > contributors for the past 12 months, as calculated by Ohloh.net: > > http://www.ohloh.net/p/inkscape/contributors?query=&sort=commits_12_mo > > > > 2. The contributors can choose from one of the following books: > > a) Effective C++, 3rd Ed. > > by Scott Meyers > > b) Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code > > by Martin Fowler > > c) A Tour of C++ > > by Bjarne Stroustrup > > > > 3. The campaign proposer (Johan Engelen, or their designee) will be > > empowered to officially announce and introduce the campaign to the > > larger community. > > > > 4. The board chairperson (or their designee) will be empowered to > > i) Identify the qualified contributors as per (1), ii) Contact the > > qualified book recipients to collect their address and choice of book > > from (2), iii) Purchase and disseminiate the books to the provided > > addresses, iv) Collect reimbursement from SFC for expenses incurred. > > > > > > [ ] a. Yes, conduct this campaign as defined above > > [ ] b. No, we should not conduct this campaign > > [ ] c. Maybe, but I disagree with some definition of the campaign > > > > > > Background: > > > > """ > > Lately, I've become obsessed with code quality. I've been reading > > Bjourne Stroustrup's "bible" on C++11, watched all videos of the > > "Going Native" conferences, started using clang, ..., and it has made > > me much more aware of the language's facilities for preventing bugs. I > > regularly browse over Inkscape's code and try to fix things I think > > can be improved (janitorial); our source is a pretty big mess > > I really do think Inkscape can use some love to improve logic and to > > decrease some amount of spaghetti. > > > > I just saw the book "Effective C++", which I believe is a great resource > > to inspire thought and learn how to write better code, and is meant for > > experienced programmers. In general: how do you guys feel about > > donating something [like this book] to our top committers for their > > "education"? We would need some metric of what "top committers" means, > > we could use ohloh.net's numbers. > > > > *For example*, we have 10 people that committed more than 50 times in > > the past 12 months. So that'd be 10 books = 10 x 31 euro = 310 euro > > cost --- shipping and whatnot --> 400 euro cost. > > > > (After we release 0.91, I will become very active in pushing for C++11 > > (i.e., upgrading our compiler dependencies to more modern versions so > > we can start using part of C++11 features), and general maintenance / > > refactoring / cleaning up. It's pretty rewarding I find, and very > > low-key in terms of long-time brain-investment.) > > > > Johan > > """ > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > CenturyLink Cloud: The Leader in Enterprise Cloud Services. > > Learn Why More Businesses Are Choosing CenturyLink Cloud For > > Critical Workloads, Development Environments & Everything In Between. > > Get a Quote or Start a Free Trial Today. > > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=119420431&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk > > _______________________________________________ > > Inkscape-board mailing list > > Inkscape-board(a)lists.sourceforge.net > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/inkscape-board > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > CenturyLink Cloud: The Leader in Enterprise Cloud Services. > Learn Why More Businesses Are Choosing CenturyLink Cloud For > Critical Workloads, Development Environments & Everything In Between. > Get a Quote or Start a Free Trial Today. > http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=119420431&iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk > _______________________________________________ > Inkscape-board mailing list > Inkscape-board(a)lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/inkscape-board ----- End forwarded message -----

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Re: [Inkscape-board] new Inkscape website (was: Re: updating DNS info for Inkscape: OSU-OSL needed)
by Bryce Harrington 17 Feb '14

17 Feb '14

On Mon, Dec 09, 2013 at 10:49:46AM -0500, Tony Sebro wrote: > On 12/06/2013 07:05 PM, Bryce W. Harrington wrote: > >Thanks; I worked through OSUOSL to get the DNS changeover done. The new > >website is live. > > > ...and looks great, by the way. Kudos. :) And, thanks for taking > care of the Google Checkout request. > > Now that the new site is up, please let me know when you've had a > chance to create a page for the trademark policy. Thanks! I went ahead and created a page for this. http://inkscape.org/en/about/trademark-policy/ When we have more policies posted we might move this elsewhere in the site, but this will do for now. Btw, I also set up a page listing board members, although Jon and Mental don't have accounts yet so it's only partial. It would be good for everyone to add a short bio, 2-3 sentences about themselves. http://inkscape.org/en/about/board-members/ Bryce

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Inkscape Trademark Policy
by Bryce Harrington 31 Jan '14

