[Foundation-l] new site notice now ready

[Anthony]

On 12/28/06, Brad Patrick <bradp.wmf at gmail.com> wrote:
> Based on the financial reality of needing to raise more money, for hardware,
> software, bandwidth and staffing (in broad strokes), what is the solution to
> question of financial support?  Dig deeper?  Blame the community of editors
> (as opposed to readers) for not donating enough?  Get the starving college
> kid to give $3 instead of $2?
>
How about getting the starving college kid with the 300 gig hard drive
sitting idly on a T1 connection in his dorm to lend some of that spare
hardware, software, bandwidth, and staffing directly?

Eh, I shouldn't waste my time mentioning this to you.  When the forks
start coming, and it looks like that time is getting close, one of
them will figure it out.

> If one day of corporate matching brings us on the order of $60,000 per
> company, that is an enormous advantage over asking the community for more.
> Don't you think?

Eh, right now it's just taking the money from one group of donors
instead of another.  What would be the enormous advantage would be to
not need the money in the first place.

> If we have a $100,000 per month bandwidth bill later in
> 2007, it will still need to be paid.

Is that your current estimate of bandwidth costs?

> I will assume you would rather the
> projects stay online than die.

The projects will stay online no matter what happens to the Wikimedia
Foundation.

> If we buy another 300 servers, where should
> the money come from?

You shouldn't buy another 300 servers in the first place.

> It seems clear that the reality here is beyond some
> level of understanding with at least a portion of the  people who read this
> list.
>
Without access to the proposed budget, yeah, it's hard to know exactly
where the money is being wasted.

Anthony