Gentoo Donations

Message

jthompson · Post by **jthompson** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 4:14 pm

Ok I'm going to go out on a limb here, but here goes...

Let this thread be the start of the unofficial "Gentoo Users that Donate" group (or the artists formerly known as the Gentoo Salvation Army).

Vision: To see Gentoo into the future and make it the best open source (and hopefully always open source) Linux distribution out there. We as users of the Gentoo community must enable the developers to become financially empowered to keep the development of Gentoo Linux marching on. The continued development of Gentoo Linux is necessary to enable its users to be able to do 'what they want to do with Linux.'

Mission (how we will make the vision come to pass): Simply donate $5 a month to Gentoo Linux or to the Gentoo Store.

How to join: Simply donate $5 a month to Gentoo Linux or to the Gentoo store.
Go here http://www.gentoo.org/
Click on Make a Donation in upper right-hand corner.
OR
Go here http://store.gentoo.org/
Click on Donate to Gentoo in upper left-hand corner.
THEN
Put in your signature a message promoting "Gentoo Users that Donate"
For example: Proud member of the "Gentoo Users that Donate"!

...PLEASE READ THE NEXT POST ON AN EXPLANATION OF THIS!

jthompson · Post by **jthompson** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 4:33 pm

Why the stupid Name?
Because I can't think of a better one. And if I did, someone wouldn't like it. You can't please everyone, but you can donate to further Gentoo's development.

In case you've been out of the loop, Gentoo Linux has financial needs as well. Hence, we need a group of users to make sure its development continues and that the financial well-being of the developers is stable enough so that they can continue to do their labor of love, develop Gentoo Linux.

Now I know what you're thinking. $5 a month!, thats too much.

All you have to do each month is cancel one trip to Wendy's. Don't buy that Spicy Chicken Sandwich and Biggie Fry and Wala, you now have your $5 to donate for the month.

If everyone that was registered on this forum as a user gave $5 this month the amount of money would equal...
There are currently over 50,000 registered users!
50,000 users * $5 = $250,000

If everyone that was registered on this forum gave $1
50,000 users * $1 = $50,000

Lord a mercy, thas a lot o money!

That would probably pay off all of the debt that the developers have gotten themselves into pulling money out of their own pockets. It would also pay for the legal fees required to make the Gentoo NFP (not-for-profit) organization.

SO I now CHARGE those on the newly appointed NFP Board (or the soon to be NFP Board) to take these donations as they come. You should use these donations to see that the families and finanical well-being of the Gentoo Developers is taken care of.
THEN over the coming months use the money to help establish a budget for the NFP board and Gentoo Development.

WHO am I you ask to make such a decree?
Just your average everyday Gentoo user!
ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! MAKE A STAND AND BECOME A MEMBER OF THE GENTOO SALVATION ARMY!

Given M. Sur · Post by **Given M. Sur** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 4:57 pm

I will gladly donate $5 a month. But, I do not like the name, so I will not mention it in my sig.

The reasons I don't like it are:
1) The Salvation Army is a religious group.
2) The term "Salvation Army" is likely trademarked.

ataphoya · Post by **ataphoya** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 5:03 pm

Why not just Gentoo Army?

[edit: \/ \/ \/ yeah, that's pretty much the reason I don't want us to be called that. ]

Post by **pjp** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 5:03 pm

00420 wrote:But, I do not like the name, so I will not mention it in my sig.

The reasons I don't like it are:
1) The Salvation Army is a religious group.

Not to mention that they discriminate.

placeholder · Post by **placeholder** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 7:55 pm

Often times "religious" groups (what most people refer to as Christian groups) discriminate against homosexuals which absolutely pisses me off because there's no reason to hate those people or want to change them. If a guy can't be happy with a girl like I can because he was born different, why try to make him or so that he's wrong?

After that rant which I could continue forever, I sadly have no job (I'm 16 and pretty picky about where I work and I don't care if you think that's bad 'cause it's just how I am. :p) so money flow does not exist for me other than what I get for mowing grass. My fanancial status is at $-137 since my parents bought me an office chair and a new monitor, so I unfortunately cannot donate $5 a month.

I never eat fast food anymore so that's not an issue. However, I have donated in the past and will in the future. Rock on Gentoo!

Boris27 · Post by **Boris27** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 8:24 pm

jthompson: have you ever considered the posibility that people just cannot transfer money to gentoo? I for one welcom........ Oh wait: I for one do not have access to a credit card, and my parents sure as hell won't let me get one either. I can't just accept-giro cash to the 'states either.

