Xfce Foundation status

[Jannis Pohlmann]

Hey everyone,

I am currently working on some of the documents required to create a
non-profit organization for Xfce under German law (so it would be
called "Xfce e.V." or "Xfce Foundation e.V." to give it more of an
international touch). This mail reports the progress I made lately and
there are a few questions I'd like you all to think about and help me
answer at the bottom of the mail as well.

The benefits are obvious: Xfce would become a legal entity with an
official board of directors and we could raise funds in the form of
donations and via supporting members in order to organize hackfests 
etc.

I've been in contact with the president of the KDE e.V., Cornelius
Schumacher, and have been granted permission to re-use their articles
of association (German: Satzung) for Xfce. You can read the KDE
version on

  http://ev.kde.org/corporate/statutes.php

Based on this I created a draft for Xfce. So far I only have a
German version ready, but I basically replaced "KDE" with "Xfce" (or
"Xfce Foundation" where appropriate) and fixed a few typos. I also
changed the time board members are elected for from 3 to 2 years as I
think 3 years is a bit too much. We could even say 1 year here.

The draft is not finished yet but I have a few questions for you anyway
(please read KDE's articles of association first):

  * Do you think all this makes sense? 

  * Does a German e.V. (which is a non-profit organization registered
    in Germany) sound like a reasonable type of organization for Xfce?

  * Would you prefer "Xfce e.V." or "Xfce Foundation e.V." to be the
    name of the organization?

  * For how many years do you think the board should be elected? 
    3, 2 or 1?

  * There is one clause about where the raised money should go in case
    the e.V. is abandoned. The KDE people have decided to forward all
    their money to UNESCO. I have come up with a few alternatives.
    Which of the following organizations would you prefer the money to
    be handed over to in case the e.V. is closed?

      UNESCO, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, WWF or OLPC?

    You can of course make your own suggestions if you want to.

Please help us by answering the questions. If this makes sense for most
of you and the questions are answered, I'll proceed in finishing the
paperwork.

The founding process itself involves a formal meeting in real life
with at least 7 persons attending. As it seems unrealistic to organize
such a meeting with Xfce-only people from all around the world before
the end of the year, I propose that I organize this meeting in
Lübeck, gathering a few local Xfce users or friends. During this
meeting they would sign a resolution that says the board of directors
will be re-elected shortly after the e.V. has been registered. In this
re-election we can then establish people more deeply involved in Xfce
as board members. (And we would of course decide not to take money from
e.V. members, so anyone can become part of the whole thing.)

How does all this sound to you people?

Cheers,
Jannis
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