There has been some concern expressed recently about PTFS/LibLime owning the registry entries for several domain names with the word Koha in them. I would like to address that and other issues. · In mid-March, of this year, PTFS announced the acquisition of LibLime from Metavore. · In April, LibLime attempted to communicate with Horowhenua Library Trust Koha Committee about taking over support for koha.org, but communications were not successful. · In May, LibLime released Harley as well as approximately 70 individual feature commits from LIBLIME customer-sponsored development and LIBLIME corporate-sponsored development. Harley was 3.0.x Koha with all of the 70 feature commits included. This gave potential Koha users the opportunity to either download Harley with the features, or select individual features for individual use. While 3.2 was nearing official release at that time, our customers who sponsored the development were pleased to see several of those features included in the 3.2 plans. · Throughout the remainder of the summer, LibLime has continued to develop sponsored features for customers under contracts acquired through the purchase of LibLime. I am saddened at the criticism directed at PTFS/LibLime and our employees on blog posts, listservs, and other electronic communication forums. Since Q3 2008, PTFS has been participating in the Koha community. This participation includes code submission, attendance and sponsorship at KohaCon 2009, active use of Bugzilla for new feature development, and IRC/Listserv contributions. We have expanded the worldwide use of Koha by bringing many new customers to the project, and we continue to promote the benefits of open source ILS solutions. We have released customer-sponsored and PTFS/LibLime-sponsored code for worldwide use, and we will continue to do so. In regards to the domain names, it is part of our standard operating procedures to purchase domain names in the business markets we are involved with and LibLime has acquired multiple domain names related to Koha and open source ILS. In addition, some of these names were also transferred over as a part of the LibLime acquisition. PTFS owns many domain names in all our lines of business. We did not try to hide this action and could have made these transactions private. Nothing has been done with the domain names at this point. They do not have web sites built around them, nor do they re-direct anywhere. They are simply owned by LibLime, thus preventing any non-Koha entity or competitor from acquiring the domains and diverting potential future Koha users to other ILS solutions. This is to the benefit of all Koha users and developers. LibLime would like to help the Koha community build a better Koha for the future. There is much to do to develop the application so that it can compete head to head with commercial solutions in all library markets. LibLime’s goal is to help make sure that Koha becomes the dominant open source ILS solution and not just another alternative. To ensure success, we believe that the Koha organization needs to grow into an organization that will globally unite all those involved with Koha. The project needs many companies, independent developers and Koha affiliated intuitions and customers worldwide to participate and work harmoniously together help build the world’s best open source ILS. The HLT Koha Committee was established as holding body for the Koha project property. We believe that it is now time to move to the next step and create a full-fledged governance structure capable of supporting Koha as a rapidly expanding global open source endeavor. In this regards, LibLime will help organize and fund the creation of a Koha Software Foundation as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. Once the establishment of the Koha Software Foundation is complete, PTFS/LibLime will transfer the assets we own related to Koha to this corporation, including Koha related domain names as well as pending trademark applications. LibLime officially requests that interested parties contact us who are interested in helping to create and manage this foundation. We would welcome and hope that multiple worldwide groups will all participate together. Initially, LibLime will help to fund the development of articles, bylaws and governance documents and help the foundation to become a self supporting organization. LibLime does not aim to dominate or control the foundation; we will expect to participate as any qualified organization and as a voting member. We believe that the establishment of an independent foundation will provide the structure for ongoing management and governance of the Koha project and should provide the basis for a less divisive atmosphere surrounding the efforts of all the stakeholders involved, including the companies involved in development and support services as well as the libraries and consortium that rely on Koha. Our decisions on how LibLime will continue to proceed in the Koha project will continue to be based upon communications we receive, proposals to support the Koha Foundation and acceptance of our organization as a viable part of the community to help Koha become the world’s best ILS. Best regards: John Yokley CEO PTFS/LibLime
2010/9/15 John Yokley <jyokley@ptfs.com>:
In this regards, LibLime will help organize and fund the creation of a Koha Software Foundation as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.
