[Linux-aus] [LACTTE] DCJTech - Creating Jobs and Articles

Joshua Hesketh josh at nitrotech.org
Sat Jun 13 14:03:16 AEST 2015 

Hello Devyn,

Your enthusiasm is really great and we really appreciate you wanting to
get involved in the Linux Australia community.

I think one of the large hesitations the council has with the proposal
is that the returned benefit isn't unique. There are plenty of websites
buying for the news space and it's not obvious how this one would be set
apart to make it successful or attractive to readers or a good use of
our funds.

This (linux-aus at linux.org.au) is a discussion list for our members. One
of the reason we ask for grant requests to be posted to this list is to
get the insight and support from the wider community.

I would like to see some more discussion and feedback from our members
as to what they would like to see happen. If it is something our
community is interested in, it would be great to see some more thoughts
and brainstorming around how it would look if it were to proceed.

Cheers,
Josh

On 08/06/15 06:55, Devyn Collier Johnson wrote:
> Aloha!
>
>    Thank you Joshua Hesketh for your detailed response. The reason I
> chose $25USD is because I did not think the Linux Australia Community
> would be fine granting me a larger sum. Plus, I personally know two
> people that write articles for an organization for $25USD per article
> (hence my price idea). If the Linux Australia Community is fine with
> granting me a larger sum, then I will pay authors what ever the
> community wishes. My original grant request can be modified as the
> community sees fit.
>
>    True, I am the primary author of my site, but not the only author.
> That is another goal I hope this grant might fix. Since ads have not
> worked well and donations are scarce, a grant would help pay authors.
> Thus, with more authors and more content, I hope to attract more visitors.
>
>    Alternately, what about a major modification to the plan? The Linux
> Australia Community can find Australian computer technology students
> (like in universities/colleges) and pay the student directly. This new
> plan has the following advantages:
>
> 1. specifically helps Australia (the students)
> 2. community money is better protected from scams  (money goes from
> the community to the community-chosen authors)
> 3. students gain money (college students need this), experience, and
> details to add to a resume
> 4. the whole world still benefits from the written articles
> 5. the community can decide the pay-rate per article and choose
> whether this project is temporary or long-term
>
>    I am willing to modify the plan as needed to get your approval.
> Specifically, my core desire is to help humanity and bootstrap/trigger
> some collaboration between me website and the Linux community. Let me
> know what you think of the modified plan or if someone has a better
> idea or suggestion.
>
>    By the way, I updated my website's appearance a little and
> optimized the CSS3.
>
> Thanks,
> Devyn Collier Johnson
> DevynCJohnson at Gmail.com
>
> On 06/01/2015 07:44 AM, Joshua Hesketh wrote:
>> Hello Devyn,
>>
>> The linux-aus list (to which this thread is on) is a great place to
>> seek contributions and collaboration with the Linux Australia
>> community. Feel free to start a new thread with what that might look
>> like, otherwise hopefully keen onlookers will have noticed this
>> already :-).
>>
>> Some of the reasons the grant request wasn't successful is that there
>> are a number of news sites dedicated to open source and free software
>> already. The content also isn't specific to Australia - while this
>> isn't a blocker, it was a consideration when looking at how we fund
>> projects in our local community. Additionally there is a lot of great
>> posts on your website and forums, the overwhelming majority[0] were
>> from only one contributor (yourself). I understand there is a
>> bootstrapping issue that funding could help with, however the website
>> isn't an overly active community and the council was unable to see
>> what funding your request would do to create a unqiue website or
>> source of information outside of other online communities that
>> already exist. Lastly the council did not feel $25 per article was on
>> par with industry expectations for authors/journalists[1] and we were
>> unsure how you would attract contributors at this rate.
>>
>> It was an accumulation of factors that the council used in their
>> decision making. The decision should not by any means be taken as a
>> form of discouragement. Your website and articles are an excellent
>> way of contributing to the open source community and we'd like to
>> encourage you to continue. We hope that your website will find a
