Date: Sun, 08 Jul 2001 15:47:18 -0600 From: "Justin T. Gibbs" <gibbs@scsiguy.com> To: "Julian Stacey Jhs@jhs.muc.de" <jhs@jhs.muc.de> Cc: freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG, bod@FreeBSDFoundation.org Subject: Re: Re. The Foundation [was Re: FreeBSD Mall now BSDCentral] Message-ID: <200107082147.f68LlIU93022@aslan.scsiguy.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 08 Jul 2001 15:53:40 %2B0200." <200107081353.f68Drec45358@jhs.muc.de>
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>Hackers, CC bod@FreeBSDFoundation.org > >Wind River might be cautious & slow when considering donating the >FreeBSD trademark to a FreeBSD Foundation controlled by a board of >just 3 directors, that even FreeBSD people are just getting to know >of, & have yet to evaluate as `The Foundation'. I believe that all of the members of the Foundation's current board are well known to the FreeBSD community. That said, the community will always be able to vote their level of confidence based on whether they financially support the Foundation. As was mentioned in the FAQ, the Foundation will not engage in any further activities until sufficient funds arrive. (To those of you who have already donated - Thanks for the support!) >Wind River might find it easier & quicker to decide to donate the >trademark to the foundation, if the foundation comprised not just >3 self appointed directors, but perhaps included at least 3 non >executive directors on their board. The current BOD has only one "self-appointed" director, me. This came as a natural consequence of spear-heading the formation of the Foundation. The other two directors I convinced to join^W^W^Wchose because of their proven track record as responsible individuals who have worked to further the FreeBSD cause. The FreeBSD Foundation is an administrative body who's role is to efficiently collect and disburse funds to better the project. Core has never proven itself adept at administration. For this reason, the Foundation is a completely separate entity explicitly structured to handle these, somewhat tedious and boring, activities. >Adding 3 non-execs might increase the assurance of others too, not >just WR. BOD could invite core to nominate the first few that BOD >appoint. The non execs could retire by chronological rotation, as >real directors do. The Foundation's current BOD is running with the bare minimum number of directors and officers as required by the IRS. The BOD has always planned to add to its membership (5 to 7 directors in total), but in these early days of operation the Foundation is simply not mature enough to warrant the extra bureaucracy of additional directors. As for selection of future directors, the assumption has always been that the pool of candidates would encompass those from the business, academic and charity circles with expertise that would benefit the operation of the Foundation. The directors must support the administrative nature of the Foundation, and the skill set of future directors will reflect this. Having directors from outside the FreeBSD community will broaden the perspective and enhance the operation of the Foundation. Due care to avoid any type of "conflict of interest" issues will be exercised at all times. >As I recall FreeBSD Inc (ie jkh & dg, a team of 2) once held the >trademark, I could be wrong, but I don't believe that this was ever the case. >The sooner BOD appoint a handfull of non-execs, some nominated by core, >the sooner it'll be easy to encourage Wind River to donate the trademark, >before who knows what might happen at, to, or within Wind River ? The Foundation has yet to approach Wind River about the Trademark, so I cannot speculate on their disposition. -- Justin Secretary/Tresurer The FreeBSD Foundation To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
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