On: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 12:27:02 -0500, Johnny Hughes
<johnny@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I STILL do not understand why anyone would care what CentOS does
> with money donated by people who used the product and wanted to
> donate.
>
> If we were having wild beer parties every week ... as long as the
> packages are built, compared, signed, and released on time, what
> difference does it make?
>
> If you don't trust the organization, then how in the world do you
> use it's software.
>
> If you do trust the software, then what difference does it make how
> money is spent or saved?
>
> You trust us enough to use our software for free ... but not enough
> to donate? Then so be it ... that is what open source is all about.
>
> But open source is NOT about the users running the company. It is
> about software freedom.
>
>
You display a naive point of view respecting why people choose to
volunteer, whether it be in the form of time, money or things. I
suggest that you seriously consider whether you, yourself, would
care to donate money to a project where you knew from the outset
that few, if any of, the funds collected were employed to improve
the project in any tangible way. Your motive to donate would be
what, exactly?
Resources are limited and therefor they are directed according to
the values held by the people doing the directing. If donated money
is spent on parties, drugs, houses, entertainment, or otherwise
personally enriching individuals rather than advancing the cause for
which it is directed then why would one not choose to simply spend
this on oneself instead? If not that then why not at least direct it
towards some project where it might make a positive difference?
There is another point to consider. Governments take a very, very
dim view of tax evasion. Who or what is declaring the income from
and remitting the taxes on donations? What taxes have been remitted
on past donations, and where? I think that you will find that
individuals associated with putting CentOS out are themselves liable
for income earned and not declared if there is not some systematic
mechanism in place to ensure compliance with the applicable laws.
Be assured that such laws do exist and are enforced in each and
every country that the maintainers reside in. The Internet is not
terra nullius.
If you provide a product or service and accept valuable
consideration in return then you have earned income. It is
tempting, and emotionally satisfying, to argue that cannot be so,
that there is no relationship between the two because one is not
compelled to buy CentOS. Sadly, this proves not to be the case. If
you get income from any source, for whatever reason, then you must
declare it and pay whatever tax is levied. Whether you received it
personally or as part of an identifiable collective you are
personally liable.
Now, what happens if some, or many, or all of the CentOS maintainers
ends up dealing with say one, or two or N taxation authorities over
the small matter of the taxes outstanding on the thousands of Euros
already donated? What happens then to the future of the CentOS
project? What happens to the probability of a successful successor
project? Somehow, I do not think that such a turn of events would
improve the odds.
Trust, well that is another matter. The number of sports clubs,
churches, charities and service organisations that have been ripped
off by individuals who betrayed their fellow members' trust is
uncountable. No doubt most, if not all, of these people once
warranted the trust reposed in them. However, as the Bernie Madoff
case shows once again, trust without verification invites betrayal.
Money is a very corrosive material to place in the hands of people
absent public oversight. It needs to be treated with both caution
and circumspection lest it destroy that which it is intended to aid.
That is why some people very much care about how it is handled.
--
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