-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [opensuse-project] Can we support for-profit organizations
to make money? (Was: Ubuntu One Music Store)
Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:44:34 +1100
From: Basil Chupin
On 03/01/2010 09:16 AM, Basil Chupin wrote:
In which country is openSUSE registered as a not-for-profit organisation?
AFAIK work on this is on its way. The board is evaluating the options.
"Work on this is on its way"? Surely all this would have been done years ago? Are you suggesting that the opensuse.org thing....falls short of legal requirements (in any country) to be termed a not-for-profit organisation (ie, .org)?
Probably? I cannot answer legal questions but not everything needs to be an official organisation, does it?
Perhaps you may not know the answer to this but someone in the Novell legal department sure knows the answer, rest assured.
In any case, what is the legal basis (in whatever country) for having this "board"?
The bottom line is: if someone were to sue openSUSE for whatever reason, who would they be suing in a court of law? Novell or some nebulus entity called "the board" created by.....[aha, the "community", right!]?
I don't see opensuse.org as an institution which can be sued right now because it's lacking a legal status but again IANAL.
The unfortunate part of all this is that I have not yet come across anyone (except one person in private messages) who has bothered to question the whole setup and has come to then ask: who *CAN *be sued if someone wants to sue openSUSE.org or "the Board"? I have asked, in another opensuse mail list I think but I cannot remember, who is actually in charge of opensuse, who administers it, who is responsible for decisions about it - but did not get an answer except for the usual gooblydook, and which I decided not to pursue further. People are continuing to mime the words, "It's a community project". WHAT community? WHAT is the legal entity which represents this "community"?
Quite apart from the fact that all board members - except, perhaps, one - are employees of Novell, there is also the statement that the chairperson of the "board" is always appointed by Novell.
The current board http://en.opensuse.org/Board has three Novell employees and three non-Novell members. Not sure where you got other information.
From what Henne provided in his response-
http://en.opensuse.org/Guiding_Principles
which contains the link to-
As this is the same site I got the other information from I'm wondering what you were looking at because what you say is simply wrong.
I don't think so. Examine the list of Board members listed there as Board members. Did you not see the specific reference that Novell appoints the chairperson of that board - or am I also mistaken about that? BTW, I am not arguing with, or contradicting, you, or anyone else who may be responding to this thread. I am simply pointing out what I think are relevant matters about the ownership of openSUSE, which many people appear not to accept and then argue that Novell does not own openSUSE but that some mythical "community" actually owns openSUSE. People in the "community" *CONTRIBUTE* to the development of openSUSE - which is then used as input into SUSE ENTERPRISE - but openSUSE, and SUSE Enterprise, is owned by Novell and is responsible for it. (Have you looked at which site you go to when you want to make a bug report - a 'bugzilla' - about openSUSE? Well...lookee here.... https://bugzilla.novell.com/ICSLogin/?%22https://bugzilla.novell.com/ichainl... . 'Nuff said.) BC -- She was only a whisky maker but I loved her still. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-project+help@opensuse.org