Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/26/award-karen.html

I know this decision is tough, as all the candidates in the list deserve
an award. However, I hope that you’ll chose to vote for my friend and
colleague, Karen Sandler, for
the 2015 Red
Hat Women in Open Source Community Award. Admittedly, most of Karen’s
work has been for software freedom, not Open Source (i.e., her work has
been community and charity-oriented, not for-profit oriented). However,
giving her an “Open Source” award is a great way to spread the
message of software freedom to the for-profit corporate Open Source
world.

I realize that there are some amazingly good candidates, and I admit I’d
be posting a blog post to endorse someone else (No, I won’t say who 🙂 if
Karen wasn’t on the ballot for the Community Award. So, I wouldn’t say you
backed the wrong candidate you if you vote for someone else. And, I’m
imminently biased since Karen and I have worked together
on Conservancy since its
inception. But, if you can see your way through to it, I hope you’ll give
Karen your vote.

(BTW, I’m not endorsing a candidate in the Academic Award race. I am just
not familiar enough with the work of the candidates involved to make an
endorsement. I even abstained from voting in that race myself because I
didn’t want to make an uninformed vote.)

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/10/node-foundation.html

It’s amazing what we let for-profit companies and their trade associations get away with.
Today, Joyent
announced the Node.js Foundation, in conjunction with various
for-profit corporate partners and Linux Foundation (which is a 501(c)(6)
trade association under the full control of for-profit companies).

Joyent and their corporate partners claim that the Node.js Foundation will
be neutral and provide open governance. Yet, they don’t
even say what corporate form the new organization will take, nor present
its by-laws. There’s no way that anyone can know if the organization will
be neutral and provide open governance without at least that information.

Meanwhile, I’ve spent years pointing out that what corporate form you
chose matters. In the USA, if you pick a 501(c)(6) trade association (like
Linux Foundation), the result is not a neutral non-profit
home. Rather, a trade association simply promotes the interest of the
for-profit businesses that control it. Such organizations don’t have
the community interests at heart, but rather the interests of the
for-profit corporate masters who control the Board of Directors. Sadly,
most people tend to think that if you put the word “Foundation”
in the name⁰, you magically get a neutral home
and open governance.

Fortunately for these trade associations, they hide behind the
far-too-general term non-profit, and act as if all non-profits are equal. Why
do trade association representatives and companies ignore the differences
between charities and trade associations? Because they don’t want you to
know the real story.

Ultimately, charities serve the public good. They can do nothing else,
lest they run afoul of IRS rules. Trade associations serve the business
interests of the companies that join them. They can do nothing else, lest
they run afoul of IRS rules. I would certainly argue the Linux
Foundation has done an excellent job serving the interests of the
businesses that control it. They can be commended for meeting their
mission, but that mission is not one to serve the individual users and
developers of Linux and other Free Software. What will the mission of the
Node.js Foundation be? We really don’t know, but given who’s starting it,
I’m sure it will be to promote the businesses around Node.js, not its
users and developers.

⁰Richard Fontana recently
pointed out to me that it is extremely rare for trade associations
to call themselves foundations outside of the Open Source and Free
Software community. He found very few examples of it in the wider
world. He speculated that this may be an attempt to capitalize on
the credibility of the Free Software Foundation, which is older
than all other non-profits in this community by at least two
decades. Of course, FSF is a 501(c)(3) charity, and since there
is no IRS rule about calling a 501(c)(6) trade association by the
name “Foundation”, this is a further opportunity to
spread confusion about who these organization serve: business
interests or the general public.

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/10/node-foundation.html

It’s amazing what we let for-profit companies and their trade associations get away with.
Today, Joyent
announced the Node.js Foundation, in conjunction with various
for-profit corporate partners and Linux Foundation (which is a 501(c)(6)
trade association under the full control of for-profit companies).

