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.

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Bryce Harrington wrote on 2011-12-05:

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Still, it feels kinda weird to be essentially floating a loan for Google.

I wrote on 2011-12-06:

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That's actually a separate issue entirely. In other words: "whether or not to pay stipends to mentors" vs. "when to pay".

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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

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That's likely one reason why mentors prefer to keep the $500 rather than give it back.

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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