EDIT: Oh, and I have problems with people forcing an amount on me. There are a lot of commercials here on TV that go like this: "Please donate $5.". FVCK! If I wanted to donate, I'll decide for myself what I'll donate.

And, the name sucks. I would not want to be associated with that group of people.

placeholder · Post by **placeholder** » Fri Apr 30, 2004 10:03 pm

Good to know there are many more people against the Salvation Army. lol

MBeef · Post by **MBeef** » Sat May 01, 2004 6:31 am

i also can not stand the moral practices of the salvation army (discrimination etc.), however i think this would be a great idea with some modifications. instead of calling it "The Gentoo Salvation Army" and the donation being 5$ per month
you could make you sig include something like:

Proud Gentoo Donater!
Help Gentoo out and donate here

NiBe · Post by **NiBe** » Sat May 01, 2004 12:39 pm

pjp wrote:
00420 wrote:But, I do not like the name, so I will not mention it in my sig.

The reasons I don't like it are:
1) The Salvation Army is a religious group.
Not to mention that they discriminate.

That's what he said.

Match · Post by **Match** » Sat May 01, 2004 2:03 pm

http://www.salvationarmyolympia.org/New ... nation.htm

Love to help. Just let my buy the computer to install Gentoo on first...

(My view on the link: I think it's entirely possible that local SA people do discriminate. I don't think the whole organisation can be held accountable for a few miscreants though. But this is all irrelevant really

)

jthompson · Post by **jthompson** » Sat May 01, 2004 8:56 pm

The point is not in the name. And if you read the post, it says nothing about religious groups. It merely makes the statement, that if everyone donated a measly $5 a month or even $1 a month, a great many problems that gentoo has financially would be solved.
In case you guys don't know, most NFP organizations have problems getting money (hence the name Not for Profit).
But the reality is any organiztion needs money, especially anything having to do with technology and development.

I'm also willing to bet that "money" is one of the main reasons that Daniel Robbins resigned. He has a family. He had no full time job (or no steady income). He worked on Gentoo and he wrote articles for IBM developerworks, for Intel, etc. A person with two kids and bills to pay can't survive in this world without a decent income. Now I don't know the man personally, but there have been various snippets written about who he is, what he does, his family, etc; because after all in the Linux world he has become a bit famous.

So, in conclusion the point of this thread was to spark a movement. A movement for Gentoo's users to support its community. If you are on your own, or have a full-time job (or have a steady income) and use Gentoo, and you can't spare a $1 or $5 a month, then well... you obviously aren't a giving person and will probably have trouble saving money period (or perhaps you are cheap, and hoard money away in coffee cans under your bed).

CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT, Gentoo Army, The Gentoo World Bank, The Gentoo Fund, just mention something about donating a buck or two in your signature if you agree (and put a link there).

placeholder · Post by **placeholder** » Sun May 02, 2004 3:54 pm

So, in conclusion the point of this thread was to spark a movement. A movement for Gentoo's users to support its community. If you are on your own, or have a full-time job (or have a steady income) and use Gentoo, and you can't spare a $1 or $5 a month, then well... you obviously aren't a giving person and will probably have trouble saving money period (or perhaps you are cheap, and hoard money away in coffee cans under your bed).

Or possibly it is because we don't even get $1 a month because we don't have a job which is my case. There are many more important things in life out there that don't involve getting money. I personally see the non-acceptance of homosexuals as one of the biggest problems with society, and I'm not even a homosexual but I have cried for these people. Why? I'm a very compassionate person but if I can't do something for some reason then I won't.

There are more reasons than what you think for people's inability to donate. If I seemed a little upset, it's because I've been utterly pissed off about the homosexual thing lately. Maybe I just like to worry about much bigger things than most people. Oh well.

jthompson · Post by **jthompson** » Mon May 03, 2004 2:13 am

Wow this really turned into a big giant mess of political and societal issues. My bad... didn't mean to stir up all the trouble.

At any rate, I suppose I should keep searching the forums on my current issues with software RAID 0 and reiserfs...

sklettke · Post by **sklettke** » Mon May 03, 2004 6:08 am

Sure I'll donate. Last year I donated to Xiph (vorbis stuff) and something else, can't remember, but some opensoure project, I think, or maybe it was Google (didn't know about the ipo yet).

Anyone know the markup on stuff in the Gentoo Store? If I buy a t-shirt how much of that money would they see? Would it be the equivalent to donating $5?

And, I'm going out on a limb, but for those of us in the US, is there any way to categorize this in our taxes?

