[kde-usa] KDE U.S. NPO

[James]

On Tuesday, May 15, 2012 10:13:55 AM Steve Hay wrote:

What Jeff is saying about additional patent protection I agree with. A key 
factor in this decision is the additional protection and services provided by 
SFC, and whether KDE opts to enjoy this benefit. However, I think there is 
another angle worth considering. The SFC provides active support to the OSS 
community in the US, and the legal center appears to provide services to 
everyone. It is difficult to imagine any legal or position the SFC would take 
that KDE would not be aligned with, and regardless of the direct benefits to 
KDE, supporting and joining SFC is a powerful statement about KDE's commitment 
to the FOSS movement in the US.


I really don't see any downside to any of this, and I see lots of (unlimited) 
upside. I understand doing the due diligence steps as any decision is a big 
one. However if we can assume that everything Jeff and Steve are saying with 
regard to their well-articulated and thoughtful considerations on the matter 
is correct, I would hope that this could be brought up to the board and 
decided on sooner rather than later.

In my mind knowing that the patent protection provided by the SFC is there if 
needed, whether or not there are any specific use cases for it right now, is 
also a plus.

Another intangible positive in all of this is the exposure it would bring to 
KDE in seeing how the SFC potentially benefits other OSS Communities in ways 
that perhaps are unknown to us at present.  Specifically, the exposure to 
seeing what has worked or not for other members in the past, Best Practices, 
etc, etc. 

Just my potentially naive and over-excited 2 cents...

- James 
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