Re: The future of my involvement with the Octave project

[John W. Eaton]

On 26-Oct-2008, Bryan Wilcox wrote:

| I agree with Geoff's words. From my reading on the Octave site and in the
| documentation it seems that there is already a way to contribute financially
| directly to the project through the UW, but my impression was that there
| were some strings attached. Is this true?

I don't know of any, but I'm not sure what you mean by "strings".

| Is this the preferred way to contribute?

Yes.

| >From a web-user standpoint, it would be preferable if there was an access
| point directly through the Octave main page. It's easier to put money in the
| pot if the pot is in the open with the lid already off. Also, a brain storm,
| if monetary contributors were recognized it might even trigger a few more
| donors. (I'm thinking something in the same vein as PBS or
| patron-of-the-arts circles; names at tiered contribution levels. Of course,
| this is only if the donor wishes to be recognized.)

Since we were going through the UW Foundation, there were some
restrictions on what we could do.  I remember being told that we could
not publish our own donor honor rolls, for example.  Also, we relied
on the Foundation to collect the money the way they wanted to do it
(their web form, or checks sent to them) so things like using PayPal
donation buttons on our web page were not possible.  If we create an
Octave Foundation, then I think we can do what we want (as long as it
is legal).

jwe