On Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 08:51:57PM -0500, Aaron Spike wrote:
- what precedent is this setting, ie how will we respond (possibly
unlikely) requests from other publishers or documentation sources?
Indeed, we've received numerous requests over the years by publishers wishing for high profile links at one place or another in the website to help them better market their products, sometimes offering some monetization to Inkscape in return.
Perhaps what we need is a more general purpose policy for handling these types of situations, that we can vote on once and apply to all future publisher requests. I think we might be able to come up with a more liberal policy than if we're making decisions on a case by case basis (which I think encourages the board to take a conservative "no advertising" stance). With a good policy I think we could be more fair to different publishers and also be better able to service needs of users looking for good documentation.
Does this sound like a good approach? Or should we just stick with the current system?
I don't have a specific idea in mind for proposing, although there's a few obvious policy options we can include for consideration:
I. No paid advertisements are permitted. The Inkscape project will consider inclusion of links or references to relevant products as the website maintainers see fit.
II. The board votes on each paid link proposal individually. (Basically, status quo for how we're doing things so far.)
III. Specific pages on the website are designated for commercial listings. Each page has a standardized format which all listings must follow for inclusion. These listings are ordered by amount paid, with highest paid at the top. No proposals for links or listings on any other location in the site including headers, footers, or menus will be entertained.
IV. Ala Carte. Every location on the website is given a price value for being listed for a specified period of time (e.g. 3 months). A schedule is drawn up and placement is sold on a first-come / first-serve basis.
V. Similar to IV but with a bidding system so prices are set by the highest bidder within a period of time.
Anyone got more ideas?
Bryce