97 lines
4 KiB
HTML
97 lines
4 KiB
HTML
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{% extends "base_members.html" %}
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{% block subtitle %}Member Project Services - {% endblock %}
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{% block category %}members{% endblock %}
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{% block content %}
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<h1>Member Project Services</h1>
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<p>Conservancy assists FLOSS project leaders by handling all matters other
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than software development and documentation, so the developers can focus
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on what they do best: improving the software for the public good. The
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following are the services and options that are available to FLOSS
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projects that have joined Conservancy as a member project.</p>
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<h2>Earmarked Donations</h2>
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<p>Member projects can receive earmarked donations through Conservancy.
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Donors can indicate that their donation should be used to advance a
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specific member project, and those funds are kept in a separate account
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by Conservancy. The project leadership can then indicate to
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Conservancy's leadership how the funds should be spent to advance the
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project. Generally, Conservancy permits these funds to be spent in any
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way that is appropriate activity under Conservancy's 501(c)(3)
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not-for-profit mission. Some typical uses of earmarked donations by
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Conservancy's member projects are:
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<ul>
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<li>funding travel expenses for project developers to attend relevant
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conferences.</li>
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<li>domain name fees, bandwidth costs, and computer equipment
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purchases.</li>
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<li>purchasing media for distribution of project software at conferences
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and events.</li>
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<li>paying key developers on a contractual basis to improve the project's
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software and its documentation.</li>
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<li>sponsoring and organizing conferences for the project.</li>
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<li>trademark registration and enforcement.</li>
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<li>FLOSS license enforcement and compliance activity.</li>
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</p>
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<h2>Asset Stewardship</h2>
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<p>Conservancy can hold any assets for the project on its behalf. This
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includes copyrights, trademarks, domain names, physical computer
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equipment or anything that should be officially held in the name of the
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project. Member projects are not required that Conservancy hold all
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assets of a project. (For example, member projects are
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not <em>required</em> to assign copyrights to the Conservancy.)
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However, Conservancy can accommodate the needs of projects that want
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their assets under the control of a not-for-profit entity and exercised
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only for the public good.</p>
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<h2>Contract Negotiation and Execution</h2>
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<p>Projects sometimes need to negotiate and execute a contract with a
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company. For example, when a project wants to organize and run a
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conference, the venue usually has a complicated contract for rental of
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the space and services. Conservancy assists projects in the negotiation
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of such contracts, and can sign them on behalf of the project.</p>
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<h2>FLOSS Copyright License Enforcement</h2>
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<p>Complying with FLOSS licenses is easy, as they permit and encourage
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both non-commercial and commercial distribution and improvements.
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Nevertheless, violations of FLOSS licenses (in particular of
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the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html">GPL</a>
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and <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl.html">LGPL</a>) are all
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too common. At request of the project's leaders, Conservancy can carry
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out license enforcement activity on behalf of the project's copyright
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holders.</p>
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<h2>Leadership Mentoring, Advice and Guidance</h2>
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<p>Many of Conservancy's <a href="/about/directors">directors</a> are
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experienced FLOSS project leaders. They offer themselves as a resource
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to member project leaders who need assistance or face challenges in
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their work leading their projects.</p>
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<h2>Some Personal Liability Protection</h2>
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<p>When a project joins Conservancy, it formally becomes part of the
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Conservancy. (The project is thus somewhat analogous to a division of a
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company or a department in a large agency.) As such, project leaders
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benefit from some amount of protection from personal liability for their
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work on the project.</p>
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<hr/>
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<p>Project
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leaders that believe their project might benefit from these services can
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<a href="/members/apply/">apply to become a member project</a>.</p>
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{% endblock %}
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