Re: Google Summer of Code, LilyPond and GNU

[Janek Warchoł]

On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 1:38 PM, Graham Percival
<address@hidden> wrote:
> Let's see if we can rescue this somehow.
>
> On Tue, Mar 06, 2012 at 09:52:00AM +0100, Janek Warchoł wrote:
>> On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 11:17 PM, Graham Percival
>> <address@hidden> wrote:
>> > No.  Put the patch on rietveld, and once people have commented, it
>> > gets pushed to staging.
>>
>> Aaargh!  This will take 2 or 3 days.  As a part of our application to
>> GSoC we *must* include URL to our ideas list.  So we must get it
>> online As Soon As Possible!
>
> I'm not saying it needs to wait for a full countdown, but I think
> we should have it available for comment for some amount of time.

ah, ok.

>> I guess i'm stupid
>> and ugly and don't know how to satisfy your question and handle all
>> this, can you help me?
>
> First, yes I'll try to help you and get something worked out.

Thanks!

> Second, don't sacrifice family or university for lilypond.
> David's situation is not good, but that is ultimately his
> responsibility.  I don't think that he would want you to do poorly
> in university because of worrying about him.  The situation for
> lilypond in general is no different: this is a volunteer, hobby
> project.  It must come after family, education, and work.
> I appreciate the effort you have been putting into this, but I
> encourage you to shift your priorities.

That's unlikely, i'm very stubborn.  I'd rather try to make
LilyPond/music engraving my source of income.

> I don't want the money.  I have been very consistent about that.
> I don't want the $500, and I don't want the income.  My personal
> taxes are complicated enough as they are; I have income from two
> different countries, I have over CDN$ 99,000 of "education tax
> credit" saved up (completely legal; I've been a student since
> 1997, almost all full-time); the tax auditors naturally look
> closely at my submissions.

i didn't know that.  sorry.

> With regards to that form, I don't know what to put for box 2
> "Country of incorportation or organization".  I'm not an
> incorporation or organization... or is there a special tax
> definition of "incorporation" that includes "private individuals"?
> hmm.

IIRC the instruction says an individual leaves this blank.

> Ignoring that, what should I do for box 4 "permanent address" ?
> I'm a student, soon to start doing a postdoc life where I switch
> to a different continent every 6 to 12 months.

As far as i understand, this document is for Google and i've read that
they don't care for changing address as long as it's outside US.

Besides, i don't think this matters unless you're going to move during GSoC.

> Woah, part III "Notional Principal Contracts"!!!  "I have provided
> or will provide a statement that identifies those notional
> principal contracts from which the income is not effectively
> connected with the conduct of a trade or business in the United
> States. I agree to update this statement as required.  "
> What on earth does that mean?!  I'm supposed to agree to send an
> affidavit saying that the money from google doesn't have anything
> to do with a business in the US?  no wait, that's "notorized", no
> "notional".  Huh, I guess I'd better spend half an hour looking
> into the definition of all those words.
>
> Part IV Certification.  "Under penalties of perjury, I declare
> that I have examined the information on this form and to the best
> of my knowledge and belief it is true,"
>
> I cannot do that.  Not without spending probably a full working
> day looking up legal definitions for United States tax law.  It's
> not because I'm actively worried that the US government is going
> to give my brother a hard time because of this form, nor am I
> actively worried that they'll extradite me on some legal
> technicality because I might have made a mistake in filling out
> the form.  I cannot sign this form because I view my word as my
> bond.  It would be dishonorable for me to make a claim unless I am
> totally certain that I am correct.

That's something i can understand.

> Janek?  I know that you want to be a student, but maybe you'd
> consider being the official admin for us instead, and keep the
> $500?  You're much more familiar with GSoC than I am.

unfortunately not.  Only participating in GSoC as a student will
enable me to spend all my summer on LilyPond, and that's what i want
to do.


On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 1:41 PM, Graham Percival
<address@hidden> wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 06, 2012 at 01:22:42PM +0100, Janek Warchoł wrote:
>> i was (unofficially) told that if you don't send the W-8BEN form,
>> Google doesn't get upset and simply doesn't send you the money,
>> especially if you notify them about it.
>
> Ok, if I'm the admin person, that is what I would do.  Some people
> might view that as a waste of $500 (or more; IIRC it's $500 for
> each student).

Yes, that's what the program FAQ says.  I hope that if we're accepted
we'll have at least 2 students.

best
Janek