Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF John Sullivan Executive Director [email protected] @johns on status.fsf.org and microca.st @johns FSF on Twitter January 29, 2016 John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 1 / 21
“Containerizing” non-software initiatives Creating a container format at the Free Software Foundation into which we can put anything considered an “initiative,” and then deploying that format, will enable us to increase our financial resources, improve our effectiveness, communicate better about our work, and make decisions more quickly with less stress. John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 2 / 21
Free software project metrics for non-software initiatives Initiative containers should provide a common set of attributes and interfaces to initiatives, similar to an API, enabling us to: make comparisons between things that are otherwise hard to compare – minimize snowflakes make sure that the design of initiatives allows us to measure their results improve our understanding of our own capacity have a common vocabulary to assign and track tasks clarify the purpose of each thing each staff member does, which makes people happy provide almost camera-ready material for grant applications, annual reports, and other public-facing materials John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 3 / 21
Free software project metrics for non-software initiatives Initiative containers should provide a common set of attributes and interfaces to initiatives, similar to an API, enabling us to: make comparisons between things that are otherwise hard to compare – minimize snowflakes make sure that the design of initiatives allows us to measure their results improve our understanding of our own capacity have a common vocabulary to assign and track tasks clarify the purpose of each thing each staff member does, which makes people happy provide almost camera-ready material for grant applications, annual reports, and other public-facing materials John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 3 / 21
Free software project metrics for non-software initiatives Initiative containers should provide a common set of attributes and interfaces to initiatives, similar to an API, enabling us to: make comparisons between things that are otherwise hard to compare – minimize snowflakes make sure that the design of initiatives allows us to measure their results improve our understanding of our own capacity have a common vocabulary to assign and track tasks clarify the purpose of each thing each staff member does, which makes people happy provide almost camera-ready material for grant applications, annual reports, and other public-facing materials John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 3 / 21
Free software project metrics for non-software initiatives Initiative containers should provide a common set of attributes and interfaces to initiatives, similar to an API, enabling us to: make comparisons between things that are otherwise hard to compare – minimize snowflakes make sure that the design of initiatives allows us to measure their results improve our understanding of our own capacity have a common vocabulary to assign and track tasks clarify the purpose of each thing each staff member does, which makes people happy provide almost camera-ready material for grant applications, annual reports, and other public-facing materials John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 3 / 21
Free software project metrics for non-software initiatives Initiative containers should provide a common set of attributes and interfaces to initiatives, similar to an API, enabling us to: make comparisons between things that are otherwise hard to compare – minimize snowflakes make sure that the design of initiatives allows us to measure their results improve our understanding of our own capacity have a common vocabulary to assign and track tasks clarify the purpose of each thing each staff member does, which makes people happy provide almost camera-ready material for grant applications, annual reports, and other public-facing materials John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 3 / 21
Free software project metrics for non-software initiatives Initiative containers should provide a common set of attributes and interfaces to initiatives, similar to an API, enabling us to: make comparisons between things that are otherwise hard to compare – minimize snowflakes make sure that the design of initiatives allows us to measure their results improve our understanding of our own capacity have a common vocabulary to assign and track tasks clarify the purpose of each thing each staff member does, which makes people happy provide almost camera-ready material for grant applications, annual reports, and other public-facing materials John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 3 / 21
Emphasis in nonprofit sector on outcomes In August of 2015, after collecting a large amount of data, Charity Navigator stopped disseminating Results Reporting surveys to charities. Instead it focused its efforts on analyzing the data collected thus far, evaluating the process of collecting data and reviewing feedback from various stakeholders. During this phase, the organization will develop plans to enhance it systems to scale up to rate Results Reporting for more than 8,000 charities. The organization may also modify the metrics initially launched to better represent the state of Results Reporting in the nonprofit sector. “Results Reporting - Phases of Implementation”, charitynavigator.org, August 3, 2015 John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 4 / 21
The Free Software Foundation mission At the FSF and in the GNU Project, we want all computer users to be able to do everything they need to do on any computer, using only free software. John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 5 / 21
How do we measure our progress toward this goal? Me at OSCON 2015: We don’t know if we’re getting closer to our destination, because we don’t have metrics to evaluate the actual success of our efforts. (I asked not to be fired for this and promised to remedy the situation.) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 6 / 21
What we measure already Size of our primary mailing list, and some larger campaign mailing lists Number of @fsf social media followers (pump.io, GNU social, Twitter) Facebook likes (just kidding) – but shares and faves on the above social media Web traffic Click-throughs from emails Number of associate members Money raised from associate members, nonmember donors, corporate patrons, and for the projects we sponsor Attendance at our events Press mentions John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 7 / 21