There has been much discussion in the community about what kind of organization to form, and all of this discussion has been out in the open. No decision has been made, but you are welcome to join in and express your opinion.
LibLime officially requests that interested parties contact us who are interested in helping to create and manage this foundation.
This mailing list, the Koha wiki, and the Koha IRC channel are all great places to have this dicussion. I don't think direct emails with PTFS are the way to do it. I'm assuming PTFS would like to specify conditions under which its assets would be transferred to an official Koha organization? Perhaps you could explain those to us? -- Owen -- Web Developer Athens County Public Libraries http://www.myacpl.org
I think that an IRC chat should be scheduled as soon as possible to begin discussions for establishing a Koha foundation. On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 2:50 PM, Owen Leonard <oleonard@myacpl.org> wrote:
2010/9/15 John Yokley <jyokley@ptfs.com>:
In this regards, LibLime will help organize and fund the creation of a Koha Software Foundation as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.
There has been much discussion in the community about what kind of organization to form, and all of this discussion has been out in the open. No decision has been made, but you are welcome to join in and express your opinion.
LibLime officially requests that interested parties contact us who are interested in helping to create and manage this foundation.
This mailing list, the Koha wiki, and the Koha IRC channel are all great places to have this dicussion. I don't think direct emails with PTFS are the way to do it.
I'm assuming PTFS would like to specify conditions under which its assets would be transferred to an official Koha organization? Perhaps you could explain those to us?
-- Owen
-- Web Developer Athens County Public Libraries http://www.myacpl.org _______________________________________________ Koha mailing list Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha
-- Vicki Teal Lovely Helping our 52 member libraries provide the best possible service to the public. ILS Project Manager South Central Library System Madison, WI vtl@scls.lib.wi.us (608)242-4713 ILS Help Desk (608)242-4720 Twitter: vickiteal Blog: http://scls.typepad.com/link2koha/
Great idea, LibLime will look forward to participation in this meeting. John Yokley P | T | F | S Content Management and Library Solutions 6400 Goldsboro Road Suite 200 Bethesda, MD 20817 (301) 654-8088, ext. #111 FAX: 301-654-5789 Cell: 240-447-8970 jyokley@ptfs.com www.ptfs.com *From:* sclsvtl@gmail.com [mailto:sclsvtl@gmail.com] *On Behalf Of * vtl@scls.lib.wi.us *Sent:* Wednesday, September 15, 2010 4:28 PM *To:* Owen Leonard *Cc:* John Yokley; koha@lists.katipo.co.nz *Subject:* Re: [Koha] Message from PTFS/LibLime I think that an IRC chat should be scheduled as soon as possible to begin discussions for establishing a Koha foundation. On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 2:50 PM, Owen Leonard <oleonard@myacpl.org> wrote: 2010/9/15 John Yokley <jyokley@ptfs.com>:
In this regards, LibLime will help organize and fund the creation of a Koha Software Foundation as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.
There has been much discussion in the community about what kind of organization to form, and all of this discussion has been out in the open. No decision has been made, but you are welcome to join in and express your opinion.
LibLime officially requests that interested parties contact us who are interested in helping to create and manage this foundation.
This mailing list, the Koha wiki, and the Koha IRC channel are all great places to have this dicussion. I don't think direct emails with PTFS are the way to do it. I'm assuming PTFS would like to specify conditions under which its assets would be transferred to an official Koha organization? Perhaps you could explain those to us? -- Owen -- Web Developer Athens County Public Libraries http://www.myacpl.org _______________________________________________ Koha mailing list Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha -- Vicki Teal Lovely Helping our 52 member libraries provide the best possible service to the public. ILS Project Manager South Central Library System Madison, WI vtl@scls.lib.wi.us (608)242-4713 ILS Help Desk (608)242-4720 Twitter: vickiteal Blog: http://scls.typepad.com/link2koha/
I think what I would like to see is a pledge from PTFS that whatever method of organization the community chooses will be the organization that PTFS assigns the assets to. Certainly, I welcome the option of having a PTFS Koha Software Foundation option as one of my choices in helping to decide the future of the Koha community, and I look forward to having open discussion of the matter. Liz Rea NEKLS On Sep 15, 2010, at 3:42 PM, John Yokley wrote:
Great idea, LibLime will look forward to participation in this meeting.
