Jonathan Rochkind wrote:
For proprietary software those sorts of groups exist and are called
"user's groups". :) Could have a somewhat different role with open
source software like Evergreen, but I still think you're essentially
talking about a user's group--I believe some of which are non-profits.
Calling it that might make it make immediate sense to library world
people.
Jonathan
Well -- not to deny the strategy of using a description familiar with
the library world, but to (perhaps unnecessarily) clarify another
distinction between OSS and proprietary software -- one significant
reason these are "user's groups" in the proprietary-software world is
literal: the code and similar licenses for these software programs (
domain names, trademarks, etc.) are owned by a private company. A quick
look at any of the bylaws for a "users' group" makes it clear most of
these groups are strictly educational nonprofits with no governance role
in the software. (E.g. "Serve as an educational group for users of X
products"; "Facilitate communication among users of X's products and
provide educational opportunities for users of X's products...")
Compare and contrast with the Mozilla Foundation
(http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/), which protects the trademarks,
names, and logos of its software, and releases binaries under its
umbrella. The Mozilla Foundation is governed by an advisory board, and
has a functioning staff. While the Mozilla foundation plays other roles
(http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/activities.html ), and legally exists
as an educational 501c3 nonprofit (as noted in II.C of its articles of
incorporation), my take is the foundation primarily exists to give the
"Mozilla community" a long-range sustainable legal entity. I assume
there are more examples where this came from specific to OSS.
I want to underscore how fortunate this state is to have GPLS and PINES
with their forward-thinking leaders who enabled the creation of
Evergreen in the first place and are both strong proponents of OSS and
caring stewards of Evergreen's entity. It is all kinds of wonderful to
be able to be part of Evergreen's future.
I'll ask the question: are there other routes to take? Is there any
reason not to do this, or to do it in some other fashion? (I've also
heard from one person with experience establishing nonprofits.)
--
| Karen G. Schneider
| Community Librarian
| Equinox Software Inc. "The Evergreen Experts"
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