Hello, 1 November 2006 This contents of this email is for discussion on the Bacula email list, but not yet a topic for "publication".
As you are probably aware, I am planning certain reorganizations of the Bacula project for a number of reasons. Two of the objectives that I have are to make the project less dependent on one person (me) and to ensure that the source code remains Free Software forever. These two objectives involve the creation of a Bacula entity (an Association or a Foundation), and the transfer of the copyright from myself to some entity. The purpose of this email is to give you, the Bacula users, advanced notice of what I think is the best path for the copyright transfer so that you can provide your feedback on it prior to my final decision. Currently, the timing is to send you this email as soon as possible then to make the final decision on the 15th of November with implementation before the end of the month. Several months ago, I met with Georg Greve, the President of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE). I learned that he was in the process of creating the FSFE Freedom Task Force to work with projects that would like to enter into a fiduciary license agreement with the FSFE with the objective to offload the adminstrative (legal) needs of the project to the FSFE while keeping the project adminstration unchanged. The Freedom Task Force has been in operation since the beginning of October with Shane Coughlan heading it up. Probably the best explaination of their policy as it relates to Bacula is described in the "FSFE Fiduciary Licensing Policy", which I have attached to this email in pdf format. A short summary of what I am proposing is: 1. Transfer the Bacula copyright to the FSFE. 2. There will be no change in the license, which is defined in the LICENSE file -- only the copyright holder will be changed. 3. FSFE will look after the legal matters of maintaining and, if necessary, defending the license. 4. Aside from the copyright assignments for important contributions, there will be no other changes to the project resulting from the copyright transfer. 5. The final transfer of the copyright will occur on or shortly after the 15th of November and will apply to the next released version. 6. The official announcement of the formation of the FSFE Freedom Task Force, and that Bacula will particpate in their Fiduciary Licensing will be made at the end of November. My belief is that this copyright transfer will be beneficial to the project in many respects: assure that the source remains Free Software, ensure that the source is not tied to any single person, off load most of the legal tasks, ... If any of you have concerns, comments, or questions, please do not hesitate to voice them now, either on the Bacula email lists or directly to me. I will take all comments and concerns into consideration and attempt to answer all the questions. Since I am on vacation and my Internet access is very limited, some or all my responses may be delayed until after my return on the 10th of November. Until the official FSFE announcement, I request that you keep this information (FSFE Freedom Task Force, Bacula participation) confidential to this list. Best regards, Kern
FLA.en.pdf
Description: Adobe PDF document
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