John Yokley P | T | F | S Content Management and Library Solutions 6400 Goldsboro Road Suite 200 Bethesda, MD 20817 (301) 654-8088, ext. #111 FAX: 301-654-5789 Cell: 240-447-8970 jyokley@ptfs.com www.ptfs.com From: sclsvtl@gmail.com [mailto:sclsvtl@gmail.com] On Behalf Of vtl@scls.lib.wi.us Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 4:28 PM To: Owen Leonard Cc: John Yokley; koha@lists.katipo.co.nz Subject: Re: [Koha] Message from PTFS/LibLime
I think that an IRC chat should be scheduled as soon as possible to begin discussions for establishing a Koha foundation.
On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 2:50 PM, Owen Leonard <oleonard@myacpl.org> wrote: 2010/9/15 John Yokley <jyokley@ptfs.com>:
In this regards, LibLime will help organize and fund the creation of a Koha Software Foundation as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.
There has been much discussion in the community about what kind of organization to form, and all of this discussion has been out in the open. No decision has been made, but you are welcome to join in and express your opinion.
LibLime officially requests that interested parties contact us who are interested in helping to create and manage this foundation.
This mailing list, the Koha wiki, and the Koha IRC channel are all great places to have this dicussion. I don't think direct emails with PTFS are the way to do it.
I'm assuming PTFS would like to specify conditions under which its assets would be transferred to an official Koha organization? Perhaps you could explain those to us?
-- Owen
-- Web Developer Athens County Public Libraries http://www.myacpl.org _______________________________________________ Koha mailing list Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha
-- Vicki Teal Lovely
Helping our 52 member libraries provide the best possible service to the public.
ILS Project Manager South Central Library System Madison, WI vtl@scls.lib.wi.us (608)242-4713 ILS Help Desk (608)242-4720 Twitter: vickiteal Blog: http://scls.typepad.com/link2koha/
_______________________________________________ Koha mailing list Koha@lists.katipo.co.nz http://lists.katipo.co.nz/mailman/listinfo/koha
While I'm sure the community would welcome assistance in forming the Foundation or Association or what have you, I cannot say that I trust PTFS/Liblime to do this work for the community. Actions speak so much louder than words and PTFS/Liblime as acted on behalf of themselves, not the community. They can spin all they like and talk about their actions being honorable, but in the end, they are still working around to corner the Koha market. The scorpion will remain a scorpion. Lenora StreamNet Regional Librarian Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission Independent Koha installation http://www.fishlib.org
Now that's a breakthrough! Thank you for the commitment to participate, John. Regarding assets currently held by HLT, the rules of the HLT Koha Committee include: Clause 4. Koha Software Foundation Should at any time a Foundation, Association or other entity (hereafter "entity") be established for the purpose of governance of the Koha Project, then the Committee after proper consideration may recommend to the Trustees that any or all Property of the Koha Project be transferred to the entity. Matters that may be considered by the Committee in formulating a recommendation to the Trustees may (but need not) include: 1. the constitutional form of the entity; 2. whether the entity is established as a not-for-profit entity; 3. whether the entity is established in a jurisdiction having appropriate rules for the conduct of such entities; 4. whether the entity has Rules that are consistent with the objectives of the Trust in safeguarding the Property of the Koha project; 5. whether the entity's Rules provide appropriately for the long term governance of the Koha Project; 6. whether the entity has the means to sustain its objects in the long term; 7. whether the entity has broad support within the Koha Community as being the appropriate entity to conduct the governance of the Koha Project. So there are a few matters to contemplate. Regards, Bob Birchall CALYX _____ From: koha-bounces@lists.katipo.co.nz [mailto:koha-bounces@lists.katipo.co.nz] On Behalf Of John Yokley Subject: Re: [Koha] Message from PTFS/LibLime Great idea, LibLime will look forward to participation in this meeting. John Yokley P | T | F | S Internal Virus Database is out of date. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.441 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3053 - Release Date: 08/05/10 18:23:00
On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 4:42 PM, John Yokley <jyokley@ptfs.com> wrote:
Great idea, LibLime will look forward to participation in this meeting.
