Hi Mooneer
An excellent suggestion I agree with the concept and suggest that the mission be extended further to something like "promote the use of open source digital voice and data modes on commercial and amateur radio and encourage the development of resilient communication modes for adverse conditions" This would give plenty of scope for the advancement of the technology way into the future I agree with your key points, recognising that other participants may suggest others Regards David Grove – VK2DWG From: Mooneer Salem <moon...@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, 21 February 2022 09:07 To: digitalvo...@googlegroups.com; freetel-codec2@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [Freetel-codec2] Starting an organization for FreeDV/Codec2 development Hi all, Over the past year or so, there have been several occasions where it would have been beneficial to have had an official organization steering FreeDV and Codec2 development. For instance, the ARDC does not currently offer grants to individuals <https://www.ampr.org/apply/#eligibility> , not to mention the recent discussion about Windows Defender <https://github.com/drowe67/freedv-gui/issues/213> and what it would take to get FreeDV "trusted" by Microsoft. I'd like to brainstorm what such an organization would look like. First off, what would the mission of such an organization be? This seems obvious at first glance ("promote the use of open source digital voice modes on amateur radio"), but what would that entail exactly? A few potential things off the top of my head: * SM1000 replacement (faster hardware to support other FreeDV modes, Wi-Fi support for radios such as the IC-705, etc.) * General software process improvements (code signing of binaries, hosted Debian/Fedora/etc. package repos, etc.) * General advocacy (e.g. presence at more ham radio related events, Zoom/etc. presentations about HF digital voice) * Offering grants to individual developers to develop Codec2 and FreeDV further (e.g. fixed-point ports, improved/more modes, etc.) On first thought, it seems that a non-profit/501(c)3 structure would be most appropriate given the mission of such a potential organization and its dedication to open source, but I'm wondering if some other structure would fit better. Another possibility is structuring it more like a membership club (IIRC there was a digital voice club back in the FDMDV days but I forget offhand what it was). Anyway, if you have any suggestions or comments, they would be most welcome. Thanks, -Mooneer K6AQ
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