Joyent and their corporate partners claim that the Node.js Foundation will
be neutral and provide open governance. Yet, they don’t
even say what corporate form the new organization will take, nor present
its by-laws. There’s no way that anyone can know if the organization will
be neutral and provide open governance without at least that information.

Meanwhile, I’ve spent years pointing out that what corporate form you
chose matters. In the USA, if you pick a 501(c)(6) trade association (like
Linux Foundation), the result is not a neutral non-profit
home. Rather, a trade association simply promotes the interest of the
for-profit businesses that control it. Such organizations don’t have
the community interests at heart, but rather the interests of the
for-profit corporate masters who control the Board of Directors. Sadly,
most people tend to think that if you put the word “Foundation”
in the name⁰, you magically get a neutral home
and open governance.

Fortunately for these trade associations, they hide behind the
far-too-general term non-profit, and act as if all non-profits are equal. Why
do trade association representatives and companies ignore the differences
between charities and trade associations? Because they don’t want you to
know the real story.

Ultimately, charities serve the public good. They can do nothing else,
lest they run afoul of IRS rules. Trade associations serve the business
interests of the companies that join them. They can do nothing else, lest
they run afoul of IRS rules. I would certainly argue the Linux
Foundation has done an excellent job serving the interests of the
businesses that control it. They can be commended for meeting their
mission, but that mission is not one to serve the individual users and
developers of Linux and other Free Software. What will the mission of the
Node.js Foundation be? We really don’t know, but given who’s starting it,
I’m sure it will be to promote the businesses around Node.js, not its
users and developers.

⁰Richard Fontana recently
pointed out to me that it is extremely rare for trade associations
to call themselves foundations outside of the Open Source and Free
Software community. He found very few examples of it in the wider
world. He speculated that this may be an attempt to capitalize on
the credibility of the Free Software Foundation, which is older
than all other non-profits in this community by at least two
decades. Of course, FSF is a 501(c)(3) charity, and since there
is no IRS rule about calling a 501(c)(6) trade association by the
name “Foundation”, this is a further opportunity to
spread confusion about who these organization serve: business
interests or the general public.

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/10/node-foundation.html

It’s amazing what we let for-profit companies and their trade associations get away with.
Today, Joyent
announced the Node.js Foundation, in conjunction with various
for-profit corporate partners and Linux Foundation (which is a 501(c)(6)
trade association under the full control of for-profit companies).

Joyent and their corporate partners claim that the Node.js Foundation will
be neutral and provide open governance. Yet, they don’t
even say what corporate form the new organization will take, nor present
its by-laws. There’s no way that anyone can know if the organization will
be neutral and provide open governance without at least that information.

Meanwhile, I’ve spent years pointing out that what corporate form you
chose matters. In the USA, if you pick a 501(c)(6) trade association (like
Linux Foundation), the result is not a neutral non-profit
home. Rather, a trade association simply promotes the interest of the
for-profit businesses that control it. Such organizations don’t have
the community interests at heart, but rather the interests of the
for-profit corporate masters who control the Board of Directors. Sadly,
most people tend to think that if you put the word “Foundation”
in the name⁰, you magically get a neutral home
and open governance.

Fortunately for these trade associations, they hide behind the
far-too-general term non-profit, and act as if all non-profits are equal. Why
do trade association representatives and companies ignore the differences
between charities and trade associations? Because they don’t want you to
know the real story.

Ultimately, charities serve the public good. They can do nothing else,
lest they run afoul of IRS rules. Trade associations serve the business
interests of the companies that join them. They can do nothing else, lest
they run afoul of IRS rules. I would certainly argue the Linux
Foundation has done an excellent job serving the interests of the
businesses that control it. They can be commended for meeting their
mission, but that mission is not one to serve the individual users and
developers of Linux and other Free Software. What will the mission of the
Node.js Foundation be? We really don’t know, but given who’s starting it,
I’m sure it will be to promote the businesses around Node.js, not its
users and developers.