I'm happy to hear it. I'm curious why you're so quick to respond enthusiastically to this suggestion when several IRC meetings have already been held on the subject and we didn't hear from PTFS? Is there more we can do to promote upcoming meetings? -- Owen -- Web Developer Athens County Public Libraries http://www.myacpl.org
On 2010-09-16, at 7:34 AM, John Yokley wrote:
In this regards, LibLime will help organize and fund the creation of a Koha Software Foundation as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. Once the establishment of the Koha Software Foundation is complete, PTFS/LibLime will transfer the assets we own related to Koha to this corporation, including Koha related domain names as well as pending trademark applications.
From: sclsvtl@gmail.com [mailto:sclsvtl@gmail.com] On Behalf Of vtl@scls.lib.wi.us Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 4:28 PM To: Owen Leonard Cc: John Yokley; koha@lists.katipo.co.nz Subject: Re: [Koha] Message from PTFS/LibLime
I think that an IRC chat should be scheduled as soon as possible to begin discussions for establishing a Koha foundation.
On 2010-09-16, at 8:42 AM, John Yokley wrote: Great idea, LibLime will look forward to participation in this meeting.
John Yokley
hi Folks I also look forward to participation in this meeting on the organization that PTFS/Liblime will transfer the assets they own relating to Koha, including Koha related domain names as well as pending trademark applications Very exciting! - See you all there on #koha via IRC, at '6 October, 10:00 UTC+0' :) http://widget.mibbit.com/?settings=1392bed8b563d8534da6aec9288199ef&server=irc.katipo.co.nz&channel=%23koha http://stats.workbuffer.org/irclog/koha/2010-09-01#i_494671 Cheers, Mason -- Mason JAMES www.kohaaloha.com
On 2010-09-16, at 8:42 AM, John Yokley wrote: Great idea, LibLime will look forward to participation in this meeting.
John Yokley
hi Folks
I also look forward to participation in this meeting on the organization that PTFS/Liblime will transfer the assets they own relating to Koha, including Koha related domain names as well as pending trademark applications
Very exciting! - See you all there on #koha via IRC, at '6 October, 10:00 UTC+0' :)
ahh sorry, it looks like everyone is keen for an IRC meeting-time some time during KohaCon-10... could someone please email the koha-list when a time has been decided please? cheers, Mason
n 16 September 2010 07:50, Owen Leonard <oleonard@myacpl.org> wrote:
2010/9/15 John Yokley <jyokley@ptfs.com>:
In this regards, LibLime will help organize and fund the creation of a Koha Software Foundation as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.
There has been much discussion in the community about what kind of organization to form, and all of this discussion has been out in the open. No decision has been made, but you are welcome to join in and express your opinion.
I'd like to second Owens call for PTFS/LL to join the discussions on the shape/make up of what the community decides is the best approach for long term holding of community assets. As Owen says there has been much discussion, including 5 meetings, and 2 votes around this area. PTFS/LL were welcome, and as far as I know, did participate in all these discussions. These discussions were and should remain public, and I think that an IRC meeting as suggested by Vicki has some merit. To correct a misunderstanding the HLT Committee was not formed to hold assets. Horowhenua Lihrary Trust is a not for profit registered charitable trust. It is them, along with Katipo, who created Koha in 1999 and released it under a Free Software License (GPLv2 or later) in 2000. The community voted with a large majority that they should be who should hold assets in the short to medium term future. The HLT Koha subcommittee was then formed to try and negotiate the transfer of those assets. This was successfully achieved in quite a few cases, with Biblibre assigning their European Union wide 'Country Mark' on Koha to HLT ownership. HLT also own the official Koha domain (koha-community.org). Back to the topic at hand, some of the questions that are currently on the table are : 1/ Should it be a foundation or an association 2/ Where should it be based (what has the most favourable/safe laws) 3/ Should we join an existing foundation, two that were talked about were Software in the Public Interest http://www.spi-inc.org/ and the Software Freedom Conservancy http://conservancy.softwarefreedom.org/ 4/ If we were to create our own, how would it be made up 5/ What role would it play, holding assets, or would it attempt a more hands on role I would love to hear PTFS/LL input on these. As well as your answer to Owen's question. Chris
John Yokley schrieb am Mi 15 Sep 2010 15:34:42 CEST:
LibLime’s goal is to help make sure that Koha becomes the dominant open source ILS solution and not just another alternative.