31 Jan '14

Hi all, One of the Inkscape Board's actions in 2013 was to establish a trademark policy for the Inkscape name and logo. With the Software Freedom Conservancy's help we've completed the registration and documented under the About menu item on the website: http://inkscape.org/en/about/trademark-policy/ The motivation for doing this was due to questions that kept cropping up from people wanting to use it for legitimate purposes (e.g. using our unmodified logo on merchandise), and from people noticing our trademark used illegitimately (e.g. selling unrelated software using our name or logo). We wanted a policy that would provide clear guidance for all these uses, that would be liberally permissive for non-commercial and FOSS-friendly commercial uses, while prohibiting obviously fraudulent uses. Along with this, I've added a FAQ entry (below) with a brief summary. Bryce == FAQ: How are the Inkscape name and logo protected? == The Inkscape name is trademarked under U.S. Trademark Law, and held and administered by the Software Freedom Conservancy. Our policy is available on the website, and describes the conditions under which you can use our name and logo. We've aimed to make our requirements reasonable and friendly: We want to avoid things like other groups claiming to be or represent us when they don't, or to distribute our software in ways that aren't consistent with our license. The logo is similarly trademarked and covered by our trademark policy. We're cool with people creating derivative works that help promote Inkscape or make it fit in with a given user interface style, but we don't want to see it abused by companies that might incorporate it into their own logos. For merchandising, you are welcomed to use our unmodified logo; for anything else, please contact the Inkscape Board for permission.

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LGM
by Alexandre Prokoudine 29 Jan '14

29 Jan '14

Hello board, Is there an understanding, how many developers are going to attend LGM this year, and expenses of how many of them are going to be covered by the Inkscape organization? We'd appreaciate if you could give us this information, so that we had a better understanding, where we are regarding finances. Alexandre

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Re: [Inkscape-board] creating a page for the TM policy (was Re: new Inkscape website)
by Bryce Harrington 14 Jan '14

14 Jan '14

Ted, this was your baby - you going to set up the page, or shall I? On Tue, Jan 07, 2014 at 10:10:29AM -0500, Tony Sebro wrote: > On 12/09/2013 10:49 AM, Tony Sebro wrote: > >On 12/06/2013 07:05 PM, Bryce W. Harrington wrote: > >>Thanks; I worked through OSUOSL to get the DNS changeover done. The new > >>website is live. > >> > >...and looks great, by the way. Kudos. :) And, thanks for > >taking care of the Google Checkout request. > > > >Now that the new site is up, please let me know when you've had a > >chance to create a page for the trademark policy. Thanks! > > > >Best, -Tony > > > Hi, all; Happy New Year. > I send this as a reminder to add a page toe the website for the > trademark policy. I'd also advise that you add a link to the TM > policy page in the FAQ, under the "Legal" subheading. > > Please let me know when you've set this up. Thanks! Best, -Tony > > -- > Tony Sebro, General Counsel, Software Freedom Conservancy > +1-212-461-3245 x11 > tony@...41... > www.sfconservancy.org

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[REFERENDUM] Developer Education Book Campaign 2013
by Bryce Harrington 14 Jan '14

14 Jan '14

A majority Board vote is required for the following proposal. Proposal: 1. Purchase and distribute a programming book to the top 10 Inkscape contributors for the past 12 months, as calculated by Ohloh.net: http://www.ohloh.net/p/inkscape/contributors?query=&sort=commits_12_mo 2. The contributors can choose from one of the following books: a) Effective C++, 3rd Ed. by Scott Meyers b) Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler c) A Tour of C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup 3. The campaign proposer (Johan Engelen, or their designee) will be empowered to officially announce and introduce the campaign to the larger community. 4. The board chairperson (or their designee) will be empowered to i) Identify the qualified contributors as per (1), ii) Contact the qualified book recipients to collect their address and choice of book from (2), iii) Purchase and disseminiate the books to the provided addresses, iv) Collect reimbursement from SFC for expenses incurred. [ ] a. Yes, conduct this campaign as defined above [ ] b. No, we should not conduct this campaign [ ] c. Maybe, but I disagree with some definition of the campaign Background: """ Lately, I've become obsessed with code quality. I've been reading Bjourne Stroustrup's "bible" on C++11, watched all videos of the "Going Native" conferences, started using clang, ..., and it has made me much more aware of the language's facilities for preventing bugs. I regularly browse over Inkscape's code and try to fix things I think can be improved (janitorial); our source is a pretty big mess I really do think Inkscape can use some love to improve logic and to decrease some amount of spaghetti. I just saw the book "Effective C++", which I believe is a great resource to inspire thought and learn how to write better code, and is meant for experienced programmers. In general: how do you guys feel about donating something [like this book] to our top committers for their "education"? We would need some metric of what "top committers" means, we could use ohloh.net's numbers. *For example*, we have 10 people that committed more than 50 times in the past 12 months. So that'd be 10 books = 10 x 31 euro = 310 euro cost --- shipping and whatnot --> 400 euro cost. (After we release 0.91, I will become very active in pushing for C++11 (i.e., upgrading our compiler dependencies to more modern versions so we can start using part of C++11 features), and general maintenance / refactoring / cleaning up. It's pretty rewarding I find, and very low-key in terms of long-time brain-investment.) Johan """

