Given the recent recovery of the database, and the work to fix the performance problems experienced earlier this year, it may be time to think again about the issue of rewarding WikiMedia developers for their oustanding efforts on our behalf. Their achievements are considerable. I don't believe that anyone has ever before run such a popular website on so small a budget. They have been able to scale a rough-and-ready technology to accommodate phenomenal growth.
I have read the ongoing discussions about the subject. The idea of bounties for specific projects has been mooted, but has not taken off. Part of the problem is that there appears to be considerable confusion as to what it is the developers actually do. Their most critical work is not actually development at all; it is keeping the system running smoothly.
Software development is quite a creative and rewarding activity. The MediaWiki codebase is reasonably well documented, and it is actually quite accessible. It would not be hard to find new people to fix bugs and develop new features. But given the maturity of the software, there is not much that really needs to be improved.
System operations, on the other hand, is an exhausting, frustrating and largely thankless activity. It relies on a few key individuals who have deep familiarity and expertise with the current setup. When things go wrong, the pressure on these people becomes enormous.
I propose paying a bonus to those developers who make substantial contributions towards the running the of system. Someone who works 40 or more hours over the course of a week would receive $400 (US) for their efforts. Someone who works at least 20 hours would receive $200.
Is this a fair recompense? No. It is way below market rate. But it might help out a student who would otherwise have to wait tables to make ends meet. And it would be a nice "thank you" to anyone else: it could pay for a mini-break, or a night on the town.
What do you think?
George Stepanek
George Stepanek a écrit:
Given the recent recovery of the database, and the work to fix the performance problems experienced earlier this year, it may be time to think again about the issue of rewarding WikiMedia developers for their oustanding efforts on our behalf. Their achievements are considerable. I don't believe that anyone has ever before run such a popular website on so small a budget. They have been able to scale a rough-and-ready technology to accommodate phenomenal growth.
I have read the ongoing discussions about the subject. The idea of bounties for specific projects has been mooted, but has not taken off. Part of the problem is that there appears to be considerable confusion as to what it is the developers actually do. Their most critical work is not actually development at all; it is keeping the system running smoothly.
Software development is quite a creative and rewarding activity. The MediaWiki codebase is reasonably well documented, and it is actually quite accessible. It would not be hard to find new people to fix bugs and develop new features. But given the maturity of the software, there is not much that really needs to be improved.
System operations, on the other hand, is an exhausting, frustrating and largely thankless activity. It relies on a few key individuals who have deep familiarity and expertise with the current setup. When things go wrong, the pressure on these people becomes enormous.
I propose paying a bonus to those developers who make substantial contributions towards the running the of system. Someone who works 40 or more hours over the course of a week would receive $400 (US) for their efforts. Someone who works at least 20 hours would receive $200.
Is this a fair recompense? No. It is way below market rate. But it might help out a student who would otherwise have to wait tables to make ends meet. And it would be a nice "thank you" to anyone else: it could pay for a mini-break, or a night on the town.
What do you think?
George Stepanek
Hi, your title is a bit confusing, as in Wikipedia, sysops are usually not system operator...
But well, I understand what you mean.
I am not sure you have been informed that since january, the foundation has decided to pay a bit two people.
One person (Chad) is paid since early january, one day a week, to help with the servers themselves. Brion should now been part time (though paper work has not been done yet...) to help on various issues.
I think what you propose makes sense, but it may be also controversial. As with many topics, the best thing is to move slowly, to insure decisions taken will not upset editors nor tip a balance. There is also the question of who to pay, how long, how much, how to measure quality of work provided...
Also, it is important to note that our ressources are quite fragile, and that paying people will increase our financial needs a lot.
And finally, there is an important point to consider.
It is why so many people here work for free.
They do because it is fun. They do because they are with others, they do not have a boss telling them what they should do; they can do whatever they feel like, and when they feel like. They can be away for 2 months if there is need. And they can oppose what they do not like.
This freedom is very important. So, while I know very well some people need money and while it would be nice that some people have only one job rather than 2 at the same time, it is important to be slow in any decision to pay people.
I'd say, essentially, we should right now listen to people reaction, thoughts and proposals. Not straight take the decision to give 400 dollars to anyone working 40 hours a week on wikimedia servers :-)
ant
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