[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Interesting proposal about approachingEvergreengovernance

[Karen Schneider]

On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 11:22 AM, Deanna Frazee <dfrazee at ci.killeen.tx.us>wrote:

> While I agree that the environment is different from dealing with a
> proprietary vendor, it still seems to me that adding a foundation into
> the mix is just adding an unnecessary layer.  Is there any reason that a
> user group cannot be set up so that it directs development?



 Well, in place of "directs," perhaps we could say "advise, collaborate, and
jointly fund."

There have been governance questions (which is why  the original proposal to
pilot governance models arose--to test out these questions in real life
before committing to a governance model). On the issue of UGs versus
foundations, Deanna has a valid point that foundations for open source
projects rarely coordinate development efforts. (It is easy enough to
determine this from looking at other OSS projects.) For one thing, consider
the board of a 501c3. Would every project have a place at that table? That
would become very unwieldy very quickly.

But OSS projects form foundations to do several things: serve as a neutral
third-party voice of advocacy for the project; accept charitable donations;
seek and be funded for grants and similar funding; and (this is sometimes
all they do) protect the project's assets and entities. They don't "hold the
code in escrow" because the code is open, but it is recognized that logos,
trademarks, and other resources related to projects need to be protected,
and that there is an entity that if, for example, someone violates GPL for
the code, the project can take legal action. See, for example, the Mozilla
Foundation: http://www.mozilla.org/foundation/

Personally, though it seems like a lot, I think Evergreen needs user groups
AND a foundation (or at least an affiliate relationship that serves as a
form of 501c3 status, such as the Software Conservancy). But maybe not. The
key is that we find governance models that fit the community... and we can
organize around our needs, without feeling compelled to follow any pattern
we've seen in the past.

Plus it's really, really great to see governance on the table as an item
important to the community!


-- 
-- 
| Karen G. Schneider
| Community Librarian
| Equinox Software Inc. "The Evergreen Experts"
| Toll-free: 1.877.Open.ILS (1.877.673.6457) x712
| kgs at esilibrary.com
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