Catching up on the Copyright Assignments thread (since I have not looked at my e-mail since last Wednesday), it seems there may be a need to understand what TDF is needed for as an entity - in other words, why do we need a foundation?
While in some respects I can very well see that a foundation/legal entity may not be needed; there are probably some very good reason for one; and I'd suggest looking at the Gentoo Foundation as one model of what TDF could be for LibreOffice and other similar projects. Please see the following for information on the Gentoo Foundation: http://www.gentoo.org/foundation/en/ To summarize: The bureaucracy we mention includes: * financial caretaking: accepting donations, managing financial assets and investing in required resources or entities that benefit the Gentoo development * juridical protection: backing up the licenses Gentoo uses, maintaining the copyrights on Gentoo's software, documentation and other assets and protecting Gentoo's intellectual property * Gentoo caretaking: protecting the community by requiring total adherence to the Gentoo Social Contract In other words, the Gentoo Foundation will: * protect the use of the Gentoo trademark and logo * protect the developed code, documentation, artwork and other material through copyright and licenses * sponsor Gentoo-related conferences and technical development resources * oversee development so it adheres to the social contract Leaving the entire Copyright Assignment discussion aside (as there is already a thread for that), perhaps it would be helpful to discuss what the foundation itself is. I think the above is a good referential starting point. Please note that the Gentoo does support numerous languages - in documentation, help, etc. - so it is similarly international to what TDF ought to become. The delta, I think, is how non-person legal entities would fit in - since Gentoo doesn't have nor requires any; but that is a rather minor point (again, I believe there might be another thread for that, or it may already be before the SC.). Also, similar to the existing SC, Gentoo has a board of individuals to guide the Gentoo Project. All individuals are elected yearly, and serve to make the larger, over-arching decisions. While I am not familiar with Debian's organization, I assume they would also be another good example - especially since Gentoo-based at least some of their materials (e.g. the Social Contract) on Debian's. Hopefully we can clear up some mis-understandings and fill in areas that lack clarity with this thread. (At least, that is my hope.) Perhaps this could also give the SC & founders some ideas as to what to do or who to consult as well. Ben -- Unsubscribe instructions: Email to [email protected] Posting guidelines: http://netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html Archive: http://www.documentfoundation.org/lists/discuss/ *** All posts to this list are publicly archived ***
