[Dev] Working out a plan of action.

[Luke]

On 04/06/2017 07:23 PM, Josh Branning wrote:
> From reading, as a donor, I think some /public/ discussions are to be
> had on the following.
>
> 1) Whether the bits and pieces for the build server are purchased now,
> and in the right place.
>         1.1) If not, gc4j could kindly give a quote on the weight and
> size of the computer.

I'm putting all the parts together to complete the build server with my
own personal money. Since Arch is pulling support for i686 in November
of this year, I wanted to have the thing running and ready to go before
then.

Currently, what I have:
* KFSN4-DRE - Motherboard (Libreboot compatible, but not re-flashed yet,
would feel more comfortable for it to be done on delivery anyway)
* 2 CPU's AMD Opteron 221
* 32GB RAM
* 1TB Western Digital HDD
* SATA cable
* 2 Dynatron Fan + Heat sinks and thermal paste

There was some discussion about Ceata helping pay for Chasis/UPS/PSU/and
RAM. After seeing all the unnecessary drama and obstruction over the use
of expenses, and the unlikeness of being able to get the server done in
any reasonable amount time, I went ahead and got the Chasis, PSU, and
RAM myself.

That said...

Currently en route to me:
* PSU 500W - EVGA 100-W1-0500-KR
* Phanteks Enthoo Pro Series PH-ES614P_BG Chasis

My estimate (per the specs found here:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854018) puts
the size of the box around
235 mm x 535 mm x 550 mm (W x H x D)
13.8Kg (for chasis). I estimate at least 5Kg for packing materials and
all the parts installed in the chasis. Cannot confirm this until it has
actually installed.

It is my understanding Ceata was (is?) still waiting on this estimate in
order to see if they could help with UPS shipment costs to Emulatorman's
post office box. Since it is highly unlikely they can "declare" a
package shipped inside the United States from Romania, I already started
saving up for paying the postage myself.
If they would like to help, it is of course appreciated, but it's much
less stressful for me to know that the product can be shipped and arrive
soon without unnecessary fanfare.

>         1.2) If not, emulatorman could kindly explain the FISL17
> payments from their perspective.
>
> 2) Whether the /current/ entity, parabola, should remain not-for-profit.
>
> 3) A proper consensus on whether people should get paid to work on
> parabola.
>     3.1) If so, how to work out who gets paid what.

I pretty much agree with aurelien in that centralized money in any
project causes too many problems and frustrations in the long run.

My idea is that any developer wishing to pursue that could run their own
small business in a "federated" way.
e.g. each developer has his/her own personal bank account and deals with
their own state or national tax laws.
In most countries, having a bitcoin wallet is allowed as well.

Developers could then offer services such as real-time tech support,
pre-installed computers, etc. or just accept donations to their own
personal accounts.
This could be mentioned on the Hackers page on our wiki or similar.

As all of our infrastructure is already federated and donated by
generous volunteers there is no longer a need to hoard money in a
general fund.
If someone would like to help pay for hardware, all that is needed is to
give a donation to the specific developer in need.

Another interesting option that we already have is LiberaPay, e.g. the
entire project gets money in regular payment intervals that is stored by
LiberaPay and then each person can get a regular percentage of the
incoming funds. The idea seems pretty neat, but it still suffers from
centralization and if it were to take off there could be a dispute over
who gets what. It is why centralization sucks.

Since several developers, including myself, have a day job - I don't
have to depend on Parabola income to survive, and right now I'm not
interested in receiving anything.
However, I also realize that we have several full-time developers out of
work that could use our assistance. It would also be nice if they could
get fully compensated to attend events such as LibrePlanet or FISL.

>
> 4) Which future entity will manage the funds, and how they will be
> managed.
>
> 5) And anything else?
>
> Josh
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