On Friday 21 January 2011 06:09:25 Basil Chupin wrote:
On 21/01/2011 01:13, Pascal Bleser wrote:
On 2011-01-19 13:34:30 (+0100), Juergen Weigert
wrote: On Jan 19, 11 06:52:45 -0500, Adam Tauno Williams wrote:
Novell owns the registered openSUSE trademark. Novell permits and encourages the usage of the official openSUSE artwork Any 'foundation' probably won't be able to be named 'openSUSE' if I read the ownership of that name/trademark correctly.
You may "read" it correctly; but there is no reason to believe that.
Unless Novell grants permission to use the trademark for the Foundation name, or Novell would be willing to transfer the trademark to the Foundation, your reading is correct. I'd like to hear what the chances are, that one of the two happens, so that the foundation can be appropriatly named.
We already have an agreement from Novell that the openSUSE trademarks will be licensed to the openSUSE Foundation. It's not written down at this point, but we already have an informal OK ;)
Not calling it 'The openSUSE Foundation' just because of trademark reasons makes Novell appear to be spoiling the game. This is something Novell cannot possibly want.
Indeed, and it seems like that's what Novell is thinking too ;)
I don't expect an answer to this question while the merger is ongoing.
The informal OK was received before the merger started.
But, Pascal, this is the most serious stumbling block facing this Foundation and all discussion about it and its Rules and By-Laws and name is a total waste of time and effort!
You do NOT have a formal agreement, nothing in writing, and Novell has been sold.
The new owners are never under any obligation to honour any agreement made by the organisation it just acquired especially since there is nothing in writing and which would have been part of the documentation looked into the new owners before acquiring Novell.
All this is about smoke and mirrors and hopes.
No, it's not. While you should bring these concerns to the foundation list and not here (as has been said about 1000 times already, reading is hard isn't it?), I can simply answer that: the board has stated many times we'll have a foundation, Novell involvement or not. What's so difficult to grasp about that? If Novell is not involved they'll call it the Geeko Foundation or whatever, if Novell gives or 'lends' the trademarks, it'll be openSUSE Foundation. Indeed, Novell can hardly make decisions right now but there is no reason to delay anything. Can YOU stop trowing up smoke-and-mirror screens? If you care so much, why aren't you discussing this on the Foundation mailinglist?
Of course, it'll only be carved into stone once we'll have the bylaws and a foundation and a formal copyright licensing etc... But no reason to panic about that right now :)
cheers
I don't think anyone is panicking but I also think that a lot of people are living in Never Never Land......
What do the lawyers engaged to put this Foundation together state about this situation?
Why ask them if it's crystal clear to anyone but you? Sorry, Basil, but you're rambling and wasting everyone's valuable time. Go to the foundation ML. Or just stop discussing things altogether, nothing new is coming up.
BC