SPI invited X.Org to join as Associated Project

[Daniel Stone]

Hi,

On Friday, January 9, 2015, Pat Kane <pekane52 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I also am not sure what SPI is.   Could someone on the Board provide an
> URL for more info.
>

I should add that the SPI work has been extensively documented in the
board's meeting minutes, as well as the (much) more infrequent reports.
Those are usually pretty mundane, but quick enough to read that it should
be worth your while in any case.

SPI, as noted, is an umbrella organisation founded from Debian originally,
that handles administrative tasks for independent organisations such as
Debian, Postgres, freedesktop.org, etc. Given how much of a nightmare we've
had being our own 501(c)3, I can only see this as a good thing.

Personally I have a great deal of faith in the SPI and its history of
independence and commitment to FLOSS, but also in that of the board and its
decision-making - this process has been going a long time, not just a
kneejerk reaction - as well as the advice of the SFLC, which we seem to
have benefited from here.

Still though, it seems like it'd be useful to have some kind of summary
including Jeremy's concerns: what concrete/legal form does the foundation
assume from here on in? What assets (including marks, domain names, etc)
does the foundation currently hold? What is the timeline for transitioning
to SPI and what practical effect will this have on mundane matters such as
reimbursing people for travel expenses? What concrete instantiation of our
relationship to SPI is there - a written agreement, representation within
SPI, other?

I'm sure all of these have been thoughtfully considered, but having it all
written down would be nice.

Thanks for all the hard work, and glad it seems to be coming to a positive
conclusion!

Cheers,
Daniel


> Pat
> ----
> P.S. Thank you Peter for keeping us informed.
>

> On Fri, Jan 9, 2015 at 8:50 AM, Jeremy C. Reed <reed at reedmedia.net
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','reed at reedmedia.net');>> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 9 Jan 2015, Peter Hutterer wrote:
>>
>> > Dear X.Org Foundation members,
>> >
>> > As you're probably aware, the Board of Directors has been pursuing to
>> join
>> > SPI for quite a while now.
>>
>> I didn't recall this.
>>
>> > Joing SPI removes much of the legal and accounting administrative work
>> > from the X.Org Board,
>> ...
>>
>> Does this imply that SPI could or will make decisions on software
>> licensing, copyright ownership of new submissions, modifying or
>> supplementing software license agreements?
>>
>> > As required by our by-laws, we will soon set up a vote for members to
>> > vote yay or nay on joining SPI.
>>
>> I am unfamiliar with SPI. Is this the "Software in the Public Interest,
>> Inc."?
>>
>> (Assuming this is the same SPI ...) Please share some details on the
>> specific "Services" that SPI will offer (based on the SPI descriptions).
>> (For example, will it include holding substantial assets, holding domain
>> names, holding trademarks, etc.?)
>>
>>   Jeremy C. Reed
>> _______________________________________________
>> members at foundation.x.org
>> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','members at foundation.x.org');>: X.Org
>> Foundation Members
>> Archives: http://foundation.x.org/cgi-bin/mailman/private/members
>> Info: http://foundation.x.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/members
>>
>
>
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