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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Thanks, kindly. I appreciate the Council considering the proposal and providing feedback.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">May I make two notes?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">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. For instance, I have also seen the specific page to which you link
<i>but</i> (a) it provides no evidence it is ongoing, and (b) it does not go far enough. It does not include very important free software ELT/ETL tools (that I referred to in my proposal) such as Apache Kafka, AirByte, and others. Without these tools, the whole
field of data engineering disappears. Further, my proposal sought to interact with the open-source projects to further the RISC-V support while the paper to which you refer merely notes problems exist.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">This is not to criticise nor complain, merely to say questions that are not asked go unanswered; had these been put to me I would have been delighted to work with the Council to
ensure a solid proposal that would allow us, together, to ensure a great result for free software in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">I had believed the grants process was more collaborative, but knowing that is not the case, I do look forward to working with you again in 2024 to ensure a more robust submission
in future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">I’m still committed to furthering the area of database / data tools on RISC-V so I shall keep investigating options and will happily report back if I find some success.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Once again, many thanks for your kind consideration of the project, and for the insightful feedback.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">I hope the Council enjoys a tremendous Christmas and New Year period with your friends and family, and I also wish Russell the best with his work, who has been a source of inspiration
and information to me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">David W<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;color:black">From:
</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;color:black">Jonathan Woithe <jwoithe@just42.net><br>
<b>Date: </b>Wednesday, 20 December 2023 at 10:23</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;color:black">pm<br>
<b>To: </b>David M Williams <david@davidmwilliams.com><br>
<b>Cc: </b>council@linux.org.au <council@linux.org.au>, grants@lists.linux.org.au <grants@lists.linux.org.au><br>
<b>Subject: </b>RISC-V hardware for software development - grant application decision<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Dear David<br>
<br>
Your grant application for RISC-V hardware to support FOSS software<br>
development was discussed by the Linux Australia Council at its meeting on<br>
20 Dec 2023. Unfortunately, your application was not successful.<br>
<br>
The grant application was detailed and we appreciated the difficulty in<br>
providing firm quotations in the circumstances. However, the need for the<br>
proposed work program was unclear to Council due to efforts already underway<br>
by others (see [1] for example). As a result, the benefits conveyed to the<br>
Free and Open Source community by the proposal were not obvious. Council<br>
encourages you to make contact when the next Grants Program opens in 2024 to<br>
discuss these aspects of your application prior to submission in order to<br>
maximise your chances of success.<br>
<br>
If you have questions, please get in touch with myself or any member of the<br>
Linux Australia Council.<br>
<br>
Jonathan Woithe<br>
(on behalf of Linux Australia)<br>
<br>
[1] <a href="https://riscv.org/blog/2023/08/risc-v-public-beta-platform-release-%C2%B7-database-adaptation-evaluation-on-risc-v-server/">
https://riscv.org/blog/2023/08/risc-v-public-beta-platform-release-%C2%B7-database-adaptation-evaluation-on-risc-v-server/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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