I really don't know what I think about wtbob's comment, but it's awful that it got flagkilled.
Are the total available OSS funds the result of a zero-sum game?
I think at face-value it isn't zero-sum. I think this question can be restated as "If advocacy groups became convinced that this kind of discrimination is unproductive, would they spend their money on supporting open source, or on promoting minority groups in a different way?". I think it's pretty clear that the answer is the latter. But you can also step back and ask whether the advocacy groups would have less funding if these programs came to be considered ineffective, and I think they would, since people would lose trust in them. I'm sure a lot of that money would go toward some other kind of minority advocacy groups, but I'm also sure that many sources of funding are actually specifically interested in promoting open source (otherwise it would be more productive for them to support minorities in employment, not open source internships). I think it's reasonable to say some of that money might make its way to people like Paul.
This is terribly speculative, but it is to say that if you accept that discriminatory programs like outreachy are not productive, there's merit to the claim that they deprive heroes like Paul of funding.
Are the total available OSS funds the result of a zero-sum game?
I think at face-value it isn't zero-sum. I think this question can be restated as "If advocacy groups became convinced that this kind of discrimination is unproductive, would they spend their money on supporting open source, or on promoting minority groups in a different way?". I think it's pretty clear that the answer is the latter. But you can also step back and ask whether the advocacy groups would have less funding if these programs came to be considered ineffective, and I think they would, since people would lose trust in them. I'm sure a lot of that money would go toward some other kind of minority advocacy groups, but I'm also sure that many sources of funding are actually specifically interested in promoting open source (otherwise it would be more productive for them to support minorities in employment, not open source internships). I think it's reasonable to say some of that money might make its way to people like Paul.
This is terribly speculative, but it is to say that if you accept that discriminatory programs like outreachy are not productive, there's merit to the claim that they deprive heroes like Paul of funding.