[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH 3/3] doc: add spi.txt

Lynne dev at lynne.ee
Thu Oct 12 20:41:57 EEST 2023


Oct 12, 2023, 19:37 by michael at niedermayer.cc:

> On Thu, Oct 12, 2023 at 10:03:20AM +0200, Andreas Rheinhardt wrote:
>
>> Michael Niedermayer:
>> > This explains how to request refunds and what can be funded by SPI
>> > ---
>> >  doc/spi.txt | 50 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>> >  1 file changed, 50 insertions(+)
>> >  create mode 100644 doc/spi.txt
>> > 
>> > diff --git a/doc/spi.txt b/doc/spi.txt
>> > new file mode 100644
>> > index 0000000000..7d85de8f09
>> > --- /dev/null
>> > +++ b/doc/spi.txt
>> > @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
>> > +How to request refunds from SPI:
>> > +--------------------------------
>> > +Send a mail to ffmpeg-devel with [REFUND-REQUEST] in the subject
>> > +
>> > +
>> > +What can be payed by SPI:
>> > +-------------------------
>> > +FFmpeg money collected at SPI can be used for any purpose which is OK by
>> > +501(c)3 nonprofit rules, and within our mission (Free & OSS software).
>> > +
>> > +In practice we frequently payed for Travel and Hardware.
>>  ^          ^
>>  t          h
>>
>> > +For other things, it is recommanded to disscuss them beforehand
>>  ^          ^
>>  e
>>
>> > +on ffmpeg-devel and if the community agrees to fund them, also with
>> > +SPI through stefano before starting with anything.
>>  ^
>>  S
>>
>> > +
>> > +
>> > +Is it possible to fund active development by SPI:
>> > +(the texts below have been taken from multiple
>> > + replies FFmpeg has received from SPI, they have been edited
>> > + so that "I" was replaced by "SPI" in some cases.)
>> > +-------------------------------------------------
>> > +Paying for development *does* require substantial
>> > +additional paperwork, but it is not prohibitied.
>>  ^
>>
>> > +
>> > +Several SPI projects pay contractors for development
>> > +efforts.  SPI needs a contract in place which describes the work to be
>> > +done.  There are also various things SPI needs to check (e.g. are they a
>> > +US person or not, as with GSoC mentor payments; are they really a
>> > +contractor and not a employee).
>> > +
>> > +SPI can't deal with employment at the moment because that involves a
>> > +lot of work, like health insurance, tax withholding, etc.  Contractors
>> > +are easier because they have to take care of that themselves; Whether
>> > +someone is a contractor vs employee depends on various factors (that
>> > +of course are different in every country) and can be disputed (see
>> > +e.g. the debate about whether Uber drivers are employees); SPI has a
>> > +questionnaire about their circumstances.)
>> > +
>> > +Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits all when dealing with contractors.
>> > +As already mentioned, without knowing the contributor's country
>> > +
>> > +SPI does have templates, but they depend on the contractors country. If it's
>> > +US, Australia, France and a couple others SPI could provide them next day,
>> > +otherwise SPI would need to ask their attorney to draft one, which would
>> > +take some time
>> > +
>> > +Also, SPI has two models, MSA (which transfers ownership) and CSA (which
>> > +grants a license instead). SPI usually sends the MSA (it's better for most
>> > +purposes), but for development purposes, some projects prefer that the
>> > +contractor retain ownership rights.
>>  ^
>>  s
>>
>> This should explain what the abbreviations stand for.
>>
>
> I believe MSA stands for Master service agreement. I do not know what CSA stands for
>
> all other things fixed
>

I think this belongs on the website, not in the source code.


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