March 2015 - Inkscape Board of Directors

[REFERENDUM] Donation to SFC
by Bryce Harrington 07 Jun '15

07 Jun '15

[Reposting] A majority vote of the current board members is required for the following proposal relating to retroactive payment to SFC. Proposal: 1. In light of the services provided by the Software Freedom Consortium to date, given on voluntary basis, should we provide a retroactive donation to the SFC? [ ] Yes, donate to SFC in thanks for their past support. [ ] No. We should pay only the required 10% fee going forward from date of signature of the new FSA. 2. Assuming we should donate to the SFC, how much should we donate to SFC? [ ] a. 10% of gross income since we have been a member (9 years). [ ] b. 10% of gross income since initiation of FSA #2 discussions (2012). [ ] c. A flat amount of $400 per year that we have been a member (2009). This amounts to $3600. [ ] d. A flat amount of $400 per year since FSA #2 (2012). This amounts to $1200. [ ] e. Some other amount: _________________________________________________________ Background: Tav writes, "I agree with Josh and Ted that a donation to the SFC is appropriate for their past work on our behalf. Can we agree on the amount? I would propose $400 for each year we have been a member. We have been a member for 9 years so that would be $3600. This assumes that the 10% kicks in on the date the new FSA is approved. " We were asked by Bradley to provide 10% of our revenue to SFC in 2012: (b) As I've discussed with a number of you, including Jon, Josh and Tavmjong, Inkscape has received fiscal sponsorship services from Conservancy at no charge since 2006. Back when Conservancy was founded, I was an SFLC employee and SFLC was subsidizing my time -- effectively donating staff time to Conservancy. This ceased in early 2008, and I served as a volunteer for Conservancy on nights/weekends until 2011, when I became a full-time employee -- which was the only way to keep it going with the services it promises (the other option would have been to shut down Conservancy). Since then, to maintain legal services as part of the service plan once SFLC shrunk further, we hired Tony as well. We get a lot done with a staff of two, but obviously we need financial resources to be able to provide these services. Conservancy's Board of Directors voted about a year ago that all member projects should be required to give 10% of their earmarked revenue to support Conservancy to continue to provide services. This is a standard way for a fiscal sponsor to operate, and we were lucky before that we weren't required to do this, and I'd been waiting to bother Inkscape with this since you are one of our older members. (We haven't taken a new member for anything other than 10% in a few years, BTW). I hope a 10% arrangement as we use with other projects now will be acceptable to you, and I and Tony are happy to discuss further this issue. In December 2012, we voted generally favorable to paying the 10% fee going forward from 2012. There were questions regarding pass-thru of Google SOC payments and so on, but generally favored the basic idea: https://sourceforge.net/p/inkscape/mailman/inkscape-board/?viewmonth=201212 For comparison, Software in the Public Interest (SPI), an organization analogous to the SFC, provides similar services and takes 5% of net (after credit card, etc. fees): http://www.spi-inc.org/projects/associated-project-howto/

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Board Elections
by Tavmjong Bah 21 Mar '15

21 Mar '15

Hi, And then there were five... I think we should have board elections ASAP. I believe that we have approved the voting method. Is there anything stopping us from starting the election process? Tav

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Re: [Inkscape-board] updated Inkscape FSA
by Tony Sebro 13 Mar '15

13 Mar '15

Thanks for everyone's comments -- and for your edits, Josh. I've attached an updated draft for everyone's review. In particular, I've updated the Representation section to call for elections every two years. If you'd prefer a different frequency, or if there's anything else you'd like to tweak, let me know. Josh: I also added some language to section 8 to address your concerns re: the purpose of the provisions in that section. If you have any other questions and/or suggestions, let me know. Thanks! -Tony -- Tony Sebro, General Counsel, Software Freedom Conservancy +1-212-461-3245 x11 tony@...41... www.sfconservancy.org

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Donation to SFC
by Tavmjong Bah 13 Mar '15

13 Mar '15

Hi, I agree with Josh and Ted that a donation to the SFC is appropriate for their past work on our behalf. Can we agree on the amount? I would propose $400 for each year we have been a member. We have been a member for 9 years so that would be $3600. This assumes that the 10% kicks in on the date the new FSA is approved. Tav

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Re: [Inkscape-board] updated Inkscape FSA
by Bryce Harrington 12 Mar '15

