[gentoo-trustees] Re: Item #1000 - Notification of Payment Received from DeployLinux.Net ([e-mail])

[Corey Shields]

On Friday 12 August 2005 10:58 pm, Donnie Berkholz wrote:
> | Buyer:		DeployLinux.Net
> | Message:		I will start making contributions regularly to the foundation
> | as I'm a linux consultant that makes $$ from supporting Gentoo.
> |
> | If you feel like adding my logo to the sponsors page, it is
> | at:  http://www.deploylinux.com/images/DeployLinuxLogo2.png
>
> Do we want to do anything about this? Particularly if "regularly" means
> "often," I think we should.
>
> Donnie

(background: this came with a $200 donation today, but it is something that 
Donnie, myself, Kurt, Lance, and others have been talking about lately)

Donnie,

I was thinking the same thing when I saw this..  Goes back to the lunch 
discussion you and I had wrt attribution of donations..  This is going to 
become a common thing, and bigger corporate entities will want to do the 
same.  I did not realize until today that Global Netoptex (the guys who host 
owl and were so anxious to host out dev conference today) use Gentoo on an 
exclusive basis on all of their gear, with just a couple of exceptions.  So, 
of course they are eager to give back to Gentoo in any way they can.

I don't know what the "right" answer here is.  My inkling is to say let's come 
up with corporate memberships within the foundation, where annual membership 
dues are required, and you get certain member rights (a vote?  use of the 
Foundation Membership status).  We could have varying such levels and label 
them, say $1,000/yr, $5,000/yr, $10,000/yr..   

I could see GenUX needing such a way to contribute back to Gentoo similarly if 
they become successful.  That is such a situation where it would benefit them 
to say that they are a member of the Gentoo Foundation, and they would 
naturally want to jump in and support the Foundation's mission because it 
will just help them in the end (same holds true for the consultant above).

Of course, it has been too long since I have looked at the bylaws, but such 
membership should come with a removal clause that xx number of member votes 
(which might be tough), or a board vote, could revoke membership.  Thus, if 
someone buys their way in and ends up misusing privileges they get canned.

This is very similar to the way I understand the Eclipse Foundation working, 
only on a much larger scale ($250,000 plus 8 full time developers for 
membership..  yeah..).

-C

-- 
Corey Shields
Gentoo Linux Infrastructure Team
Gentoo Foundation Board of Trustees
http://www.gentoo.org/~cshields
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