Foundation summary

[Bart Decrem <bart eazel com>]

Hi everyone,

I haven't gotten any feedback on the third draft of the Foundation
charter.  Pls let me know if you have suggestions for edits.  Otherwise,
I'm going to assume that people are OK with this and we're going to
start working with lawyers on drafting legal documents.

Meanwhile, we still need a mission statement for the foundation.  If
someone wants to take a first crack at that, that 'd be great.

Other issue I'm working through right now is corporate membership fees.
We're trying to figure out how much we should ask corporate members to
contribute.  This ties back to what kind of resources we think the
foundation will need to operate.  I'm proposing that we raise enough in
membership fees to pay for one full-time coordinator for the
foundation.  So we'd ask corporate members to contribute between $10,000
and $20,000 annually.  Let me know if you have thoughts on that.

Also, Greg Corrin at Eazel is working on drafting a press release for
the announcement of the foundation on 8/15.  He needs an overview of the
foundation.  Here's what I've slapped together (borrowing from the
Apache Software Foundation).  I'd love your edit suggestions.  It looks
a bit like a mission statement but is not meant to be that.

Here goes...

The GNOME Foundation provides organizational, financial and legal
support for the GNOME project.  The foundation will help determine the
vision and roadmap for GNOME.  It will also assist in creating technical
standards, coordinate GNOME releases, and determine which software
projects are part of GNOME.  The foundation will make public statements
and administer funds on behalf of the GNOME project.  The Foundation
will be incorporated as a membership-based, not-for-profit corporation.

You are invited to participate in the GNOME Foundation. We welcome
contributions in many forms. Our membership consists of those
individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to the development of
GNOME through participation in the development, documentation and
promotion of GNOME. An Advisory Board provides a vehicle for
organizations and companies to communicate with the GNOME community and
support GNOME.

Bart