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Partial reply |
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============ |
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On Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:16:21 -0400 |
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Richard Freeman <rich0@g.o> wrote: |
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|
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> Roy Bamford wrote: |
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> > The three remaining trustees were also nominated to stand for election |
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> > for the council. Had they all accepted and been elected to the council, |
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> > today we would be in the position of having trustees being a subset of |
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> > council. That would have totally destroyed the council/foundation split |
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> > that was one of the reasons the two bodies were created. |
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> > |
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> > We need rules to stop that situation from occuring. |
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> > |
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> |
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> Is this the case? That we need to stop the council/trustees from |
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> overlapping? Is it true that the council/foundation split was one of |
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> the reasons the two bodies were created? |
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> |
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> My understanding is that the reason we have two bodies is so that people |
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> can contribute to either the council and/or the trustees based on their |
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> enthusiasm or ability to contribute, without being required to |
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> contribute to both. Also - due to the foundation being a US corporation |
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> it is likely the case that we can't have non-US-residents holding board |
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> positions. So, the split is a practical matter - not a matter of |
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> principle per se. |
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> |
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Richard, |
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I guess you don't know that Roy (NeddySeagoon) is a trustee living in |
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Scotland? :) Not a US citizen. |
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|
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There are two bodies because (1) the council is elected by the Gentoo |
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developers to guide the technical aspects of the Gentoo project. It's |
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members must be developers, I believe. |
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|
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And (2), The trustees are the board of the Gentoo Foundation, a New |
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Mexico not-for-profit corporation which is separate from the project. |
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The trustees are elected by the members of the Foundation and must be |
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members of the Foundation. |
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|
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Not all developers are members of the Foundation, and not all |
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Foundation members are developers, so it would be impossible to have |
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just one governing body even if we wanted to. Which we don't, because |
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the skills required for the one are not the same as those required for |
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the other. |
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|
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So the split is a bit more than a practical matter. It is required |
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because the developers and Foundation members are not the same people |
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(although there is a lot of overlap, of course). |
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> I wasn't seriously involved back when the trustees were created so I |
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> won't presume to argue that I really know all the reasons for it being a |
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> separate body. However, I don't think that really matters - the only |
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> thing that matters is if we think it should be forced to be such today. |
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> |
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> In my opinion the benefits of joint council/trustee membership outweigh |
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> the downside. However, I'm sure things will go on fine either way - |
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> I'll trust the trustees/council to make the right decision. |
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> |
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I'll leave the hard parts to someone else. |
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Regards, |
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Ferris |
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-- |
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Ferris McCormick (P44646, MI) <fmccor@g.o> |
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Developer, Gentoo Linux (Sparc, Userrel, Trustees) |
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