Re: [ANNOUNCE] Git Merge Contributors Summit, April 8th, Paris

> Junio C Hamano venit, vidit, dixit 05.03.2015 23:24:
>> Christian Couder <christian.couder@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>>
>>> I'd like the Git project to set up a more organized way to pay back
>>> the travel costs and the conference fee to the developers who come.
>>> For example the Git project could say that it will at least pay back:
>>>
>>> - all the travel costs to the 5 most important Git developers who come and ask,
>>> - half the travel costs to the 5 next most important Git developers
>>> who come and ask,
>>> - all the conference fee to the 15 most important Git developers who
>>> come and ask,
>>>
>>> I think it could help developers decide to come, and it looks like
>>> enough funding could be available, thanks to GitHub and the GSoC
>>> money. What do you think?
>>
>> I personally perfer things to be kept informal---it would keep
>> things simpler for everybody.  You do not have to wonder what you
>> should do when you think you are among the five most important
>> people and you also know your employer will pay for the conference
>> if you asked, for example.
>>
>> It feels to me that the suggestion Peff gave in his announce to ask
>> privately for case-by-case arrangement strikes the balance much
>> better.
>>
>>> Apart from that it's also possible to find ways to accommodate some
>>> developers for free, if they don't mind crashing in someone's spare
>>> room.
>>>
>>> So please don't hesitate to ask if you would like to come.
>>
>> These five lines, by not explicitly saying something like "the first
>> 2 people who ask can crash in Christian's spare bedroom", is doing
>> exactly the same thing as Peff did by saying "please talk to me
>> off-list", it seems to me at least.  Both keep things informal and
>> simple, and both arrange things on case-by-case basis as needed.
>>
>> And I think that is better than setting a seemingly hard rules
>> upfront, and causing more problems unnecessarily (e.g. who decides
>> who are the 5 most important, for example?).
>
> Oh yes, that would be an interesting metric to define...
>
> OTOH I can see where Christian's question is coming from:
> Who is even supposed to ask for support? Not just as in "who is a
> developer", but also "what are finance hardships":
>
> At scientific conferences which I'm going to, there is often "support
> for those who need it", and that typically means participants from "less
> fortunate countries" (to avoid the usual world-counting term). Everyone
> else is expected to be covered by their academic employer - and if not,
> it's not even okay to ask the organisers. I guess that's what some of us
> are having in mind.