Re: question about the PEAR "fund" / sponsors

--- Joe Stump <joe@joestump.net> wrote: > Well then ... > > Where do we go from here? I am not sure what do you mean with that? Where exactly would you like to go from out current state? What do you think is lacking from the responses you've gotten? what was unclear/unspecified? (this is a rehash, in some way, but 'what I say three times is true' [A]). (1) is something that should be up to companies that want to contribute, and should not taint the contribution, i.e. it should not come with strings attached and should be given in the same spirit of openness as all the other contributions to PEAR code. As for (2), anyone is free to require PEAR or make PEAR-centric contests, I do not see any problem with that. I am not even sure if there is a need for anyone in pear-dev or pear-group to have to do something about that, except for making sure that they do not misuse the name of the project in an incorrect context (e.g. "NEW! PEAR booze!, get wasted dynamically!") So far we have been OK about companies/institutions making PEAR-related tchotchkes/schwags/give-aways and sponsoring of booths for conferences (3). And that is OK, I do not see a contradiction of terms with being Open Source and letting companies help defer costs for publicizing the project. I have several Apache/MySQL/etc. t-shirts that are testament to that way of thinking :-) (4) is a problem. Unless the current hosting arrangements for all .php.net sites change, that is a 'No. Can't do.' Mirrors are a different story, as are user-oriented sites (tutorial sites, etc.) So, again, what do you expect us (the PEAR developers) to do? (1), (2) and (3) are all external an orthogonal to what we do in the project, they relate to it, but I am not sure that we should be creating a PEAR.com, or similar thing. A non-profit foundation could be a good idea, but it should not be PEAR, it should be PHP, perhaps modelled after the Apache or the Python one. As for (4), things are clear and will not change in the near future. [A] "The Hunting of the Snark", Lewis Carroll > --Joe > > -- > Joseph C Stump > PHPTraining.net > Professional PHP and MySQL Training > http://www.phptraining.net > (734) 786 0176 > > > On Jun 28, 2004, at 2:49 PM, Klaus Guenther wrote: > > > Joe Stump wrote: > > > >> I remember a while back someone posted information about a PEAR fund > >> being set up. My question, as someone who provides PHP services, is > >> the PEAR group interested in sponsors for the PEAR sites, etc? On > >> php.net their advertising policy is (in bold and italics) that they > >> don't want any, which makes no sense to me since the money could be > >> used for: > >> > >> 1.) Paying developers to program open source code > >> 2.) Various contests > >> 3.) Conference/trade shows > >> 4.) Hosting, bandwidth, etc. > > > > > > I'm not a member of The Group, so take what I say with a grain of salt > > ;-) > > > > Anyway, 1) seems to be a bit outside the PEAR community idea... > > > > 2) & 3) These seem like they would be very interesting, and I think > > that's what the Group is planning on using the money for (esp. > > advertising at conferences, etc.). > > > > 4) Afaik, hosting and bandwidth are sponsored by Pair, so we don't > > need to worry about that. PHP manages all of that :-) > > > > As for PHP itself, it seems that all those bases are very well > > covered, as Zend pays and arranges 1) and 2), makes sure they're there > > at 3) and they don't have to worry about 4) at all. > > > > I'm very happy that PEAR and PHP are completely not profit driven. > > Some classes are donated by companies who pay for the time their > > employees spend maintaining them (e.g., LiveUser, MDB, etc.). This is > > a way for the industry to donate to the community without creating > > huge complications related to money. > > > > Btw, I wrote this before seeing Lukas' answer, and I think after > > reading his reply that he agrees with me :-) Also, the nonprofit > > organization he mentions may very well make things easier to manage > > once PEAR gets more donations. ;-) > > > > However, I think it would be fun to see a PEAR contest set up > > sometime... ;-) > > > > Klaus > > > > -- > PEAR Development Mailing List (http://pear.php.net/) > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > > ===== -- Jesus M. Castagnetto (jcastagnetto@yahoo.com) Research: http://metallo.scripps.edu/ Personal: http://www.castagnetto.org/ PEAR stuff: http://pear.php.net/user/jmcastagnetto __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail