[OSM-talk] Survey: How to pay the OSM bill
Christoph Eckert
ce at christeck.de
Sun Jul 1 08:05:00 BST 2007
Hi all,
while OSM is a volunteer project, it is obvious that it needs money to
keep the needed infrastructure (hardware, bandwidth, ...) up and
running. Currently there's some discussion about the newly introduced
ads on our beloved map. Some agree, some disagree with ads on the map.
All who disagree on advertising on the map have to elaborate
alternatives. IMO there should be a polpular vote whether we agree on
maps or even not. If someone votes against the ads, he/she also needs
to vote for fundraising alternatives.
I can imagine different kinds of ads:
* Mappam ads as currently seen on the project's main page
* Static banners on the main page
* Temporary banners on the main page
In the two latter cases, I can imagine a small additional text on the
homepage clearly stating it is an advert, maybe »XYZ donates server
bandwidth/donated a server to the project and thus is allowed to
display advertising here«. This clearly states that it is ad, it also
states why it is there and it raises the reputation of the generous
sponsor.
People who dislike any kind of advertising need to show alternatives. I
can imagine a monthly/yearly membership fee. If enough
openstreetmappers contribute, we probably can keep the project free
from advertising.
Unfortunately I didn't find any overview about osm bookkeeping. Thus I
neither have a clue how much money the project burnt in the past nor
how much costs we should expect in the foreseeable future. Steve, can
you shed some light on the financial aspects of the project?
HTH & best regards,
ce
More information about the talk
mailing list