On Thursday 13 May 2004 09:20, Sven Vermeulen wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> There are a couple of chapters that I'm already thinking about before going
> further. Those chapters are:
>   - About this document
>   - Why a Gentoo Foundation
>   - Principles of the Gentoo Foundation
>   - Tasks of the Gentoo Foundation
>
> A small description is probably in place :)
>
> With "About this document" I would try to describe to the user what this
> document is about. It's like an outline for the rest of the document.
>
> "Why a Gentoo Foundation" talks about the progress Gentoo has made, the
> incorporated technologies and code that has grown since the beginning of
> it's existence, about the accumulated knowledge that we have inside and the
> community that keeps a high-demand wrt Gentoo's progress.
>
> It will also talk a bit about the coordination of Gentoo (through the
> coordinators/managers) and the community feedback that is of the most
> importance for a project such as Gentoo.
>
> It outlines the reason for a Gentoo Foundation:
>   - Decoupling necessary bureaucracy from development
>       * Financial (donations)
>       * Juridical (licenses, copyrights, trademarks, ...)
>       * Caretaking (adherence to the social contract)
>   - Mission Statement
>       * Protect the use of the Gentoo trademark and logo
>       * Protect the developed code, documentation, artwork and other
>         material through copyright/licenses
>       * Sponsor Gentoo-related conferences and technical development
>       * Oversee development so it adheres to the social contract
>
> The "Principles of the Gentoo Foundation" would describe four pillars that
> the Gentoo Foundation keeps in mind:
>   1. Gentoo provides choices
>   2. Gentoo is open
>   3. Gentoo lives for the community, by the community
>   4. Gentoo is independent
>
> With "independent" I mean that Gentoo will be reigned by a company nor
> be dictated by an organisation.
>
> In "Tasks of the Gentoo Foundation" I would place the real tasks (which we
> still need to discuss properly):
>   * Intellectual Property protection
>   * Support for the Gentoo Development (hardware, financial, ...)
>   * Oversee adherance to the social contract
>   * Corporate/Organisational point of contact
>   * Keep definition of a "Gentoo Developer"
>
> Does this integrate well with the thoughts you have about the Gentoo
> Foundation? Feedback is appreciated.

We might also have some kind of general goal like (just an example):
"To propagate the use of free software in a free way by providing a linux 
distribution"

Paul

ps. The sentence is lousy, it is just an example

-- 
Paul de Vrieze
Gentoo Developer
Mail: pauldv@g.o
Homepage: http://www.devrieze.net