Advisory Board Letter

[Robert Humphreys <rob collab net>]

Hi all,

wanted to share with you the outline we have been sending to potential
advisory board members. So far, the founding GNOME advisory board
members are eazel, Helix Code, Sun and Red Hat. It looks like we will
shortly be able to announce some additional companies prior to 8.15 -
exciting news for the community and IMHO, alternative desktop os!

Below is the text of the outline being sent out.

Tuesday August 1, 2000

GNOME Foundation Advisory Board

To:
Fr: Rob Humphreys, Collab.Net
Re: Compaq's participation in the GNOME AB




It was nice speaking with you yesterday. As we discussed, Collab.Net has
been retained to help formulate and start the GNOME Foundation. The
proposed GNOME Foundation will be closely modeled on the Apache Software
Foundation and be comprised of a Board of Directors - to be elected by
the GNOME community at large - and  Advisory Board - whose initial
members will be recruited.

The goal is to have the basic structure of the Foundation in place, and
the initial members of the Corporate Advisory Board recruited by Linux
World Expo on Aug. 15th in San Jose. There will be a press conference to
announce the formation of the GNOME Foundation and the  Advisory Board
on Aug. 15th as well.

We would like to extend an offer to ---- be apart of the initial
Advisory Board for the GNOME Foundation.

Below is a brief outline of what we currently envision the Advisory
Board's role to be.

GNOME Advisory Board - Overview

The Advisory Board is made up of companies and organizations which have
a desire to participate in advising the foundation about releases and
other decisions. The Advisory Board will have no decision - making
ability. The Advisory Board is a place for its members to engage in open
discussions about their GNOME related strategies. Membership in the
forum will be open to all companies and groups who are interested in
contributing to the GNOME Project, subject to the approval of the Board
of Directors.

Companies and other organizations that wish to communicate with the
GNOME project, seek technical advice and contribute code will be able to
use the Foundation as their first point of contact. The foundation will
be responsible for helping these organizations understand the GNOME
project and become involved. The Foundation will also be a hub for joint
marketing efforts by the organizations and companies which want to make
GNOME related announcements.

Corporate members with more than ten full time employees will pay
$20,000 a year for membership dues, and companies with less than ten
full time employees will pay $10,000 a year for membership dues. Special
considerations for non profit organizations, early stage start ups, etc.
can be made and are subject to approval by the Board of Directors.

These fees will help to fund staffing for the GNOME Foundation, and
other administrative expenses.

Founding Advisory Board members include the following companies and
organizations:

eazel
Sun
Red Hat
Helix Code

Currently, we are in discussions with other major PC OEMs, and expect to
have additional companies on board for the 8.15 announcement.

Of course joining the GNOME Foundation in no way precludes your
companies (continued) participation with other desktop platforms.
However, it is our hope that you will become active and valuable
participants in the GNOME community!

Regards,

Rob Humphreys
Collab.Net



--
Regards,

Rob

Rob Humphreys | Collab.Net | 415.908.1241 direct | 415.596.9021 cell
rob@collab.net | open source changes everything | www.collab.net