[Linux-aus] The Ada Initiative - Should Linux Australia support it?

Brent Wallis brent.wallis at gmail.com
Mon Feb 21 19:27:16 EST 2011


Hi,

Let me first pretext with the fact that I support the idea.
However, posts so far indicate that that there is an uneasy feeling about
the matter.

I have just read this article:
http://www.linux.com/news/enterprise/biz-enterprise/410922-news-ada-initiative-supports-women-in-free-software

<http://www.linux.com/news/enterprise/biz-enterprise/410922-news-ada-initiative-supports-women-in-free-software>Which
points to this:
http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/newss/7293/1/

<http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/newss/7293/1/>In which is contained
these 2 consecutive paragraphs:
*


"The current plan is to find funding for two years' full time work for at
least Aurora and Gardiner. Others may be hired as funding permits, or for
special projects.

"We're hoping to rely on corporate donations, probably with some early funds
raised through individual donations" says Gardiner. The Ada Initiative has
already announced its first sponsor, Linux Australia, and its founders hope
to announce other sponsors shortly."

LA in the past have required individuals to tout their cause on list when
requesting donations...

Why oh why has this happened without there being community discussion?

What have I missed?

Can no one see how this could work against the intent?


Rgds

BW


*
On Mon, Feb 21, 2011 at 6:37 PM, Mike Carden <mike.carden at gmail.com> wrote:

> As the person properly recorded in the Council meeting minutes as
> having proposed this, I feel I ought to comment.
>
> First and foremost, I'd like to thank AJ and others for quickly
> putting up a Red Flag on our actions. You're right. We did fail to
> consult properly with the membership. No question. I apologise for
> that.
>
> For myself, I can only say that my enthusiasm for the project and my
> knowledge of its two principal driving forces (Mary and Valerie) made
> it a no-brainer. If ever there was a project worthy of the support of
> LA, this is one.
>
> You may note that last year I supported Brendan Scott's project to
> look at licensing issues and the Trade Practices Act. Again, I
> supported the idea based on what I knew of Brendan. He delivered.
>
> I spent the first 20 years of my working life in private industry and
> developed my instincts there. In that context, The Ada Initiative is
> something I'd jump to support instantly. For the last seven years I
> have worked in the public sector where the norm would be 5 white
> papers, a costed business plan, a Project Initiation Document, a risk
> register, a Capital vs Operational budget, 27 sub committees and a
> partridge in a pear tree. So I went with my former experience but I
> acknowledge that we should have considered parts of the latter.
>
> Let's think for a moment about what it costs to get this going. How
> much would you have to pay to get two people to work on something full
> time? Be conservative and assume they each give it half their
> attention. So that might be one Full Time Equivalent (FTE) person. In
> your workplace, how much does one FTE cost per annum? In Oz, the
> Bureau of Stats thought that $77,761 was average a year or so ago.
> Five K from LA won't make a big hole in that.
>
> So I have nailed my colours to the mast and I welcome constructive
> discussion.
>
> --
> MC
>
> _______________________________________________
> linux-aus mailing list
> linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au
> http://lists.linux.org.au/listinfo/linux-aus
>
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