⁰Richard Fontana recently
pointed out to me that it is extremely rare for trade associations
to call themselves foundations outside of the Open Source and Free
Software community. He found very few examples of it in the wider
world. He speculated that this may be an attempt to capitalize on
the credibility of the Free Software Foundation, which is older
than all other non-profits in this community by at least two
decades. Of course, FSF is a 501(c)(3) charity, and since there
is no IRS rule about calling a 501(c)(6) trade association by the
name “Foundation”, this is a further opportunity to
spread confusion about who these organization serve: business
interests or the general public.

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/10/node-foundation.html

It’s amazing what we let for-profit companies and their trade associations get away with.
Today, Joyent
announced the Node.js Foundation, in conjunction with various
for-profit corporate partners and Linux Foundation (which is a 501(c)(6)
trade association under the full control of for-profit companies).

Joyent and their corporate partners claim that the Node.js Foundation will
be neutral and provide open governance. Yet, they don’t
even say what corporate form the new organization will take, nor present
its by-laws. There’s no way that anyone can know if the organization will
be neutral and provide open governance without at least that information.

Meanwhile, I’ve spent years pointing out that what corporate form you
chose matters. In the USA, if you pick a 501(c)(6) trade association (like
Linux Foundation), the result is not a neutral non-profit
home. Rather, a trade association simply promotes the interest of the
for-profit businesses that control it. Such organizations don’t have
the community interests at heart, but rather the interests of the
for-profit corporate masters who control the Board of Directors. Sadly,
most people tend to think that if you put the word “Foundation”
in the name⁰, you magically get a neutral home
and open governance.

Fortunately for these trade associations, they hide behind the
far-too-general term non-profit, and act as if all non-profits are equal. Why
do trade association representatives and companies ignore the differences
between charities and trade associations? Because they don’t want you to
know the real story.

Ultimately, charities serve the public good. They can do nothing else,
lest they run afoul of IRS rules. Trade associations serve the business
interests of the companies that join them. They can do nothing else, lest
they run afoul of IRS rules. I would certainly argue the Linux
Foundation has done an excellent job serving the interests of the
businesses that control it. They can be commended for meeting their
mission, but that mission is not one to serve the individual users and
developers of Linux and other Free Software. What will the mission of the
Node.js Foundation be? We really don’t know, but given who’s starting it,
I’m sure it will be to promote the businesses around Node.js, not its
users and developers.

⁰Richard Fontana recently
pointed out to me that it is extremely rare for trade associations
to call themselves foundations outside of the Open Source and Free
Software community. He found very few examples of it in the wider
world. He speculated that this may be an attempt to capitalize on
the credibility of the Free Software Foundation, which is older
than all other non-profits in this community by at least two
decades. Of course, FSF is a 501(c)(3) charity, and since there
is no IRS rule about calling a 501(c)(6) trade association by the
name “Foundation”, this is a further opportunity to
spread confusion about who these organization serve: business
interests or the general public.

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/10/node-foundation.html

It’s amazing what we let for-profit companies and their trade associations get away with.
Today, Joyent
announced the Node.js Foundation, in conjunction with various
for-profit corporate partners and Linux Foundation (which is a 501(c)(6)
trade association under the full control of for-profit companies).

Joyent and their corporate partners claim that the Node.js Foundation will
be neutral and provide open governance. Yet, they don’t
even say what corporate form the new organization will take, nor present
its by-laws. There’s no way that anyone can know if the organization will
be neutral and provide open governance without at least that information.

Meanwhile, I’ve spent years pointing out that what corporate form you
chose matters. In the USA, if you pick a 501(c)(6) trade association (like
Linux Foundation), the result is not a neutral non-profit
home. Rather, a trade association simply promotes the interest of the
for-profit businesses that control it. Such organizations don’t have
the community interests at heart, but rather the interests of the
for-profit corporate masters who control the Board of Directors. Sadly,
most people tend to think that if you put the word “Foundation”
in the name⁰, you magically get a neutral home
and open governance.

