SPI invited X.Org to join as Associated Project

[Bryce Harrington]

On Fri, Jan 09, 2015 at 04:58:10PM +0000, Daniel Stone wrote:
> 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.

For Inkscape joining the Software Conservancy, we did a Fiscal
Sponsorship Agreement (FSA) which defined the nuts and bolts of how many
of these things work (or at least the decision-making process to decide
them).  Will there be an equivalent sort of document for X.org/SPI that
members could review in deciding their vote?

> 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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