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Re: [Inkscape-board] Keys and Passwords
by Bryce Harrington 14 Jan '14

14 Jan '14

On Tue, Dec 03, 2013 at 01:56:56PM -0500, Martin Owens wrote: > Dear Inkscape Board, > > See attached for kickstarter keys, feel free to update email address, > delete account, or just save the account for some future event. Thanks. I think we need to standardize the process for how to hold and share keys and other authentication information. But I don't know how to best handle this. I've asked Kees Cook for advice on best practices. If anyone else knows how other projects do this, do share. > The DNS request for inkscape.org should include a webadmin@...66... > redirect and maybe a board@...66... address to contact the board > when needed (if not already setup). Use inkscape-board(a)lists.sourceforge.net, but ideally the board should only very rarely need to be contacted. > Let me know if you'd like one of these osl servers to handle that sort > of thing or if you have something setup already. For webadmin@...66..., I think you can set up redirects through OSL as you see fit. (If anyone disagrees, chime in now...) > Best Regards, Martin Owens > inkscape-devel(a)lists.sourceforge.net > lx.LI.v/50mFA

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Developer education
by Johan Engelen 13 Jan '14

13 Jan '14

Hi all, Lately, I've become obsessed with code quality. I've been reading Bjourne Stroustrup's "bible" on C++11, watched all videos of the "Going Native" conferences, started using clang, ..., and it has made me much more aware of the language's facilities for preventing bugs. I regularly browse over Inkscape's code and try to fix things I think can be improved (janitorial); our source is a pretty big mess I really do think Inkscape can use some love to improve logic and to decrease some amount of spaghetti. I just saw the book "Effective C++", which I believe is a great resource to inspire thought and learn how to write better code, and is meant for experienced programmers. How do you guys feel about donating this book to our top committers? (if you feel this is too egoistic of me, *I* will pay for my own copy myself, no worries, and pass my copy on to the dev that was just below the cut-off point). In general: how do you guys feel about donating something to our top committers for their "education"? We would need some metric of what "top committers" means, we could use ohloh.net's numbers. *For example*, we have 10 people that committed more than 50 times in the past 12 months. So that'd be 10 books = 10 x 31 euro = 310 euro cost --- shipping and whatnot --> 400 euro cost. What do you think? Cheers, Johan (After we release 0.91, I will become very active in pushing for C++11 (i.e., upgrading our compiler dependencies to more modern versions so we can start using part of C++11 features), and general maintenance / refactoring / cleaning up. It's pretty rewarding I find, and very low-key in terms of long-time brain-investment.)

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Proposal for fundraising and funded development process (Was Re: RedHat Question)
by Bryce Harrington 12 Jan '14

