From: b...@pixar.com (Bruce Perens)
Subject: A new organization for Open Source
Date: 1998/08/10
Message-ID: <6qnpfg$qpl$1@atlantis.pixar.com>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 380119006
Distribution: world
Organization: Pixar Animation Studios
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc

                A NEW ORGANIZATION FOR OPEN SOURCE

Debian and the Open Source Initiative have both become big enough that
they need their own organizations. Thus, the board of Software in the
Public Interest decided to spin off a new organization for Open Source
early last week. Three of the four SPI directors elected to move to
the new organization, because they are no longer involved in Debian.
This left Ian Jackson, who is the current Debian Project Leader, on the
SPI board to appoint new directors from the ranks of the Debian
developers.

The new organization is called "The Open Source Initiative", and its
directors currently are:

	Eric Raymond: Open Source co-founder. Author of "The Cathedral and
	the Bazaar" and other seminal works on free software. A leading
	strategist in the free software community.
	
	Ian Murdock: Debian founder. Founding director of Software in the
	Public Interest. Computer science researcher at U. of Arizona.

	Bruce Perens: Open Source co-founder. Founding director of
	Software in the Public Interest. Was Debian project leader for
	2.5 years. Principal author of the Open Source Definition.

	Tim Sailer: Founding director of Software in the Public Interest.
	He did all of the actual paperwork of finding SPI's corporation
	counsel and accountant, incorporating the organization, and taking
	it through the IRS 501(c)3 tax-exempt process.

We are currently discussing who else to recruit onto this board from the
ranks of free software leaders, in order to assure that we continue to
represent the wishes of the Open Source community. Several people have
already been approached.

The Open Source trademark attribution will now change to:

	"Open Source is a Certification Mark of The Open Source Initiative".

Our previous trademark bulletin suggested that you apply the "(R)" symbol
to the Open Source mark. It turns out we were in error, and the "TM" symbol
should be applied until the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office finishes
processing our application. This often takes two years to finish.