Xfce Foundation status

[Jannis Pohlmann]

So, I'm summing up below:

On Wed, 13 Oct 2010 20:42:22 +0200
Jannis Pohlmann <jannis at xfce.org> wrote:

> 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? 

Consensus seems to be: yes, this makes a lot of sense. Which in turn
makes me happy of course. :)

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

Everyone seems fine with a German e.V. as long as there will always be
someone to take care of the paperwork. There are a lot of German Xfce
users who I know personally and there have always been a few German
people deeply involved in Xfce as long as I've been around. So I guess
a non-profit organization under German law should be fine.

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

A few concerns have been raised about the "Foundation" vs.
"Association" issue. The majority, however, has expressed "Xfce
Foundation e.V." to be their favorite name. So be it then.

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

Some have said 3 for stability reasons, the consensus is that 1 year
is too short (the main reason being our rather long release cycles in
the past). I think 2 years is a good compromise, so let's say 2.

>   * 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.

The majority has made a different suggestion: the Free Software
Foundation. Thematically, this makes a lot of sense. It's a signal
that, even if Xfce should ever disappear, our efforts still will be
aimed at supporting the free software ecosystem.

I've updated the corresponding paragraphs in the document. I've also
removed the clause that the FSF would have to contact the German
finance office before any use of our money. I think that's not
necessary and we should rather trust the FSF in that they will put
our money to good use.

> 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.)

This has been a bit controversal. I can totally understand the desire
of some to make turn kick-off meeting into a big celebration and to be
part of that of course. However, the most important part of this whole
process is to agree on initial articles of association, which we have
been doing here. The rest is formalities that I don't consider a big
deal. 

I think there will be enough reasons and opportunities to celebrate
the creation of the e.V. even after it has been registered because
that's when we'll really notice the benefits.

Ok, that's it for now. I'll be making some phone calls to collect
more information on the actual registration process in the following
one or two weeks.

Cheers,
Jannis
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