[Grants] RISC-V hardware for software development - grant application decision

[Jonathan Woithe]

Hi David

On Wed, Dec 20, 2023 at 11:52:51PM +0000, David M Williams wrote:
> 1/ I note Russell Coker’s application was rejected also, and I hope very
> much my own project had no bearing on his outcome.  I would feel very bad
> if I “over-saturated” the RISC-V software interest.

Every grant is evaluated on its own merits and will naturally reflect what
the applicant wishes to do.  If a particular topic is popular among members,
there's a strong change that there will be multiple grant applications
related to it (as we've seen this year with RISC-V topics).  There certainly
isn't a policy of limiting the number of grants awarded in any single area
of interest.

Rest assured that the outcome of your application was not influenced by
Russell Coker's most recent application, or any other past or current grant
applications.

> 2/ I appreciate the feedback, though I must confess to feeling
> disappointed in the lack of discussion.  I had assumed, erroneously, the
> grants process would be a dialog with questions/answers, to help
> refine/strengthen the proposal, and provide Council with answers to its
> questions. ...

This is a fair comment.  It is worth noting that it's not just Council who
can ask questions on the grants list: any Linux Australia member can
subscribe to the Grants list and make suggestions and ask questions.  For
better or worse, this time of year is very busy for Council as we work to
finalise the year's activities, put the annual report together and prepare
for the AGM in January - all alongside everything else that needs doing at
our day jobs and privately.  For various reasons, circumstances meant that
for all the grants submitted in late November, detailed post-submission
engagement by Council members was unfortunately not possible.  We apologise
for this.  Council therefore needed to rely on the content of the
application in isolation.  This is perhaps not ideal and may be something
for Council to consider next year when setting the cutoff date for grant
applications.  I can't speak for other current or future members of Council,
but there may be merit in considering a slightly earlier closing date to
avoid grant evaluation overlapping with the rest of the end-of-year tasks.

> I hope the Council enjoys a tremendous Christmas and New Year period with
> your friends and family ...

Thanks, and to you too.

We appreciate you taking the time to provide feedback about the grants
process.

Regards
  jonathan