Craig,
US Law is pretty intimidating to me who, after all, is just a poor 
foreigner.
So my sincere thanks for clearing the field for me.
Also my sincere thanks for not involving the community in long and 
premature discussions.
I have looked at your references and expect to applaud your proposal 
strongly and loudly when the time comes.
--Trygve

On 03.07.2007 04:26, Craig Latta wrote:
> Hi Göran and everyone--
>
>      Whoa, I guess it's way past time for an update from the board. ;)
> (Seriously, it's way past time and as de facto board secretary I do
> apologize.)
>
>      We are in the final stages of discussion with the Software Freedom
> Law Center[1] about Squeak joining as a member project of their Software
> Freedom Conservancy[2]. By "final" I mean that we have a legal agreement
> in front of us, we're discussing slight modifications to it, and we're
> about to sign it. After the board and the SFLC are happy with it, we
> will forward it to squeak-dev. We intend to sign it within a couple of
> weeks after that. I'm acting as the liaison between the board and the
> SFLC. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Ron Teitelbaum again
> for suggesting and advocating working with the SFLC.
>
>      If you are surprised that we've done this without enough public
> discussion (although we did mention it on squeak-dev at multiple points
> in the past), again please accept our apologies. We believe we are doing
> what you elected us to do.
>
>      Please do follow the SFLC and Conservancy links to remind yourself
> why this will be a good arrangement. Basically, they will handle the
> legal stuff, including being able to accept tax-exempt donations on
> Squeak's behalf. Stay tuned for the minute details, most likely after
> the board meeting on 18 July, where we will have SFLC counsel as a guest.
>
>      Yes, this is all taking much longer than any of us would like. But
> it's happening! Zoom out a little bit and remember some of the things
> we've (finally) accomplished:
>
> -    The original Squeak release is now available to us under better
> license terms (that took a lot of personal cajoling on the part of
> myself and several others)
>
> -    We are very close to having written consent to new terms on behalf
> of each subsequent contributor to Squeak.
>
> -    We are on the verge of allying the project with an organization
> that will make us legally viable.
>
> ***
>
>      Now, as for the bedtime story: while I enjoyed it immensely, I
> think it does point out a not-so-subtle problem that our community has.
> Some reverence for those who have come before you is good, but I think
> we take it a little too far. Yes, Dan and the rest of the original
> Squeak team are very talented, but we should also realize that they had
> financial support for their efforts. We are simply not working with the
> external resources that they had.
>
>      I think we are too quick to frame technical decisions with the
> question "What would they have done?" We need to think for ourselves; no
> one has all the answers. The Squeak team has achieved a wonderful thing,
> and has made an amazing gift of it to us, but we should not be
> distracted from our own powers.
>
>      For my own part, I am always eager to lend whatever help I can,
> including making executive decisions. I've certainly made a few in the
> process of making us legally "real", and I think it's turning out well.
> I have no problem speaking for the board to the rest of the community,
> and to others on behalf of the community. I'm not going to force myself
> on anyone, I think that's just unrealistic amongst peers. Rather, I will
> continue to act on our behalf as long as I'm asked.
>
>      Our other big problem is that everyone is generally too polite to
> do anything that smacks of autocracy (despite an apparent longing for it
> :). This is normal-- we're friendly people. I'm willing, however, to
> wield whatever authority is given to me (and I am :).
>
>
>      thanks,
>
> -C
>
> [1] http://www.softwarefreedom.org
> [2] http://conservancy.softwarefreedom.org
>
>   


-- 

Trygve Reenskaug      mailto: trygver at ifi.uio.no
Morgedalsvn. 5A       http://folk.uio.no/trygver
N-0378 Oslo           Tel: (+47) 22 49 57 27
Norway