Tools we use CiviCRM Piwik LibreOffice Awstats URL shortener Ikiwiki Emacs Markdown John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 8 / 21
Summer 2015 strategic planning meeting Readily available, modern hardware supports free software End regulatory mandates of proprietary software Public schools adopt free software for student use General public sees free software as their issue Greater proportion of new developers choose copyleft/GPLv3 Increase the amount of GPL enforcement happening Transform organizational culture to improve productivity, retention, and joy John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 9 / 21
Summer 2015 strategic planning meeting Readily available, modern hardware supports free software End regulatory mandates of proprietary software Public schools adopt free software for student use General public sees free software as their issue Greater proportion of new developers choose copyleft/GPLv3 Increase the amount of GPL enforcement happening Transform organizational culture to improve productivity, retention, and joy John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 9 / 21
Summer 2015 strategic planning meeting Readily available, modern hardware supports free software End regulatory mandates of proprietary software Public schools adopt free software for student use General public sees free software as their issue Greater proportion of new developers choose copyleft/GPLv3 Increase the amount of GPL enforcement happening Transform organizational culture to improve productivity, retention, and joy John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 9 / 21
Summer 2015 strategic planning meeting Readily available, modern hardware supports free software End regulatory mandates of proprietary software Public schools adopt free software for student use General public sees free software as their issue Greater proportion of new developers choose copyleft/GPLv3 Increase the amount of GPL enforcement happening Transform organizational culture to improve productivity, retention, and joy John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 9 / 21
Summer 2015 strategic planning meeting Readily available, modern hardware supports free software End regulatory mandates of proprietary software Public schools adopt free software for student use General public sees free software as their issue Greater proportion of new developers choose copyleft/GPLv3 Increase the amount of GPL enforcement happening Transform organizational culture to improve productivity, retention, and joy John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 9 / 21
Summer 2015 strategic planning meeting Readily available, modern hardware supports free software End regulatory mandates of proprietary software Public schools adopt free software for student use General public sees free software as their issue Greater proportion of new developers choose copyleft/GPLv3 Increase the amount of GPL enforcement happening Transform organizational culture to improve productivity, retention, and joy John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 9 / 21
Summer 2015 strategic planning meeting Readily available, modern hardware supports free software End regulatory mandates of proprietary software Public schools adopt free software for student use General public sees free software as their issue Greater proportion of new developers choose copyleft/GPLv3 Increase the amount of GPL enforcement happening Transform organizational culture to improve productivity, retention, and joy John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 9 / 21
For our thirtieth anniversary, thirty things we do at the FSF From the Fall 2015 issue at fsf.org/bulletin: During his address at the anniversary event in Boston, RMS said, “If you want to finish something taking decades, nothing’s more important than remembering where you’re trying to get to.” I’d also add, you’d better know where you are. We’re taking the occasion of this significant anniversary to start a year-long intensive process of reviewing where we are – taking stock of our current initiatives, making sure we have appropriate metrics and desired outcomes associated with each one, and assessing how we use our resources in light of that information. With a clearer sense of where we are, we can improve our efficiency, and do a better job at prioritizing what’s most important. John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 10 / 21
Current format For each initiative: Description Costs Outcomes John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 12 / 21
Description Text description for external consumption – short and long Task list Infrastructure Dependencies on other initiatives Communication channels Outside stakeholders Bottomliners Materials inventory (physical and digital) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 13 / 21
Description Text description for external consumption – short and long Task list Infrastructure Dependencies on other initiatives Communication channels Outside stakeholders Bottomliners Materials inventory (physical and digital) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 13 / 21
Description Text description for external consumption – short and long Task list Infrastructure Dependencies on other initiatives Communication channels Outside stakeholders Bottomliners Materials inventory (physical and digital) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 13 / 21
Description Text description for external consumption – short and long Task list Infrastructure Dependencies on other initiatives Communication channels Outside stakeholders Bottomliners Materials inventory (physical and digital) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 13 / 21
Description Text description for external consumption – short and long Task list Infrastructure Dependencies on other initiatives Communication channels Outside stakeholders Bottomliners Materials inventory (physical and digital) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 13 / 21
Description Text description for external consumption – short and long Task list Infrastructure Dependencies on other initiatives Communication channels Outside stakeholders Bottomliners Materials inventory (physical and digital) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 13 / 21
Description Text description for external consumption – short and long Task list Infrastructure Dependencies on other initiatives Communication channels Outside stakeholders Bottomliners Materials inventory (physical and digital) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 13 / 21
Description Text description for external consumption – short and long Task list Infrastructure Dependencies on other initiatives Communication channels Outside stakeholders Bottomliners Materials inventory (physical and digital) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 13 / 21
