Re: PostgreSQL derivatives

On Thu, 2008-06-12 at 10:42 +0200, Magnus Hagander wrote:
> Dave Page wrote:
> > On Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 6:37 AM, Simon Riggs <simon(at)2ndquadrant(dot)com> wrote:
> >> I agree with that assessment. I don't think it's a desirable or
> >> unchangeable outcome, which is why I initially refused to attend the
> >> recent EnterpriseDB-sponsored developer meeting unless Greenplum people
> >> were also invited. I would like to see people encourage their
> >> participation. When the project allowed one company to sponsor the
> >> meeting it made a huge error, especially when the project had no need
> >> for the funding. It sent the wrong message and I noted that Truviso were
> >> not represented either, on the day.
> >
> > Both Greenplum and Truvisio had people invited, and if you recall when
> > organising the meeting I repeatedly asked everyone to point out if I'd
> > missed anyone. My primary concern when inviting people was to invite
> > the most highly active developers. Secondary to that, I made a point
> > of inviting at least one senior person from each of the major
> > PostgreSQL contributing companies, including both of those
> > organisations. *No* companies were intentionally excluded, and I
> > assure you that except where funding was concerned, the meeting was
> > organised entirely with my core hat on.
>
> I was certainly disappointed that we didn't have representation from
> said companies there, but I don't see how the organizers can be blamed
> for that (neither edb nor the community side of Dave).

OK, if that's how my comments appear then I'm happy to apologise to
everybody at EDB if I appeared to make such a trivial suggestion.

I meant only to observe that the reasons for non-contribution are never
simple and that we must all try hard to encourage sponsorship from all
companies, not just our own.

I'm glad Dave organised the meeting and felt it was a success.

> And in the end, I don't see any reason for us to *turn down* sponsorship

I do. Non-profit organisations must be run "without fear or favour" and
that includes not accepting gifts of any kind, though anonymous
donations are always acceptable.

If we don't do this, then people may get the impression that certain
companies dominate and that can easily lead to non-contribution. So
IMHO, being even handed is critically important to our future.

--
Simon Riggs www.2ndQuadrant.com
PostgreSQL Training, Services and Support