[Koha] Koha foundation resources and capacity

[Ben Ide]

Ide.  I'm not Eric's brother.  ;-)

And you needn't assume or read into anything I write.  I'm just not that
deep.  :-)

Now, let's say I buy out a company or two and I get certain assets from
those buyouts.  How much do you think I should charge to resell those assets
to anyone else, even a foundation?  And how would donating those assets
benefit me to the same compensatory level that everyone in the foundation
would achieve?  I expend capital to expand my company and ensure continued
use of important resources, and then I give it away?  To people with their
own companies, many of which compete directly with mine?

If you think reimbursement of DNS costs and maybe trademark application fees
would cover the bill, I would say you are wrong by a considerable magnitude.
 I might even raise the price, knowing that there's a demand for these
assets.  But that's just me, being shallow.  :-D

Thanks,
-- Ben

On Thu, Oct 29, 2009 at 12:06 PM, Thomas Dukleth <kohalist at agogme.com>wrote:

> The capacity of any Koha foundation to fulfil purposes which some people
> have expressed a desire for it to fulfil will be limited to the resources
> which people donate to it.  Donated resources may be legal registrations,
> such as trademarks and domains; material assets, such as computer servers;
> monetary resources; or people's time.  Donation of some monetary resources
> would be needed for the community to maintain some assets in the most
> minimal manner even if all other resources might be donated.
>
> Remainder of reply inline:
>
>
> Original Subject:  Re: [Koha] Foundation forming #koha IRC meeting 29
> October
> On Thu, October 29, 2009 10:28, MJ Ray wrote:
> > Thomas Dukleth asked:
> >> On Wed, October 28, 2009 20:37, Ben Ide wrote:
> >> > Dang.  I'll be busy again.
> >> >
> >> > Be sure to decide how much the community is willing to spend on
> >> purchasing
> >> > the assets it wants to acquire.
> >>
> >> Ben, why should the community necessarily need to purchase assets or
> >> what
> >> assets would the community necessarily need to purchase?
> >
> > I'm not sure that all asset holders have agreed to donate all assets,
> > so it seems a worthwhile question.
> >
> > More generally, isn't it fair to at least reimburse any out-of-pocket
> > expenses for registrations of things like domain names?
>
> It would certainly be fair to reimburse those who need reimbursement for
> reasonable expenses incurred to secure registrations such as domain names.
>  Not everyone would necessarily be expected to have the capacity to donate
> assets which a Koha foundation would need to function properly without
> reimbursement of reasonable expenses.
>
> The community would first need to know what reimbursements are being
> requested and to have resources with which to pay for reimbursements which
> might be needed.  The community cannot effectively decide how much is
> reasonable to pay in an a priori manner.
>
> Those without the capacity to donate resources would need to inform the
> community what reimbursement is needed.  The Koha foundation would need to
> receive some monetary assets.  The community would then need to decide
> whether particular reimbursements are reasonable in themselves and an
> appropriate use of community resources.
>
> The wording of Ben Idle's question seemed to me as if it might imply that
> some may seek more than reasonable expenses as a condition of releasing
> some assets which the community may need.  I questioned whether purchases
> as distinct from reimbursements would necessary.  (I recognise that the
> distinction would not be a linguistic distinction in all uses of the word
> purchase but the overall effect of how Ben put the issue implied a
> distinction to me.)  I hope that no party places the community in a
> position to have decide about whether to pay more than reasonable expenses
> for any needed assets.
>
> I hope that in most cases that parties will have the capacity to merely
> donate assets as fundamental as legal registrations.  I expect that
> generally those who had the capacity to acquire legal registrations in the
> first place would have the capacity to donate them but I recognise that
> might not always be true.
>
>
> Thomas Dukleth
> Agogme
> 109 E 9th Street, 3D
> New York, NY  10003
> USA
> http://www.agogme.com
> +1 212-674-3783
>
>
> [...]
>
>
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