Hi Brett! On Fri, Feb 28, 2020 at 2:05 PM Brett Cornwall <br...@i--b.com> wrote:
> > Other Free Software projects have had for-profit entities created > underneath the stewardship of a non-profit; Mozilla Corporation and > Canonical are two living examples. Sacrifices to user empowerment are often > made at Mozilla Corporation (e.g. Pocket integration, advertising > partnerships to silently install code on browsers, etc. - The list grows > longer by the month as new scandals appear). Canonical has made similar > sacrifices (e.g. Ubuntu One proprietary service integration, > cease-and-desists towards fixubuntu.com). > > > 1. How would TDF intend to protect users against the inevitable > temptations to prioritize money/brand over users/computing ethics? "We can > always pull the plug" is not a compelling argument as that's only used for > the direst of circumstances, not the slow poisoning of the well that > Mozilla have experienced. > This is overstating TDC's vision, so the comparisons are massively unhelpful. It is being created to put the LibreOffice package TDF makes into the Windows and Mac appstores on TDF's behalf, and collect a small payment for the convenience. It will make clear the origin of the software as far as it is allowed to by those stores. It will spend the money paying developers in the community (both larger and smaller) to improve LibreOffice, through the usual TDF ESC processes. So no significant mission is leaving TDF. This is all in the CIC36 community support statement, which is this hadn't blown up now for some reason I was planning to post next week once the steering group agreed it. Your concerns relate to a company creating a product and operating independently of the community, which is not what's proposed here. > > 2. How will TDF assure communities that the creation of a for-profit > entity to manage branding that the above examples will not occur? > TDC is not managing TDF's branding. It just has a narrow, well-bounded license to act on TDF's behalf in app stores. Full stop. > > 3. What assurances does TDF offer that assuage fears that the lifeblood of > LibreOffice will pivot from one of community involvement to one of company > culture (with community involvement as a PR spin)? > Because we're not creating that sort of corporate vehicle. Cheers, Simon (proposed CEO for TDC and former TDF director)
