Talk:Contractor List

From email list:

Exchange started by Pete and responded to by Jeff

They must prefer open source to proprietary software when there is no appreciable difference in featureset or quality (i.e. Firefox over IE, but not necessarily OpenOffice over MS Office)

I'm as pro-OSS as the next guy, but I'm not too comfortable with dictating philosophy. I'd be much more comfortable if this item read more like "They must be familiar with open source software, and have no bias against it." I think a contractor really ought to put his/her client's needs above any philosophical leanings anyway. If I'm a client, if there's no appreciable difference, I'd expect the contractor to draw up a few unbiased pros and cons for each, and let ME make the choice.

They must

• teach classes at FreeGeek or
• allow FreeGeek volunteers to shadow them in their work or
• donate their special skills for 10 hours a week average per month to nonprofits.

Isn't that a little steep? 10 hours/week becomes a lot more than that when you factor in marketing yourself 10 hours a week a little steep? Especially when the other ones aren't quantified at all? I guess I'm a little confused by the reason for any of the stuff mentioned in (2.) The concept of bartering for a recommendation doesn't sit well with me. If FG is recommending somebody, it seems that should be a reflection of FG's opinion of their ability to do a good job for the client, and nothing more.

• They must recommend responsible recycling of old hardware to all clients who replace hardware during their tenure, and are encouraged to recommend FreeGeek
• They must consider using recycled hardware where appropriate.

Check, check.

• They must tithe 5-10% of profits from projects we refer to them.

Again, not sure about this. Same reasons as #2. If this amount were tied to the costs incurred by FG in creating/maintaining the list, maybe.

Let us also create a list, for their use, of hardware that we could make specially available to these contractors for the use in their projects, either granted to the nonprofits at the end or sold at discount. Examples: network-ready printers, matched diskless terminals, routers/firewalls, matched keyboards, etc.

I'm confused - why would FG sell at a discount, but then require a tithe?

Overall...would this list be primarily a service to (some of) our volunteers, a service to the public (including individuals, nonprofits, businesses), a service to the free/open source software movement, or a revenue-generator?

-Pete

rfs 08:41, 21 Jan 2005 (PST)