Donation (Re: Membership Fees)

[Andy Tai <atai ece ucsd edu>]

Yes, donations are much better than membership fees.  GNOME has no clearly 
defined expenses for now, and companies like VA Linux are ready to give 
money anyway, donations or fees, so  it is not likely the GNOME Foundation will 
have no money to start with.  But donations make sure there won't be too much
money sitting idle. Once the GNOME Foundation is up and wins the confidence
of the community, then it can decide to impose membership fees or not, based
on the expected expenses at that time. (Or membership fees may never be 
necessary)

Just my 2e-4 cent donation
> 
> Perhaps word the membership fees section so that the "member donation"
> is optional, but strongly encouraged.  Larger companies who skip the
> donation would be seen as cheap.  Also, smaller companies could make
> more modest donations without losing face (especially if they make up
> for it by donating hardware or developer time).  
> 
> If the wording is carefully chosen to imply that the membership dues are
> donations, I think we can avoid the entitlement issues you mention
> above.  This would keep the foundation from becoming too beholden to the


-- 
Li-Cheng Tai (Andy Tai)                       e-mail: atai@atai.org

Free Software:  the software by the people, of the people and for the people.
Develop! Share! Enhance! Enjoy!