On 10/19/07, John Plocher <John.Plocher at sun.com> wrote: > > > Keith M Wesolowski wrote: > >> Think about what you're saying. A CG (by definition likely to be > >> comprised of like-minded people) can make decisions for everyone and, > >> as long as they voted properly, no one else can ever appeal that > >> decision. In what universe does this reading of the Constitution make > >> any sense at all? > > In the words that are written in the constitution that I quoted. > This is what you get when you adopt a constitution that favors state's > rights over centralized government. Like it or not, we are a confederacy, > not a federation or a dictatorship. > > Definitions > Confederation: An association of sovereign states or > communities - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederation > > Federation: A form of government in which powers and functions > are divided between a central government and a number > of political subdivisions ... > usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/geography/glossary.htm > > What part of ... > > > 6.1. Powers. The business and affairs of the OpenSolaris Community > > shall be managed by or under the direction of the OpenSolaris Governing > > Board (OGB), which may exercise all such powers granted by the Charter > > for the operation and sustenance of the OpenSolaris Community efforts, > > maintenance of the accepted procedures for making decisions within the > > OpenSolaris Community, and enforcement of those procedures when deemed > > necessary. > > ... says that the OGB has the power to override a CG decision? Is it > under Maintenance of Procedures? Enforcement? Arbitration? > > Furthermore, the Charter specifically excludes the OGB from any > right to decide things relating to Sun's OpenSolaris trademark: > > > However, nothing in this charter shall be construed so as to confer > > to the OGB: (a) any title or right under copyright, patent, trademark, > > or other intellectual property law; ... > > I'm not disagreeing that it would be bad for Sun to do stuff unilaterally > here, because it would be bad - very bad. > > But it would be worse for the OS.o community to self-destruct over an > internal power war between the OGB and a CG. Especially when the > constitution is written in such a state's rights manner.
John, I'm not sure that this is what is happening. You have framed this as a a CG decision a number of times in this thread. Where did you get that idea? There isn't any "branding" discussion happening on advocacy-discuss. Whether it is or it isn't the right place for it, it's just not happening, contrary to what you are saying. As far as I can tell, a private Sun internal discussion is happening about how best to approach the branding issue as regards to OpenSolaris. The first time these thoughts were "publicly" presented to the OpenSolaris community, was at the Summit, and only are we starting to discuss the implications. Ian Murdock, who is "Sun's chief operating system platform strategist" wants to see OpenSolaris the distro. (Ian has been telling the press that this is going to happen. He did not consult the community, and seek a consensus on this, before making this commitment. Thus I can only assume that Sun's official position is that there will be a distro called OpenSolaris, and that it will be developed under the Indiana project. (Although some of the development is NOW being done in the open, a number of project goals and design decisions were set to meet Sun's undisclosed business goals). Because Ian said that Sun will make a disto called OpenSolaris, Sun now needs a distro called OpenSolaris. Sun doesn't need to do anything with the community, OGB, CG or otherwise. Involving the community at this point, when it is clear that Sun has already made a decision to use their OpenSolaris trademark in a certain way, seems a bit of a waste of time. I am guessing when you are saying that it is a CG decision and not an OGB or community decision, you mean it is a Sun legal/marketing/executive decision, not an OGB or community. Just so long as we all understand this, I think that can safely put this issue to rest. -Brian P.S. - I know the difference between ****Sun**** and an individual that works for Sun. As "Sun's chief operating system platform strategist", I would say that Ian is qualified to act as an official Sun representative, and anything that he says, unless caveatted, is the "official" Sun policy/position. > -John > > > > _______________________________________________ > ogb-discuss mailing list > ogb-discuss at opensolaris.org > http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/ogb-discuss > -- - Brian Gupta http://opensolaris.org/os/project/nycosug/
