Arch Linux

256

Member

Registered: 2023-12-17

Posts: 44

The FSF turns 40 today.

(GNU and the FSF are closely linked, so I think this is the right forum.)

The Free Software Foundation was founded on 1985-10-04 and is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary. Is anyone here attending?

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"Don't comment bad code - rewrite it." - The Elements of Programming Style (1978), Brian W. Kernighan & P. J. Plauger, p. 144.

twelveeighty

Member

Registered: 2011-09-04

Posts: 1,378

Re: The FSF turns 40 today.

It's interesting to see how an old, well established foundation as the FSF operates. Their operation might be considered lean, efficient and results-driven compared to other foundations in that same space. In other words: I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to non-profit charity organizations.

However, their latest annual report (FY 2023) reports revenues from mostly memberships and contributions of 1.1M USD. They spend 230k USD on what I would consider their purpose: conferences, grants and special events & mailings. But they have a whopping 1M USD on payroll (salaries + benefits). That ratio of 230k output on a 1M payroll seems out of whack to me. Effectively, a $100 donation turns into a $18 output and $82 "admin" fee. They also spend $155k in "Occupancy", which is likely just office rent. And if you check the board, there's hardly any software folks there, so I don't think the 1M in payroll goes to employ struggling software programmers.

Again, I don't know if this is considered normal, or perhaps even "best in class" when it comes to charitable/non-profits such as these.