I agree with Chris. Neutrality and branding are quite dichotomic, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The main concern about excluding branding is lack of giving credit where credit is deserved, whether for contributing content or sponsoring whatever endeavors. The main concern about absolute neutrality or true freedom of expression is, as we all know, the underlying sustainability model.
Mel's suggestion for using wiki templates with logos and sponsorship notes has merit. In TOS instance, though, attribution to Red Hat is probably needed for the vast majority of pages. In that case, TOS, like opensource.com, is, in reality, a Red Hat community service. I, personally, do not want TOS turned into opensource.com. The biggest appeal that TOS has for me is its neutral and diverse confluence of voices and professional experiences. The wiki, the Planet, the mailing list, and IRC channel are vital to keep TOS community alive. The community should discuss and decide what's TOS business model, how sponsorships play in, how grant funding could be channeled to support TOS (or directly link faculty and student work to TOS), and how other financial contributions can be made. To preserve neutrality and remain viable TOS might become at some point a nonprofit foundation, like Creative Commons or Sugar Labs (to choose two random and very different examples). I don't think that OSU Open Source Lab model, for example, is applicable to TOS, but that's another answer to how open source of any kind is sustained. And I have no idea of how a 'TOS Board' arrangement will work (if we consider Fedora Project Board model). I don't have a solution for how Red Hat should brand itself within TOS space, but if it does it right then other sponsors could do the same and more faculty and students could get the support they need. In practice, branding is a threat to neutrality. In theory, there might be ways by which branding protects neutrality. I'm hopeful we can find a middle ground. POSSE workshops have been a success so far and Red Hat has played a major role in making them possible. Red Hat's sponsorship for these workshops should be spelled out 'loud and clear'. Cheers, Mihaela -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Chris Tyler Sent: Monday, July 26, 2010 11:22 PM To: TOS Subject: Re: [TOS] How can we mark what activities a particular group is doing within TOS? I believe that branded content belongs on our own respective sites, whether that of Seneca, Red Hat, Mozilla, Fedora, Canonical, or any other umbrella. We all feel the pressures of branding; one of the main benefits of TOS.o is that I can freely collaborate with others with that pressure minimized. -Chris _______________________________________________ tos mailing list [email protected] http://teachingopensource.org/mailman/listinfo/tos _______________________________________________ tos mailing list [email protected] http://teachingopensource.org/mailman/listinfo/tos
