[Foundation-l] Auction (Was: alternatives)

[Neil Harris]

effe iets anders wrote:
> Just another thought that came up with me today:
>
> What about an auction. I dont know whether there is interesting stuff enough
> to collect, and I dont expect thousends of dollars out of it, but wouldn't
> it be fun for the community to have something like an auction? People can
> give stuff that could be "cool to have" for the auction, to the foundation,
> and the person that bids the highest amount of money, can get the thing. For
> instance, I would be thinking of a postcard witht he signatures of all
> boardmembers, a used cigarette of oscar (no, not really, please come up with
> something more fun! :P ) or maybe even approach famous people to donate
> something that belongs to them for this cause. The stuff can varie to
> everything, but should be intensively prepared probably.
>
> Would this be fun for the community? Would it be creating some money to the
> foundation, would it be worth while? Are there maybe more ideas in this
> trend, that together get a meaningfull amount of money together?
>
> I understand of course it wont be possible anymore for this very
> fundraising, but I think it would be an idea for the next one. I'm not sure
> whether the foundation should "lower" itself to this level, or maybe it
> explicitely *should*. Please shoot! :)
>
> Lodewijk
>
>   

Why not auction off some of the older servers? They must now be too 
clapped-out for any real production use, and they're each a piece of 
Wikipedia history some wealthy or obsessive Wikimaniac might want on 
their shelf (or in their rack). The money from selling the old servers 
can go to buy new ones: possibly with the original names recycled, like 
battleships.

Not the very oldest, of course -- they should be carefully kept for 
posterity and donated to a museum at some time in the future -- they're 
the free culture equivalent of the original printing press, or first 
steam engine.

-- Neil