On Sat, Dec 11, 2021, 02:37 Ted Gould <ted@gould.cx> wrote:
On Dec 10 2021, at 2:01 pm, Martin Owens <doctormo@geek-2.com> wrote:
The project has many needs, which we currently ask volunteers to do.
But many of these tasks are things we need and shouldn't depend on
waiting for volunteers, so the basic principle was put forward that "if
the project is asking for the work to be done, then the project should
be paying for it." This was used a guideline to find items we should be
budgeting for.

I think this is a dangerous policy, as it actively discourages volunteering. Why would I volunteer when I could be paid? Should I have a budget for writing this email? Is it something I think the project needs? What you've defined there is a company, not a community oriented project.

I understand this fear, but I think it doesn't give our volunteers enough credit. The answer that jumps to my mind when asked "Why should I volunteer when I could be paid?" is "Because it makes the Free software I use better for myself and for everyone in the world." Not being paid for a thing would not discourage me from doing it. The prospect of payment for the release video was brought up during this meeting. I would certainly try to do a video anyway, just as I've done in previous years. It's just that payment in this case means that I can dedicate more time to it, and spend more time getting feedback from the group in the early stages, as I've done for other FOSS projects. Currently it's very much a "what do I have time to throw together", rather than "What do we want to do with this next release video".

Even reading the hypothetical "How much should I charge for writing this email" - it would sound absurd coming from anyone in the project.
As a fun thought experiment, though: If the project decides that Ted's email activities are essential to the functioning of Inkscape,  and Ted doesn't have time otherwise, then I see no problem with paying for that, or even some stipend to be able to see more of Ted at the video meetings. ;) The point is, if the project needs something, and that something doesn't have any volunteers, or can't be done on time in a volunteer's spare time, then the project should use donations to improve those areas in lieu of volunteer work.

Moreover, since donated time is contingent on people's spare time in many cases, and people lose time for things, it's prudent to have a portion of the budget ready to fill in those areas with paid work to compensate.

These are my thoughts on it.
-C