Actually, I like alternatives. I like to be able to choose. I chose Koha for our facility because I had the impression that it is the best system for our needs and because the community seems to be very active, friendly and helping. And as of now I think it was the right decision. I don't see the need for domination. Actually, if I had read this thinking that PTFS/LibLime officially represents Koha I would probably think about leaving now. I feel kind of scared away by this kind of attitude. Luckily, as I know you only represent yourself -- even if you seem to disagree -- I don't have to turn away. Because I deeply trust the Koha community to outlive this kind of troubles now and in the future. I have my ups and downs reading PTFS anouncements, but I think you should really check if your idea of and attitude towards free and open source software is congruent with that of the rest of the world -- and especially with this community.
LibLime does not aim to dominate or control the foundation;
Frankly, I don't trust you here. You are trying to dominate the situation right now. I don't see where you discuss your idea of a Koha foundation or where you propose it. What I can read is that this is the way it will be done, period. Maybe it's just me, but I think you are still far away from the spirit that made me choose and like Koha. Best, Mirko
John Yokley <jyokley@ptfs.com> wrote: [...]
The HLT Koha Committee was established as holding body for the Koha project property. [...]
No. Others have corrected this error and I thank them for it. I'd like to suggest it's this sort of callous misdescription of the actions of others, combined with things such as vague threats of legal action and domain-squatting amongst other things as "standard operating procedure" which has encouraged such a dim view of PTFS and LibLime after so many users had such high hopes of the PTFS takeover. I hope that helps inform PTFS why they aren't loved any more.
In this regards, LibLime will help organize and fund the creation of a Koha Software Foundation as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. [...]
Huh? This seems to be ignoring that LibLime has *already* organised and funded the creation of a Koha Software Foundation in Ohio! Registration number 1839255 created 26 Feb 2009, but no-one else knows what its rules are, community participants have asked after that foundation and not got a useful answer, and so on and so on. What is the situation with that foundation and how can it be turned over to the community? Does it have to be a 501(c)3? The US's charity law isn't all that great and its banking system is awful. Could it be an association rather than a foundation? I really hope that the Koha Community is not further delayed by this new history-ignoring PTFS initiative.
LibLime officially requests that interested parties contact us who are interested in helping to create and manage this foundation.
OK, please regard this as contact on behalf of software.coop in trust for the wider Koha Community. [...]
Our decisions on how LibLime will continue to proceed in the Koha project will continue to be based upon communications we receive, proposals to support the Koha Foundation and acceptance of our organization as a viable part of the community to help Koha become the world’s best ILS.
I really don't regard it as reasonable to expect proposals of support for LibLime's Koha Software Foundation when we know so little about it! Personally, I'm sure my proposal for acceptance of PTFS as part of the community has been outlined before: 1. retract the threats of legal action; 2. turn community assets over to common ownership; 3. stop issuing sermons from on high and get involved in the long-standing community processes like other vendors do. I look forward to any progress in that direction. Best wishes, -- MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op. Webmaster, Debian Developer, Past Koha RM, statistician, former lecturer. In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html Available for hire for Koha work http://www.software.coop/products/koha
participants (10)
-
Bob Birchall ＠ Calyx -
Chris Cormack -
John Yokley -
Lenora Oftedahl -
Liz Rea -
Mason James -
Mirko -
MJ Ray -
Owen Leonard -
vtl＠scls.lib.wi.us