>> niche and develop its own community over time.
>>
>> Again feel free to contact the council on or off list if you have any
>> further questions.
>>
>> Kind regards,
>> Josh
>>
>> [0] Please correct me if I'm wrong, this is from a simple browsing of
>> dcjtech.info
>> [1] Again, please correct me if I'm wrong
>>
>> On 29/05/15 05:01, Devyn Johnson wrote:
>>> Aloha!
>>>
>>>    The website (DCJTech.info) benefits Linux users of all nations by
>>> providing forums, articles, etc. The website is non-profit and
>>> wishes to hire authors. The Linux Australian Community can benefit
>>> by selecting a few authors of its choosing in addition to the
>>> authors I have found. Why do you feel that the grant request "is
>>> outside the values of Linux Australia and its membership"? What are
>>> your concerns? I can modify the request and ease concerns if you
>>> wish. If Chris would like, I can fix any flaws that he has found.
>>> Let him know that he is welcome to contact me directly. I can also
>>> list the "Linux Australian Community" as part of the DCJTech crew
>>> (http://dcjtech.info/about-the-crew/). With the DCJTech forums,
>>> articles, quizzes, cheatsheets, and all of the other content, we
>>> have many ways of collaborating and benefiting the Linux community.
>>> Even if my grant request is still rejected, can we all at least
>>> still collaborate and work together? Any one at the Linux Australian
>>> Community is welcome to be members of the DCJTech crew.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Devyn Collier Johnson
>>> DevynCJohnson at Gmail.com <mailto:DevynCJohnson at Gmail.com>
>>>
>>> On 05/28/2015 12:27 AM, Joshua Hesketh wrote:
>>>> Hello Devyn,
>>>>
>>>> Thank you for reaching out to our community. The council has
>>>> discussed your grant request and moved the following motion:
>>>>
>>>>>  *
>>>>>
>>>>>     Grant request from DEVYN COLLIER JOHNSON
>>>>>
>>>>>      o
>>>>>
>>>>>         DCJTech - Creating Jobs and Articles
>>>>>
>>>>>      o
>>>>>
>>>>>         CHRIS moves motion to reject this grant request for the
>>>>>         reason that this is outside the values of Linux Australia
>>>>>         and its membership
>>>>>
>>>>>      o
>>>>>
>>>>>         Seconded by JOSH S
>>>>>
>>>>>       o Passes with 2 abstentions
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunately the council has decided not to fund your grant
>>>> request as the benefit to the Linux Australia community was not
>>>> clear. If you would like to know more feel free to reach out to us
>>>> either on or off list.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Josh
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 17/04/15 06:47, Devyn Collier Johnson wrote:
>>>>> Date: April 16, 2015
>>>>>
>>>>> Project Name: DCJTech - Creating Jobs and Articles
>>>>>
>>>>> Aim of Project: DCJTech (http://dcjtech.info/) wants to create
>>>>> jobs by hiring authors to write informative/technical articles
>>>>> about Linux, GNU, FreeBSD, and other open-source-related topics. 
>>>>> I currently have an author that can be hired immediately and two
>>>>> others that are considering the offer. Once the Linux Australia
>>>>> Council approves the project, I will seek more authors (I want
>>>>> four or five total). The amount paid to an author will depend on
>>>>> the content they submit ($25USD for a 700-1000 word article).
>>>>> Information about DCJTech can be found at
>>>>> http://dcjtech.info/about/ . DCJTech does not receive enough money
>>>>> from ads or donations to hire authors. Your contribution will
>>>>> enable me to hire authors and increase DCJTech's content. I have
>>>>> no problem showing proof of transactions. I can send you
>>>>> screenshots of relevant PayPal transactions and give you links to
>>>>> new content. Also, I have no problem hiring members of the Linux
>>>>> Australia Council to be authors. Feel free to email me asking for
>>>>> more details or clarification.
>>>>>
>>>>> Person Responsible for Request: Devyn Collier Johnson
>>>>> <DevynCJohnson at Gmail.com> <mailto:DevynCJohnson at Gmail.com>
>>>>>
>>>>> Request: $500 (amount may be modified as the Linux Australia
>>>>> Council see fit)
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> committee mailing list
>>>>> committee at lists.linux.org.au <mailto:committee at lists.linux.org.au>
>>>>> http://lists.linux.org.au/mailman/listinfo/committee
>>>>
>>>
>>
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.linux.org.au/pipermail/linux-aus/attachments/20150613/f84f499f/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 819 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <http://lists.linux.org.au/pipermail/linux-aus/attachments/20150613/f84f499f/attachment-0001.sig>

More information about the linux-aus mailing list