[gdal-dev] Fwd: Driver maintenance - long-term solution ?

[Paul Harwood]

oops - forgot to reply-all :(

Just to add one example though. I am sure you will find that all FAANGs
have "modern slavery" regulations that mean that anyone they pay has to
able to prove that they are not exploiting workers. I would hope that you
would agree that they SHOULD have modern slavery regulations.

How exactly does open-source software prove that? I am sure there are
established mechanisms but do you know them ... ?

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Paul Harwood <runette at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2021 at 09:15
Subject: Re: [gdal-dev] Driver maintenance - long-term solution ?
To: Greg Troxel <gdt at lexort.com>




One of the really broken things is that big companies seem to have a
> hard time making a donation to an open source project.  Yet they can pay
> for proprietary software licenses with no effort.  So I wonder if
> selling some kind of "gold support contract", would be viable, where all
> that they get is to put the gold label on issues on the tracker, but
> then it's a "support contract" and thus easy like a license, vs a
> "donation".
>
> I don't buy the notion that Sarbanes-Oxley makes this hard.  I think
> that's just an excuse, based on my experience.
>
> IANAL

I don't think it matters whether it is really SOX or just the way these
companies have implemented SOX, the fact is that the risk management
process that came out of it make it a lot of work for the individuals in
those companies to make this type of payment. That is not a justification
for anything, but we should recognise that the individual in those
companies who wants to support us is not going to get an easy life!

You can see from the lawyers and accountants point of view that a product
with a scope of work, a PO and an invoice is a much easier paper trail to
follow than a donation. It is difficult to prove that a donation is not
patronage. In some countries (possibly most, I don't know) you cannot call
it charity even if it is not-for-profit because you get something back -
the software. You cannot be seen to get any material return from an
organisation you make a charitable donation to. So it is a gratis payment
for no services to an organization that also just happens to provide you
software for free. Say that to lawyer and they will probably ask you
exactly how you are different from the mafia :)

I am not saying that it is not possible - I am sure there are very good
ways to do this. I am just saying that you have to acknowledge it is hard.
You cannot just tell them they are wrong and that they should just give out
some money. Most of the people you are talking to will probably agree with
you but also forget you in about 5 minutes and go and do something that is
possible.
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