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Re: Academic and open source rate (was: Charging remote participants)

2013-08-18 07:34:33

On Aug 18, 2013, at 5:21 AM, SM <sm(_at_)resistor(_dot_)net> wrote:

1. If the IETF is serious about running code (see RFC 6982) it would try to 
encourage open source developers to participate more effectively in the IETF.


Define "open source developers".  Technically quite a lot of developers at my 
employer develop "open source", as do many at many of the corporations which 
send people to the IETF.  Heck, even I personally submit code to Wireshark now 
and then.  Distinguishing between "Self-paying" vs. "Expensing" is pretty easy. 
 "Open source" vs. "Closed source" is a big can of worms.

I'd love to get more developers in general to participate - whether they're 
open or closed source doesn't matter.  But I don't know how to do that, beyond 
what we do now.  The email lists are free and open.  The physical meetings are 
remotely accessible for free and open.

To attend the physical meetings in person takes real money, but the 
registration fee is dwarfed by the travel+food+lodging costs.  The most 
successful open-source conferences I've seen are ones that only last a couple 
days, and located where many of them live. (which in the US would be silicon 
valley area, in terms of largest concentration)  But you can't just have it 
there once every few years - you have to have it there repeatedly to really 
succeed at that.

And it does cost the IETF lots of money to host the physical meetings, and that 
cost is directly proportional to the number of physical attendees.  More 
attendees = more cost.  Remote participation cost isn't nearly as linear nor as 
high, afaik.

-hadriel


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