Replying further to Ted Lemon:
On Mon, Jul 30, 2018 at 3:41 PM, Theodore Y. Ts'o <tytso@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 30, 2018 at 03:32:27PM -0400, Ted Lemon wrote:
>>
>> This response (1) assumes without demonstrating that it is true that there
>> is, generally, a volunteer ethos, and (2) presumes, without showing why,
I don't understand how anyone who has participated much in the IETF
could claim that there isn't a significant volunteer ethos.
>> that this purported volunteer ethos would be destroyed by the various
>> half-baked proposals that have been bandied about here.
Pretty much everyone has the same amount of time. Not so for money.
There is a feeling (at least I have such a feeling) that in some
sense every volunteer who spends an hour advancing IETF work is
sacrificing the same amount by devoting their hour to that IETF work,
whether posting comments to mailing lists or voting on an AD ballot or
something in between. This breaks down as soon as any volunteer is
paid any money by the IETF for their time. Suddenly some people are
ahead getting money they would not have otherwise received while
others are behind, sacrificing a larger payment if they used that hour
for something else.
Money is just different from free meals, t-shirts, plaques, etc.
Why do US Government security regulations prohibit storing
classified material in the same secure container with money? Too many
actual cases where the container was stolen/broken open for the money
and the classified documents left to be blown across the landscape by
the wind.
Why do almost no child care centers have a charge for picking up a
child late? Because it leads the customers to view this, rather than
as an exceptional thing they might get away with in an emergency (but
if they do too often, they will get kicked out of the service) as a
service they can buy at the last minute whenever they want it leading
to scheduling and operational chaos. This might seem unrelated but the
point is that as soon as you monetize something (that in this case was
in the nature of an exceptional favor), you change everyone's attitude
towards it with major operational consequences.
Paying ADs (other than for direct expenses with some reasonable
limits) is just a bad idea.
Thanks,
Donald
=============================
Donald E. Eastlake 3rd +1-508-333-2270 (cell)
1424 Pro Shop Court, Davenport, FL 33896 USA
d3e3e3@xxxxxxxxx
> I *strongly* encourage everyone who thinks paying AD's is a good to
> read this transcript of a Planet Money podcast:
>
> https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/07/13/156737801/the-cost-of-free-doughnuts-70-years-of-regret
>
> also of interest:
>
> https://www.nonprofitrisk.org/resources/articles/tempting-but-confusing-and-dangerous-paying-volunteers-just-a-little-something/
>
> - Ted
