Repost from an other topic on the new situation where TMO has to start taking care of its's own infrastructure and is in need of donations to do so. My comments were off topic there but I would like to try and start a discussion in this new thread.

My two cents;

As much as I appreciate this board and would certainly be willing to donate some money, I also see the quality of the threads going down in a frightingly rapid pace.

Rules that once were normal are no longer applied consistently, use of (proper) english, no politics, name calling. And also it seems we have a deflation of etiquette, where people demand (figurative speech warning here) answers without even being able to do a proper google search. When they receive answers, it's being taken for granted.

For me to donate, would mean I also would want to get rid of annoyances like that. Rather than a service enabled by Nokia and provided by volunteers, the board would now become more of a real community effort that somehow needs to justify the money it spends to keep itself alive.

This is not meant as a rant, by any means, but I would like to hear what other people think about this. Also I am sure that other peope will have their own issues or concerns, so, let's hear it.

This is a very valid concern but consider that it has no relation with infrastructure but with moderation of forums.

The question would be if we have enough moderators active at this moment, or if current moderation rules are enough.

Again, this is a question to be raised to Forum Moderators and not really to Council or Board.

Thanks for setting this thread up. I hope everyone who posts does so objectively and posts saying if you don't wish to donate, don't do so but stop blah blah blah are not seen here...

While I understand your concerns I personally am split about that. Yes there are unwanted threads but my main concern is going down the route that "you want me to donate i want this" is dangerous. Does it mean that the 200-odd people who pledge the donations become masters of maemo.org?

Acceeding to one request may seem like opening the floodgates. Hence IMO donors should remain anonymous so that nobody is able to use their status as donors to think they are somehow superior or important than another user...

Another of my concern is the transperancy; jOERG_rw has said 1000 bucks per month without explaining it.

Firstly, 1000 is US$ or Euros?

Secondly, what exactly is going to be paid for using that amount; saying 20 services isn't particularly helpful without clear-cut details IMO.

Thirdly, from what I understand, Nokia paid for 3 servers for the NFP to use... Was this the only option offerred by Nokia? I mean could that have been negotiated to Nokia reimbursing the NFP for renting 3 servers for X number of years instead?


The above are what need to be clarified; its not about 5bucks that is the issue here but IMO every fund-raiser should be transparent...

I gladly donating as well, but I wouldn't have a forum where only one side of the story is told, the current rules is great. I would never like a forum with constantly banning members for posting annoying posts. You should be able to discuss strange subject and have odd questions. I would like to see a bigger acceptance among forum members.

Freedom of speech should be added to the current rules. Don't Need to be above the other rules but it need to be there.

If someone is banned. There should be a list by who and why and for how long. Openness and full disclosure.

Recreate the topics new categories. What is the agenda and direction of TMO? Maemo uber alles?

Have a logo competion and votes. And if you donate over x you get shirt as well.

Maybe even add a bar to account to see how much a user has donated. Or adding a star to the user if he donating x amount?

How much do we need every month to get this site running?

@ivgalvez

Allow me to quote;

The reason I bring this up is because I believe that once we start to be dependent on donations, there also needs to be some justification for the money spent. While Nokia paid for the services and infrastructure we've enjoyed the past years, a hand full of enthusiasts will need to take care of that on it's own. As such I don't think it has nothing to do with the donations, on the contrary.

Dave maybe you want to read the fundraising thread before posting comments?

For those in a position to answer seeing your post asking how much it would cost would make them avoid answering hence we all lose out. Thanks!

+1 for thedead1440's first post

Also I will repeat my question from the HF by-laws thread - what is the current status and what is the migration schedule? Do we have hard dates when services(excluding TMO) will be cut-off?

I really think more transparency on the issues/work/progress will only benefit the community.

On topic:

While I can understand the concerns about the noise and the quality of the posts/threads, I don't think I like the alternative - closed elitist group of people with free cash to spend.

Valid questions i would say. Hence I try and be objective in my wording. Masters of the universe might demand some red carpets and such, so, no i would not want that.

That being said, I also need to legitimize my own spendings, and when the usability of a forum becomes smaller the motivation I would have to donate go down with that as well. To me, that seems only natural.

It is a thin line. Some people come in, not knowing anything, and once they start getting some pointers from more experienced users, you can almost see their knowledge growing with every post they write. And than there are some others who will use the board simply as a free cq. volunteer Nokia customer service.

I would rather see, than, that we start thinking about commercializing our shared knowledge and make help for lazy people via TMO a paid service.

Here are a lot of users, so why not show some non-annoying, topic-related ads, in addition to the donations?

Discussion is a good thing. So is civility. And that obviously embraces good etiquette. However, I get nervous when "proper English" is raised as we are an international forum and many write english as a 2nd 3rd etc language. In that context, what is proper english so that we are welcoming, helpful and tolerant as I believe we needs be?
To be clear, I agree with OPs point about effective moderation.