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Thanks everyone for your feedback on the document. I'm delighted to
see the meaningful, intelligent and mature discussion that is
unfolding in the document commentary. <br>
<br>
In terms of next steps for Inflection Point, I'd like to propose the
following; <br>
<br>
- We provide until Sunday 10th January for commentary on the
document (another five days)<br>
- I'll then take another pass at synthesising or adding sections to
the document based on the commentary<br>
- Clearly indicating which pieces will need to go to formal vote,
either at Council or by Special General Meeting<br>
- And then issue another version of the document to the Community
for feedback<br>
- And then formally submit the document to Council as a set of
Recommendations, upon which they can choose to endorse or reject<br>
<br>
Does this seem like an appropriate way forward? <br>
<br>
Regarding specific questions and suggestions that have been raised;
<br>
<br>
1 - A more inclusive name (raised by François Marier) <br>
<blockquote>
<pre>My suggestion, and I realise this will likely be an area of considerable
bikeshedding, would to consider a more inclusive name that reflects the
diversity of our community. In the English-speaking world, it seems that
most have settled on "FOSS" to include people of both Open Source and Free
Software leanings.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<p>Firstly thanks for raising this suggestion. In suggesting the
name "Open Source Australia" there were a number of
considerations. Within the Australian context, the concept of
'open' is more widely recognised I feel than 'free' (libre). While
I don't seek to detract at all from the merits of the free
software movement, the name should clearly position us and allow
us to strongly market the organisation. A name with "FOSS" in the
title, or a name which is too long makes this more difficult. <br>
</p>
<p>Open Source Australia is close to a number of other names - Open
Australia Foundation (*dips lid to Henare Degan and his amazing
colleagues for their excellent work here*), Open Source Industry
Association etc. However, I feel that it most accurately reflects
what it is that we do and want to be doing. <br>
</p>
<p>Is there a way to broaden the name to be inclusive of FOSS while
still making it accessible to a broad audience?<br>
</p>
<p><br>
2 - Paid contributors in a voluntary project and the challenges
this presents (raised by François Marier) </p>
<blockquote>
<pre>
The question I have has to do with your observation that LA is lacking
volunteers in key areas and your suggestion that LA pays for some of its
core functions. Bringing paid contributors into a volunteer project is a
challenging problem. Do you have any thoughts as to how LA can do this
successfully? (i.e. without alienating its existing volunteer base)</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
Again, an excellent point. Bringing paid contributors in to an
organisation or project does represent a number of risks and
challenges, however I feel that with the current level of volunteer
capacity and capability it's the only viable way to advance the
organisation. So, here's how to mitigate those risks. <br>
<br>
<ul>
<li><b>Alienation of volunteers:</b> Firstly it's useful to
outline expectations. A paid employee is contracted to carry out
a set of responsibilities to an expected standard. If they
don't, they are performance managed, and worst case, they are
dismissed from employment. Volunteers give what they can, when
they can, to the performance standard they are able to. In many
cases this is equal to (or better) than paid employment. In some
cases however, it isn't. To avoid alienating volunteers, the
accountabilities, objectives and performance standards for roles
(Volunteer and Paid) need to be well defined, and pay scales
transparent. The added benefit to volunteers is that by having
paid employees, or by outsourcing some tasks, it can help
prevent volunteer burnout. Indeed, if a volunteer consistently
demonstrates high levels of commitment and achievement, it would
make them an ideal candidate for a role. The other aspect here
is that I think we need a Volunteer Charter - that outlines the
rights and responsibilities of Volunteers - and there are some
things that we could be doing better here such as inductions
[1]. Having a more structured approach to Volunteering with the
organisation, along with a more formalised Volunteer Recognition
programme, would also mitigate the risk of alienation. <br>
<b><br>
</b></li>
<li><b>Additional overhead: </b>Having paid employees adds a
level of complexity to managing the organisation, as we become
responsible (and liable) for things like payroll, insurance,
Workcover, supervision, performance management and so on. By
having only Volunteers, some of this risk and responsibility is
mitigated (our insurance for instance covers Volunteers). So,
the point I'm making is that paid employees incur additional
overheads than just expenses - so we want to make sure that the
structure and role they're hired into is well thought through. <br>
</li>
</ul>
<p><br>
3 - Mentoring programmes and student outreach (Nathan Baily and
others within the document)<br>
</p>
<p>These are great suggestions, and would be projects in their own
right. My concern here is that as an organisation we don't
currently have the capability or capacity to execute them - not
without significant additional volunteer involvement. They are
strong projects, and would add significant value - but we're not
resourced to make them happen. <br>
</p>
<p>4 - Paid tier of membership (Tennessee Leeuwenburg and others
within the document)<br>
</p>
<p>My feeling on this is that the overhead to collect the revenue
would outweigh the value it would provide - but clearly there are
other viewpoints here. I think this point would definitely benefit
from broader community reflection and discussion. <br>
</p>
<p><br>
The link to the document again;<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WFeIm-TWVJX-u3gIM9K-hy-91-WFRrs4VVeDDIXCIQo/edit?usp=sharing">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WFeIm-TWVJX-u3gIM9K-hy-91-WFRrs4VVeDDIXCIQo/edit?usp=sharing</a><br>
</p>
<p><br>
Kind regards,<br>
Kathy<br>
</p>
<br>
<br>
[1]
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.volunteer.vic.gov.au/information-for-volunteers/volunteer-rights-and-responsibilities">https://www.volunteer.vic.gov.au/information-for-volunteers/volunteer-rights-and-responsibilities</a><br>
<br>
<br>
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