> Dennis Rodman goes to North Korea and says its just basketball, not > political. Everyone except him knows he was used. OpenSSL cannot > metaphorically "go to North Korea" without damage to its brand -- especially > now that real financial support is forthcoming. Its a slippery slope. You can't wrestle with the pigs and not get muddy. You can't get half pregnant.
The project could not accept any donations if politics and prejudices are allowed to creep in. > attached a 3rd party that *already* supports OpenSSL development, like the > Linux Core Infrastructure folks. Ah, launder the money ;) Maybe the project could set up fake corporations that launder the money so they don't have to worry about brokers stealing the money. Steve and the developers have a good policy: take the money with no strings attached. Don't get involved with the politics or special interests. Its not their fight. Jeff On Thu, May 29, 2014 at 3:52 PM, Jeremy Gray <jrg...@gmail.com> wrote: >> government of North Korea... Even if no strings, it would damage the >> perception people have of OpenSSL just being associated with that entity. >> So, just be mindful of people's perceptions when accepting anything. > > > +1. > > Dennis Rodman goes to North Korea and says its just basketball, not > political. Everyone except him knows he was used. OpenSSL cannot > metaphorically "go to North Korea" without damage to its brand -- especially > now that real financial support is forthcoming. > > Perhaps donations that would come with a public-relations risk could be > rerouted: gently declined with the suggestion that they be given no strings > attached a 3rd party that *already* supports OpenSSL development, like the > Linux Core Infrastructure folks. Public-relations risk is real. Avoiding > conflicts of interest ("no strings attached") is essential but not > enough--its best to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. The > psychological gains to be had from a donation are real--that's the > motivation for making them. > > --Jeremy > > > On Thu, May 29, 2014 at 3:04 PM, Nikola Vassilev <n...@greensoldiers.ca> > wrote: >> >> Good on you for sending that apology. I thought it was inappropriate to >> label that commenter to dismiss his point of view. I also think Steve >> addressed his cynical comments well, the part about taking money from anyone >> as long as it comes with no strings attached is wrong, IMHO. That can be >> easily tested by imagining the worst possible source of money and it may be >> different for each person, but let's say it's the government of North >> Korea... Even if no strings, it would damage the perception people have of >> OpenSSL just being associated with that entity. So, just be mindful of >> people's perceptions when accepting anything. >> >> -------- Original message -------- >> From: "Salz, Rich" >> Date:05-29-2014 07:02 (GMT-05:00) >> To: openssl-users@openssl.org >> Subject: RE: Platinum Sponsorship by Huawei >> >> Frans, >> >> I apologize. My posting was a mistake. (I meant to cancel my posting, but >> instead my fingers hit control-return rather than escape.) >> >> I am sorry that, on the basis of one posting, I called you a troll, or >> implied that you had anything other than concern and interest in seeing the >> best possible outcomes. >> >> The only other thing I can say in my defense is that, if you look through >> the archives, you would hopefully see that I usually don't write that kind >> of message. ______________________________________________________________________ OpenSSL Project http://www.openssl.org User Support Mailing List openssl-users@openssl.org Automated List Manager majord...@openssl.org