Costs Staff time Non-staff time Financial budget other than staff time John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 14 / 21
Costs Staff time Non-staff time Financial budget other than staff time John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 14 / 21
Costs Staff time Non-staff time Financial budget other than staff time John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 14 / 21
Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards Organizational goal-specific metrics Revenue Audience Number of donors External feedback Press coverage and relationship building Engagement (clicks, shares, signatures, etc.) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 15 / 21
Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards Organizational goal-specific metrics Revenue Audience Number of donors External feedback Press coverage and relationship building Engagement (clicks, shares, signatures, etc.) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 15 / 21
Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards Organizational goal-specific metrics Revenue Audience Number of donors External feedback Press coverage and relationship building Engagement (clicks, shares, signatures, etc.) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 15 / 21
Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards Organizational goal-specific metrics Revenue Audience Number of donors External feedback Press coverage and relationship building Engagement (clicks, shares, signatures, etc.) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 15 / 21
Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards Organizational goal-specific metrics Revenue Audience Number of donors External feedback Press coverage and relationship building Engagement (clicks, shares, signatures, etc.) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 15 / 21
Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards Organizational goal-specific metrics Revenue Audience Number of donors External feedback Press coverage and relationship building Engagement (clicks, shares, signatures, etc.) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 15 / 21
Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards Organizational goal-specific metrics Revenue Audience Number of donors External feedback Press coverage and relationship building Engagement (clicks, shares, signatures, etc.) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 15 / 21
Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards Organizational goal-specific metrics Revenue Audience Number of donors External feedback Press coverage and relationship building Engagement (clicks, shares, signatures, etc.) John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 15 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Description Task list: Monitor DRM-related news, organize physical and online actions, write blog entries, write emails, microblog, design materials Infrastructure: CiviCRM, Drupal, MediaWiki Dependencies on other initiatives: International Day Against DRM, internship program Communication channels: Mass email, geographically targeted email, conference presentations, Twitter, GNU social, pump.io, IRC, in-person protests, video, LibrePlanet wiki Materials inventory: Hazmat suits, printed flyers, DRM FAQ, Guide to DRM-Free Living, stickers John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 17 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Description Task list: Monitor DRM-related news, organize physical and online actions, write blog entries, write emails, microblog, design materials Infrastructure: CiviCRM, Drupal, MediaWiki Dependencies on other initiatives: International Day Against DRM, internship program Communication channels: Mass email, geographically targeted email, conference presentations, Twitter, GNU social, pump.io, IRC, in-person protests, video, LibrePlanet wiki Materials inventory: Hazmat suits, printed flyers, DRM FAQ, Guide to DRM-Free Living, stickers John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 17 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Description Task list: Monitor DRM-related news, organize physical and online actions, write blog entries, write emails, microblog, design materials Infrastructure: CiviCRM, Drupal, MediaWiki Dependencies on other initiatives: International Day Against DRM, internship program Communication channels: Mass email, geographically targeted email, conference presentations, Twitter, GNU social, pump.io, IRC, in-person protests, video, LibrePlanet wiki Materials inventory: Hazmat suits, printed flyers, DRM FAQ, Guide to DRM-Free Living, stickers John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 17 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Description Task list: Monitor DRM-related news, organize physical and online actions, write blog entries, write emails, microblog, design materials Infrastructure: CiviCRM, Drupal, MediaWiki Dependencies on other initiatives: International Day Against DRM, internship program Communication channels: Mass email, geographically targeted email, conference presentations, Twitter, GNU social, pump.io, IRC, in-person protests, video, LibrePlanet wiki Materials inventory: Hazmat suits, printed flyers, DRM FAQ, Guide to DRM-Free Living, stickers John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 17 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Description Task list: Monitor DRM-related news, organize physical and online actions, write blog entries, write emails, microblog, design materials Infrastructure: CiviCRM, Drupal, MediaWiki Dependencies on other initiatives: International Day Against DRM, internship program Communication channels: Mass email, geographically targeted email, conference presentations, Twitter, GNU social, pump.io, IRC, in-person protests, video, LibrePlanet wiki Materials inventory: Hazmat suits, printed flyers, DRM FAQ, Guide to DRM-Free Living, stickers John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 17 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Description Task list: Monitor DRM-related news, organize physical and online actions, write blog entries, write emails, microblog, design materials Infrastructure: CiviCRM, Drupal, MediaWiki Dependencies on other initiatives: International Day Against DRM, internship program Communication channels: Mass email, geographically targeted email, conference presentations, Twitter, GNU social, pump.io, IRC, in-person protests, video, LibrePlanet wiki Materials inventory: Hazmat suits, printed flyers, DRM FAQ, Guide to DRM-Free Living, stickers