12 Jan '14

[Forwarding thread to the board mailing list. Dropping CC of board members since they're already on the list alias.] We've talked about fundraisers and funded development in the past. For me the sticking point is always, "Who's going to handle running the fundraiser, and then judging whether the work was adequately done?" So, I did a bit of brainstorming using Krzysztof's task rule as a starting point, tacking on the thoughts I mentioned earlier, and fleshing out how the fundraising and administration end of things could be done. My goal here is to get us to a point where the board doesn't have to be intimately involved in specific jobs and fundraisers, but can just sign off on an official policy for how they should be handled in general, and then let the work happen organically. Please read this over and throw darts. I have several questions that I'd want to see answers for before putting this up for a vote, so do please chime in with your opinions and thoughts. Bryce ------------------------------------------------------------------------ We maintain a listing of proposed projects. Projects can be proposed by anyone in the Inkscape AUTHORS file. Anything can be proposed, including feature development, bug triaging, documentation, administration, etc. It must have a defined deliverable and acceptance criteria identified, and a time limit for how long the work should take. Initially these are all made available for volunteers to do freely. When GSoC rolls around we use them as suggested projects for students to undertake. Any project that remains on the list unfinished for 6 months becomes eligible for funding the work. (This is so that any proposed projects that are fun or easy get done by volunteers, and money can be focused on harder unsexy work, and to make abuse harder.) We'll call these eligible projects 'jobs'. Meanwhile, we run official fundraisers, that have the goal of getting donations for these jobs. Each of these has a named person serving as that fundraiser's coordinator who handles all administrative manners for the duration of the campaign. It is up to this coordinator's discretion how to distribute the raised money at the completion of the fundraiser, however: a) all funds must be directed only to jobs in the list, and b) no single job can receive more than 25% of the raised funds. For ongoing fundraisers, the coordinator responsible for setting it up can specify the distribution programmatically (e.g. "distribute evenly to the four oldest jobs in the list", or "10% each to each to the ten jobs with the highest funding", or "allocated evenly across all documentation jobs". The coordinator will remain responsible for administrative duties for the length of the fundraiser; if they choose to step down, the fundraiser is terminated (but another coordinator can start up an equivalent to replace it, under their own funding distribution preferences). The money from these fundraisers goes to the Inkscape Foundation account administered by the Software Conservancy, who takes a small percentage of each donation. All donations are tax deductable. We maintain a list of allocations-to-jobs so we can keep track of what money "belongs" to which job, so the correct amount is paid when the job is done. Anyone in the Inkscape AUTHORS file can sign up for one of the jobs. When they assign themselves the job, the clock starts ticking. During the time limit, no one else can sign up to do the same job. When the time runs out and the job is not completed, the assignee doesn't receive the reward and can't attempt the same job again for 6 months. The job is considered completed when the identified deliverables are delivered according to the specified criteria. Open Questions: * Should fundraiser coordinators get remuneration of some sort, or is the ability to direct the funds they raise a sufficient reward? * Who decides when a given job is "complete"? Do we need to have a separate reviewer role identified (analogous to GSoC mentor)? Should that person get some form of remuneration too? Should the role be interactive with the job performer, or an anonymous pass/fail? * Should jobs 'expire' after some period of time, with any allocated funds being freed up for other jobs and/or returned to the general fund? * How do we prune out jobs that become irrelevant? * What if someone (or multiple someones) handles the job without signing up for it? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ On Fri, Dec 13, 2013 at 11:40:18PM +0100, Krzysztof Kosiński wrote: > Hello all > > Chiming in with a slight delay. It would be awesome if we could get > that funding. > > If we want to use the money to fund people working on specific > features or maintenance tasks, I could help outline the goals for > that, and probably also do some of the tasks myself if I have the > time. > > If RedHat were to provide recurring contributions, we could set up a > program where performing a well defined coding task in a specified > time limit is rewarded with money. The crucial difference between this > and GSoC would be that we could use our program to pay people doing > boring maintenance tasks such as removing deprecated functions and > writing better documentation. > > When it comes to rules, I would imagine something like this: Any > existing committer could sign up to do one of the tasks, and the clock > would start ticking. During the specified time limit, no one else can > sign up to do the same task. When the time runs out and the task is > not completed, the committer who signed up doesn't receive the reward > and can't attempt the same task again for e.g. one year. > > Regards, Krzysztof > > 2013/12/10 Tavmjong Bah <tavmjong@...47...>: > > On Mon, 2013-12-09 at 14:38 -0500, Martin Owens wrote: > >> Hey Guys, > >> > >> More discussion with Máirín (mo) at RedHat. See below. > >> > >> On Mon, 2013-12-09 at 14:18 -0500, Máirín Duffy wrote: > >> > Okay, and are you guys going to be paying someone to develop the > >> > features you're looking at? Are you doing it through a program or as a > >> > one-off kind of thing? > >> > >> I think this is something the board should talk about. I know it > >> entirely depends on the amount of funds and the scale of participation. > >> But it might be worth having a couple of levels of 'we wish we could do > >> this if we had this amount of funding' > >> > >> And should it be a program? The Inkscape-Equivalence program. Donate the > >> same amount per year as you would pay for Illustrator to help the > >> inkscape project development.? > >> > > > > I like the idea of the "Inkscape-Equivalence' program. I think we should > > make it a permanent program. Do other groups do this? > > > > Tav > > > > > > > >

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