Scott

jthompson · Post by **jthompson** » Mon May 03, 2004 5:39 pm

As far as I know you can write off a great many charitable donations on your taxes. However, unless your itemized deductions (such as a Donation to Gentoo, mortgage payment, etc.) are greater than your standard deduction that the IRS gives to you, then itemizing your deductions is not worth it; it actually hurts you.

So if your Gentoo Donations + Mortgage Payment + Goodwill + whatever else > Standard Deduction that the IRS gives you, write it off

If not, then just take the standard deduction.

Hrmm... now this thread just turned into Tax 101... but good conversation.

BlueEar · Post by **BlueEar** » Tue May 04, 2004 5:24 am

I like the idea and I think $1 a month would go far. I was also pondering a mix of monetary and non-monetary support. Say, in order to use Gentoo you need to accumulate 100 units. You can do that by either donnating $10 or posting 10 Documentation Tips & Tricks, contributing 10 ebuilds, heping 10 users, etc., and so on. Not everybody can donate cash, but a lot of people can help otherwise. We should encourage this, too.

Finally, if you want another name suggestion how about GLAAS Group for Gentoo Linux Assist And Support Group?

Adam Page2 · Post by **Adam Page2** » Tue May 04, 2004 5:27 am

Maybe it could be like a linux-questoins forum deal?

The software is still open source but donating gets you acces to:

-A special group on the forum.
-Access to non-support forums.
-Other inscentives?

Now, the support, software, and documentation would all still be open source, but true gentoo fans would pay the extra amount not only for the benefits, but mostly to keep the project going, as described above.

greg32 · Post by **greg32** » Tue May 04, 2004 12:29 pm

Pwnz3r,

just to bring you back to reality - this post has nothing to do with homosexuals, and they should not be mentioned here. Let them do what they want, but don't preach about them, especially in a forum topic which has nothing to do with peoples sexual preferences. In the big picture, their problems are small.

Also, go easy on jthompson, he is genuinly suggesting something that is positive, even if the format and overall suggestions are maybe a bit askew.

People should definately donate if they CAN AFFORD it. Please don't tell me about how poor you are, and how you don't have a job. It's irellavant. If you don't have the money, no one is forcing anything on you.

Also, jthompson, sigs highlighting people who donate and links to where to you can are not a good idea. Big noting yourself because you have donated is stupid. Sums of money, and frequency of contributions will vary in a big way, on a case by case basis.

I don't intend on donating raw money. But I do intend on purchasing goods from the store when it is up and running (some time soon I hope) . I am particularily interested in what the t-shirts will look like, and I want to buy a mug. And I would be quite happy to buy goods from the store, with considerable mark-up on price, where that mark-up will be considered my contribution. I also intend on purchasing the gentoo live cd's, just for the sake of having them.

regards Greg

jthompson · Post by **jthompson** » Tue May 04, 2004 5:49 pm

Well I think we all get the picture, it only takes each one of us giving a little, $1 here, an hour there to help another user, etc.

...so keep it up

ewan.paton · Post by **ewan.paton** » Tue May 04, 2004 6:15 pm

Adam Page wrote:Maybe it could be like a linux-questoins forum deal?

The software is still open source but donating gets you acces to:

-A special group on the forum.
-Access to non-support forums.
-Other inscentives?

Now, the support, software, and documentation would all still be open source, but true gentoo fans would pay the extra amount not only for the benefits, but mostly to keep the project going, as described above.

thats a great way to cause a fork, its been sugested before and was stamped on hard by the mods for very good reasons.

1) not everyone has the same disposible income and peer presure to donate could discurage them from using gentoo
2) the experiance with mandrake effectivly split the community, given how important our community is this would be very bad

placeholder · Post by **placeholder** » Tue May 04, 2004 10:05 pm

Anger makes me warm and fuzzy all over. Keep up the good work guys.

Adam Page · Post by **Adam Page** » Wed May 05, 2004 3:50 am

ewan.paton wrote:
Adam Page wrote:Maybe it could be like a linux-questoins forum deal?

The software is still open source but donating gets you acces to:

-A special group on the forum.
-Access to non-support forums.
-Other inscentives?

Now, the support, software, and documentation would all still be open source, but true gentoo fans would pay the extra amount not only for the benefits, but mostly to keep the project going, as described above.
thats a great way to cause a fork, its been sugested before and was stamped on hard by the mods for very good reasons.

1) not everyone has the same disposible income and peer presure to donate could discurage them from using gentoo
2) the experiance with mandrake effectivly split the community, given how important our community is this would be very bad

makes sense

shm · Post by **shm** » Wed May 05, 2004 4:28 am

gentoo fund sounds good