[haiku] Re: Haiku Inc: Proposed Annual Budget
- From: "Axel Dörfler" <axeld@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: haiku@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:05:51 +0100
Niels Reedijk <niels.reedijk@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 1. I would really like to know from freelancers what their rates are.
> And I don't mean barebones rates, but the ones that you want/have to
> charge to pay your rent, utilities, live comfortably, save a little
> money for things like vacations and also to put in your retirement
> fund. I think the current cashflow of Haiku Inc. comes nowhere near
> supporting a developer/project for a few weeks.
>
> If the goal is to help developers dedicate more time to Haiku, you
> have to be honest and acknowledge that they need to eat. Now name a
> price for something like a wifi stack. I think you will be surprised
> at the cost of such a project.
That's why bounties don't work that well. This is not an argument
against funding a developer - as I mentioned before, that can not be
done to fund complete projects, but to support them by buying
contributors in question more of their time they had to spend otherwise
to make a living.
Since Haiku Inc. cannot afford to pay competitive prices right now, it
can (and should at this point) only fund the project with a certain
rate, that does not come close to what freelancers usually get. While
that does not get you a full time contributor, it allows a contributor
to do more work on Haiku as he would be otherwise. As others and I have
already mentioned, this would be an acceptable compromise for a limited
time frame.
> 2. How is contract law organized in the US? Can you import services
> from the EU without paying extra taxes? Also, what are the
> requirements for documenting the contract. What do you need to get to
> prove that you are not just paying people and evading income taxes?
>
> These questions require a lot of time, but I guess preferably it
> needs
> some advise from an accountant, meaning that you require an initial
> investment.
Well, we already did that; I have worked for Haiku for 3 months back in
2005 for a very limited rate. That kind of employment isn't exactly
what I'm arguing for, but the legal situation is the same.
> Now if you take these considerations and combine them with my ethical
> objections, I would much rather have Haiku Inc. support development
> through funding code sprints. By funding code sprints I mean
> reimbursing everything: travel costs, overnight fees, food, a bit of
> frivolity, such things.
>
> This way you can for the price of funding one developer, support a
> number of them and create a productive atmosphere. And while the
> developers don't get anything, at least it does not cost them
> anything
> either. And as an added bonus you evade questions on contract law,
> importing services and income taxes.
The question was never to cut down the existing reimburses for such
work, but extend what Haiku Inc. does to speed up development beyond
that.
Bye,
Axel.
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