Fortunately for these trade associations, they hide behind the
far-too-general term non-profit, and act as if all non-profits are equal. Why
do trade association representatives and companies ignore the differences
between charities and trade associations? Because they don’t want you to
know the real story.

Ultimately, charities serve the public good. They can do nothing else,
lest they run afoul of IRS rules. Trade associations serve the business
interests of the companies that join them. They can do nothing else, lest
they run afoul of IRS rules. I would certainly argue the Linux
Foundation has done an excellent job serving the interests of the
businesses that control it. They can be commended for meeting their
mission, but that mission is not one to serve the individual users and
developers of Linux and other Free Software. What will the mission of the
Node.js Foundation be? We really don’t know, but given who’s starting it,
I’m sure it will be to promote the businesses around Node.js, not its
users and developers.

⁰Richard Fontana recently
pointed out to me that it is extremely rare for trade associations
to call themselves foundations outside of the Open Source and Free
Software community. He found very few examples of it in the wider
world. He speculated that this may be an attempt to capitalize on
the credibility of the Free Software Foundation, which is older
than all other non-profits in this community by at least two
decades. Of course, FSF is a 501(c)(3) charity, and since there
is no IRS rule about calling a 501(c)(6) trade association by the
name “Foundation”, this is a further opportunity to
spread confusion about who these organization serve: business
interests or the general public.

Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2015/02/10/node-foundation.html

It’s amazing what we let for-profit companies and their trade associations get away with.
Today, Joyent
announced the Node.js Foundation, in conjunction with various
for-profit corporate partners and Linux Foundation (which is a 501(c)(6)
trade association under the full control of for-profit companies).

Joyent and their corporate partners claim that the Node.js Foundation will
be neutral and provide open governance. Yet, they don’t
even say what corporate form the new organization will take, nor present
its by-laws. There’s no way that anyone can know if the organization will
be neutral and provide open governance without at least that information.

Meanwhile, I’ve spent years pointing out that what corporate form you
chose matters. In the USA, if you pick a 501(c)(6) trade association (like
Linux Foundation), the result is not a neutral non-profit
home. Rather, a trade association simply promotes the interest of the
for-profit businesses that control it. Such organizations don’t have
the community interests at heart, but rather the interests of the
for-profit corporate masters who control the Board of Directors. Sadly,
most people tend to think that if you put the word “Foundation”
in the name⁰, you magically get a neutral home
and open governance.

Fortunately for these trade associations, they hide behind the
far-too-general term non-profit, and act as if all non-profits are equal. Why
do trade association representatives and companies ignore the differences
between charities and trade associations? Because they don’t want you to
know the real story.

Ultimately, charities serve the public good. They can do nothing else,
lest they run afoul of IRS rules. Trade associations serve the business
interests of the companies that join them. They can do nothing else, lest
they run afoul of IRS rules. I would certainly argue the Linux
Foundation has done an excellent job serving the interests of the
businesses that control it. They can be commended for meeting their
mission, but that mission is not one to serve the individual users and
developers of Linux and other Free Software. What will the mission of the
Node.js Foundation be? We really don’t know, but given who’s starting it,
I’m sure it will be to promote the businesses around Node.js, not its
users and developers.

⁰Richard Fontana recently
pointed out to me that it is extremely rare for trade associations
to call themselves foundations outside of the Open Source and Free
Software community. He found very few examples of it in the wider
world. He speculated that this may be an attempt to capitalize on
the credibility of the Free Software Foundation, which is older
than all other non-profits in this community by at least two
decades. Of course, FSF is a 501(c)(3) charity, and since there
is no IRS rule about calling a 501(c)(6) trade association by the
name “Foundation”, this is a further opportunity to
spread confusion about who these organization serve: business
interests or the general public.