On Fri, 2005-02-18 at 12:30, G. Roderick Singleton wrote: > On Fri, 2005-02-18 at 12:17 +0100, Urska Colner wrote: > > hi all > > > > after reading this thread, i got really concerned > > about the way this conversation is going. > > > me too. > > I would like to add my bit to the discussion. I think that the marketing > project is in the best position, in co-operation with the council, to > start the process of getting OOo a foundation, using the skills of the > marketing team to gather funds for this effort so that we are not so > dependent on Sun. With a foundation, we would be able to answer > questions, such as "who is your CEO?" etc. that were asked recently. > Heck, with a foundation and a bit of money we might even be able to hire > a few full-time developers of our own.
Eureka! I'm amazed that there wasn't one set up immediately and this circular discussion has been going on since I joined the project. Why did I set up the INGOTs? Partly to generate income to support the project. I can do that unilaterally, I can't set up a foundation unilaterally. These things also take time once set up to really start generating income, Its taken 2 years lead in to get INGOTs to where it is now and its still only at break even but we have established over 40 academies in Poland, Serbia/Montenegro Romania Australia New Zealand California North Carolina Texas Kentucky Venezeula UK Venezeula is translating to Spanish and has good contacts in Brazil and Mexico so I think we will be there soon too. I am going to the Czech republic in about 4 weeks to start a group there and Italy is also a possibility soon. (Wonders: If I floated this as a global venture on the London Stockmarket, how much investment capital might I pull in?) I think this is at the crux of the frustration of some of the younger activists, 2 years is a long time when you are 20 a mere instant when you are my age :-) To me the ideal would be a foundation with several start up companies designed to finance the foundation. That way you benefit from any grants, (I have had several thousand pounds of the good old UK tax payer to help get INGOTs going) capitalisation etc of the companies and the tax benefits of the foundation. That would be a basic strategy. Making it work would require some effort, but its the only way we are likely to ever free ourselves of dependency on a single source of funding and of getting some of the things we want but moan about because there is no source of finance. In the words of a famous sports shoe manufacturer, Just do it. -- Ian Lynch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ZMS Ltd --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
