I’ve had two calls with Unrugabble about this topic. I do think providers are within their rights to ask for out of band resources, and there should be a way for Service providers to “graduate” into their own stream, and I believe that Unrugabble definitely deserves the funding.
However…
I have provided a framework in which I believe this should happen in the Service Provider Season 2 program.
- Service providers have asked for more certainty on the continuity of the program: I have made all efforts to clarify that we intend to renew it and put forth dates
- Providers complained about instability of having to ask every year: I have proposed a two year stream for those who have overwhelming support
- Providers have asked for larger amounts: I am in favor of increasing the top ask from 1M (which nobody asked last year) to 1.2M to fit Unrugabble’s ask.
- Providers asked for less dependency on a binary political choice: I am open to more suggestions but there’s no way around the fact that any job requires supervisions, annual revisions, milestones etc. I am open to suggestions on how we can do this better.
While I would love to see more projects get larger funding and to have more healthy competition for ENS Labs, I would prefer that the follow the established process for this. It’s my opinion that with the Streams vote coming in the beginning of next year, there’s no point in having a separate out of band vote just for Unrugabble. I do not see what’s so urgent they can’t wait for another 2 months (specially considering the next 2 months are the holidays) or ask for a temporary bandaid to support whatever they need. I also would not like a contentious proposal to go forward that would hurt the relationship between labs and some service providers.
If Unruggable feels certain they will have the vote for this, then they would be even more confident that they would get it via the Service Providers stream.
This quote should NOT be taken as a support for this particular proposal. I am supportive of the team. I would vote for a smaller ask and I would vote Unruggable for the stream renewal. I would NOT vote for the proposal as is.