A Modest FOSCo Proposal

[inode0]

On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 12:14 PM, Remy DeCausemaker <rdecause at redhat.com> wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Josh Boyer" <jwboyer at fedoraproject.org>
>> To: "Discussions with the Fedora Council and community" <council-discuss at lists.fedoraproject.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 4:03:41 PM
>> Subject: Re: A Modest FOSCo Proposal
>>
>> On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 3:22 PM, Matthew Miller
>> <mattdm at fedoraproject.org> wrote:
>> > On Mon, Apr 27, 2015 at 03:48:31PM -0400, Remy DeCausemaker wrote:
>> >> tl;dr - Narrowly define FOSCo as a decision making body to handle
>> >> budgetary requests from subprojects, and revive/revamp the Fedora
>> >> Commarch Team.
>> >
>> > I'm not opposed to rethinking this, because the previous launch effort
>> > kind of ran aground. So, thanks for opening this up.
>> >
>> > A few initial questions...
>> >
>> > Previously, CommArch was a Red Hat internal group. The intention here
>> > is for the new group with that name to be a _community_ group, right?
>> >
>> > Also, if the only point of FOSCo is to handle budgetary requests, why
>> > not just have that be the Council directly?
>>
>
> Honestly, the reason why I want to narrowly define FOSCo is that FAMSCo has been in a holding pattern waiting for FOSCo
> to arrive. There is a certain amount of time-sensitivity in maintaining some continuity/momentum for FAMSCo that has been
> pushing this proposal forward. Currently my understanding of the FAMSCo budget process is as follows ($ in USD):
>
> 1) There are a limited number of cardholders who can make purchases in each region.
> 2) Those cardholders are empowered to spend up to $500 without approval.
> 3) Purchases above $500 and up to $1999 are required to have 5 votes from FAMSco.
> 4) Purchases of $2000+ require unanimous support from FAMSCo.

As one of the original credit card holders I just want to point out
that this at the higher end seems outdated. IIRC now any purchase in
excess of $1000 is supposed to be made by PO so community credit cards
aren't used for any expenses of that magnitude any longer. In my
experience they are used for small reimbursements for ambassadors to
attend events on occasion, shipping costs in North America at least,
and less often for actually purchasing anything. Expenses in excess of
$1000 are handled directly by Ruth or someone else from Red Hat.

> I think it would be pretty straight forward to propose to FAMSCo that we s/FAMSCo/Council/g in the above process, and
> see what they think. My understanding is that FAMSCo has put a lot of effort into making sure each region was basically
> self-governing, and tried their best to only get involved when major purchases were proposed.
>
> I think that FAMSCo would likely be supportive of the council taking over this duty, but we should definitely confirm.

I can't imagine there is any burden on FAmSCo now although often
things are harder in other regions so there may still be some
involvement with FAmSCo. The Council could fill that role although it
seems better suited to FOSCo/CommArch or something where perhaps the
decision is made closer to the work it is supporting.

John