John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 17 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Costs Staff time: Hours from campaigns manager, program manager, licensing and compliance manager, copyright and licensing associate, senior systems administrator, business operations manager, executive director Non-staff time: Campaigns intern, contracted and volunteer designers, board member time Financial budget other than staff time: Printing flyers and stickers, shipping materials, buying suits, conference travel John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 18 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Costs Staff time: Hours from campaigns manager, program manager, licensing and compliance manager, copyright and licensing associate, senior systems administrator, business operations manager, executive director Non-staff time: Campaigns intern, contracted and volunteer designers, board member time Financial budget other than staff time: Printing flyers and stickers, shipping materials, buying suits, conference travel John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 18 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Costs Staff time: Hours from campaigns manager, program manager, licensing and compliance manager, copyright and licensing associate, senior systems administrator, business operations manager, executive director Non-staff time: Campaigns intern, contracted and volunteer designers, board member time Financial budget other than staff time: Printing flyers and stickers, shipping materials, buying suits, conference travel John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 18 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards: Making free software a public issue, hardware, free software in schools, government regulations, use of GPLv3 Organizational goal-specific metrics: Number of popular DRMed services and connect devices, number of school systems using DRMed ebook platforms, existence of DMCA anti-circumvention rules Engagement: petition signatures, microblog shares, protest attendance, projects under GPLv3 John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 19 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards: Making free software a public issue, hardware, free software in schools, government regulations, use of GPLv3 Organizational goal-specific metrics: Number of popular DRMed services and connect devices, number of school systems using DRMed ebook platforms, existence of DMCA anti-circumvention rules Engagement: petition signatures, microblog shares, protest attendance, projects under GPLv3 John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 19 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards: Making free software a public issue, hardware, free software in schools, government regulations, use of GPLv3 Organizational goal-specific metrics: Number of popular DRMed services and connect devices, number of school systems using DRMed ebook platforms, existence of DMCA anti-circumvention rules Engagement: petition signatures, microblog shares, protest attendance, projects under GPLv3 John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 19 / 21
Example 1: Defective by Design Defective by Design: Outcomes Organizational goals it works towards: Making free software a public issue, hardware, free software in schools, government regulations, use of GPLv3 Organizational goal-specific metrics: Number of popular DRMed services and connect devices, number of school systems using DRMed ebook platforms, existence of DMCA anti-circumvention rules Engagement: petition signatures, microblog shares, protest attendance, projects under GPLv3 John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 19 / 21
Other examples of initiatives to format LibrePlanet conference Biannual paper fundraising mailing Associate Membership fundraising program GNU Press merchandising High Priority Projects List Respects Your Freedom hardware certification Staff professional development John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 20 / 21
Other examples of initiatives to format LibrePlanet conference Biannual paper fundraising mailing Associate Membership fundraising program GNU Press merchandising High Priority Projects List Respects Your Freedom hardware certification Staff professional development John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 20 / 21
Other examples of initiatives to format LibrePlanet conference Biannual paper fundraising mailing Associate Membership fundraising program GNU Press merchandising High Priority Projects List Respects Your Freedom hardware certification Staff professional development John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 20 / 21
Other examples of initiatives to format LibrePlanet conference Biannual paper fundraising mailing Associate Membership fundraising program GNU Press merchandising High Priority Projects List Respects Your Freedom hardware certification Staff professional development John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 20 / 21
Other examples of initiatives to format LibrePlanet conference Biannual paper fundraising mailing Associate Membership fundraising program GNU Press merchandising High Priority Projects List Respects Your Freedom hardware certification Staff professional development John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 20 / 21
Other examples of initiatives to format LibrePlanet conference Biannual paper fundraising mailing Associate Membership fundraising program GNU Press merchandising High Priority Projects List Respects Your Freedom hardware certification Staff professional development John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 20 / 21
Other examples of initiatives to format LibrePlanet conference Biannual paper fundraising mailing Associate Membership fundraising program GNU Press merchandising High Priority Projects List Respects Your Freedom hardware certification Staff professional development John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 20 / 21
Support the FSF Our work is funded primarily (over 80 percent) by grassroots contributions from thousands of individual members. Join the FSF at fsf.org/join. Or donate what you can at donate.fsf.org. Take our Vision Survey at fsf.org/survey Stay informed by subscribing to our Free Software Supporter newsletter at fsf.org/fss. It’s also available in Spanish and French. Ask your employer to support us. Come to LibrePlanet! (March 19-20 in Cambridge, MA) libreplanet.org/conference Slides will be available at https://libreplanet.org/wiki/User:Johns/Presentations. John Sullivan Towards “containerizing” non-software initiatives at the FSF January 29, 2016 21 / 21
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