Re: [gentoo-nfp] Gentoo NPO Business Model thoughts

[William L. Thomson Jr.]

On Sun, 2007-12-16 at 08:41 +0100, Marius Mauch wrote:
>
> Ok, so you're saying we should hire a lawyer recommended by some dev and
> trust is assumed due to that recommendation. That's what I wanted to
> know.

Well we are already trusting our devs to an extent. It also comes down
to knowing someone and trusting them or trusting a stranger or strange
entity. Not to mention most respectably lawyers or tax professionals
will have a history. Which unfortunately the SFC completely lacks at
this time. I might go so far as to say SPI might be a safer bet than the
SFC till they get some more years of experience under their belt.

While it might be a great concept. What about the SFC is there really to
trust? IMHO We need much more info than what they provide on their
website. Many questions still unanswered. Even with answers, their
impact on projects over years is still unknown.

Not to mention even Gnome left the SPI. We could consider going with the
law firm they are using. Just saying we have other options, and the SFC
nor SPI might be not be all they seem to be.

> Well, those are our current problems (lack of administration). It's
> generally a good idea to define the problem you're trying to solve
> first, especially when you want to compare solutions.

Correct, I think we do need a defined list of reasons/problems why we
would need the SFC or outside counsel. Legal status and filing being
just one of the more obvious and pressing ones IMHO. But we do need to
identify the rest before proceeding in any direction.

> From what I've learnt when this was first discussed we would sign a
> contract which would control the details and then appoint some people to
> act as gatekeepers that would indirectly control the funds (also see
> http://www.grantgoodyear.org/g2blog/gentoo/20070717-sflc.html, I
> also recall another discussion about this with Grant but can't find it
> atm)

Yeah I really need to do historic research of past conversations and etc
on this topic/subject. I take it any gatekeepers would be elected and
etc kinda like the foundation is now.

> > How will they help us fill the coffers? How can they manage assets if
> > they don't exist? Beyond assets like the logo, trademark, etc. How
> > will they help us accumulate more?
>
> Is that a problem for us? For what do we actually need more money?
> I'll start another subthread to actually discuss your idea.

We don't need $ right now because we really aren't spending it. But I
think there are many good and logical ways it could be spent to help
further things along. Paying people is just one, providing equipment and
hardware for them is another. Not sure if infra runs off 100% donated
gear or if any of it has been purchased. Things like our hardware wish
list we could provide instead of waiting for someone to contribute.

Many more ways, all with the idea of furthering things along.

-- 
William L. Thomson Jr.
Gentoo/Java