Xfce Foundation status

[Jannis Pohlmann]

On Thu, 14 Oct 2010 14:30:21 +0200
Markus Hoenicka <markus.hoenicka at mhoenicka.de> wrote:

> Jannis Pohlmann <jannis at xfce.org> was heard to say:
> 
> > I agree, a Stiftung is very different from a Verein (e.g. it has no
> > members). However, the word "foundation" seems to be widely used for
> > this type of non-profit organization all around the world.
> > Technically, the GNOME Foundation is not a foundation either, it's
> > a "non-profit public benefit coporation".
> >
> 
> If it ain't a foundation, then don't call it a foundation :-) I
> don't think it is a good idea to abuse a clear-cut legal term just
> because it sounds cool and because there is some precedent that
> others have made that mistake too. As far as I understand you want to
> launch an e.V. to further the development and propagation of Xfce.
> This does not sound like a foundation which owns and/or collects
> money to support a variety of projects. To me this rather looks like
> a group of individuals which agree to follow a particular goal and
> need a legal form to do so. This makes the whole effort an
> association, most likely a non-profit one. Therefore I'd suggest Xfce
> Association e.V.

Yes, "Xfce Association e.V." would be fine, too. 

I don't consider naming an non-profit organization a "XYZ Foundation" a
mistake though. It's very common and we could just accept that it's the
standard naming scheme for non-profit organizations dealing with
software. I give you more examples: XOrg Foundation, Free Software
Foundation. The German wikipedia entry for the FSF even says that it's
a "Stiftung, die als gemeinnützige Organisation ... gegründet wurde".

We could as well anticipate the confusion in order to express how
little we care about the legal aspects. ;) 
"Foundation" as a word also has the nice side-effect of serving as a
metaphor for its purpose (being one of the important foundations
thanks to which Xfce can prosper).

  - Jannis
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