12 Mar '15

On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 08:59:45PM -0400, Karen Sandler wrote: > corresponds to a small annual donation. For example you've given > OSUOSL $200 every year, so maybe you want to give us an amount To correct this point: We made one donation of $200 to them April 2007, and a second $200 this past January, but we've not given a yearly donation to OSUOSL. > that's equal to a retroactive $400 per year (or whatever you are > comfortable with)? It would make for a nice public statement too :) > > >Also from Tavmjong's list of concerns last time: > >The removal and addition of a board member by majority vote of the > >board > >is different from the previous agreement where the Inkscape developer > >community can vote in and out board members. I think having the > >Inkscape > >developer community vote for new members is a good thing (voting to > >remove members, I am not so sure about). > > > >This stands out to me as well. The community owns the project and > >needs to have a say in who is on the board. > > ok - we drafted the agreement as we thought you would want it. Tony, > can you propose a new section for this? > > >Section 8 feels like it was written to give SFC complete control if > >things ever turned sour. If we were to want to terminate our > >relationship with SFC (which I don't see happening), it feels like you > >dictate all the terms and hold all the cards... it feels like a scary > >prenuptial agreement. I'm not implying that SFC would act in such a > >way, but that it is written so that it's an option, so it makes me > >feel uneasy. > > Actually, this provision hasn't changed since the initial agreement > I wrote back in 2006 :) > > It's drafted so that the project has as much chance as possible to > find another organization (Conservancy can only object if it's > reasonable - for example, say Inkscape wants to transfer its assets > to TagSoup - a proprietary software nonprofit). I don't think we can > make this provision any looser without running afoul of our tax > obligations - once assets are in a c3 charitable organization they > can't just be transferred to anyone, since they are being held in > the public's interest. > > In practice, the few member projects that have decided to leave have > not had a problem - we've done the best we can to help them > transition (Mifos even had Conservancy flyers at their OSCON booth > last year!) > > I hope this helps. > karen > > >Cheers, > >Josh > > > > > > > > > >On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 3:15 PM, Josh Andler <scislac@...23...> wrote: > >So, I fixed a couple things in there. Two were textual (an omitted > >letter, and an omitted word), the others were minor formatting things > >my OCD wouldn't let me leave be. I did it with track changes on so > >it's easy to see. There was one which didn't get tracked which is odd, > >but I unbolded the 2. before "Project Management and Activities". I > >hope this isn't unwelcome. > > > >On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 11:32 AM, Tony Sebro > ><tony@...41...> wrote: > >Hi, all. > >Karen and I discussed the employer conflict provision in the > >representation section. Given the historical lack of corporate > >influence in the Inkscape project, we're fine with removing the > >provision entirely. Committee members will still be bound by > >Conservancy's conflict of interest policy; we think that should be > >enough. > > > >I've attached an updated version of the FSA for your review. If you > >have any other questions, let me know; if not, I'll send around an > >execution copy. > > > >Thanks! Best, -Tony > > > >-- > >Tony Sebro, General Counsel, Software Freedom Conservancy > >+1-212-461-3245 x11 > >tony@...41... > >www.sfconservancy.org > >

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Re: [Inkscape-board] updated Inkscape FSA
by Josh Andler 12 Mar '15

12 Mar '15

On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 5:59 PM, Karen Sandler <karen@...41...> wrote: > The Google reimbursements aren't income. Understood. > That sounds fine. I actually proposed in #inkscape-devel that instead of a > retroactive 10%, you just give us an amount that corresponds to a small > annual donation. For example you've given OSUOSL $200 every year, so maybe > you want to give us an amount that's equal to a retroactive $400 per year > (or whatever you are comfortable with)? It would make for a nice public > statement too :) The donation approach sounds MUCH more palatable and appealing in fact. We do feel we owe you all, and we want to show our appreciation. We will let you know what we settle on, but I would say having language in the FSA to deal with it rather than it being on our honor is probably not the best approach. > Actually, this provision hasn't changed since the initial agreement I wrote > back in 2006 :) I'm not surprised. I probably also didn't scrutinize things as much the first time I read through it. > It's drafted so that the project has as much chance as possible to find > another organization (Conservancy can only object if it's reasonable - for > example, say Inkscape wants to transfer its assets to TagSoup - a > proprietary software nonprofit). I don't think we can make this provision > any looser without running afoul of our tax obligations - once assets are in > a c3 charitable organization they can't just be transferred to anyone, since > they are being held in the public's interest. Thank you for the clarification. This put me more at ease personally, but there is kind of part of me that wants to ask is it possible to distill it down with a leading statement that says something to the effect of "For the protection of of SFC and the Project, if our relationship is to be terminated it needs to be inline with all related tax obligations and the public interest, which entails:" > I hope this helps. It did, as always, thank you for your time and patience for those of use who are protective and somewhat concerned oldtimers with the project. Cheers, Josh

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Fundraiser update
by Bryce Harrington 12 Mar '15

12 Mar '15

Below is an update on our financial picture including final numbers for fiscal year 2014. The hackfest fundraising has brought in a total of about $7,800 as of today. == CURRENT BALANCE == $-21,648.47 Expenses:Inkscape $60,574.96 Income:Inkscape -------------------- $38,926.49 $-15,000.00 Budgeted for FY 2015 $-6,057.50 Earmarked for Conservancy 10% -------------------- $17,868.99 Reserve == TOTALS == Year Income Expenses Change Total FY2006 $3,399.50 $3399.50 $3399.50 FY2007 $10,232.65 $-4,718.00 $5514.65 $8914.15 FY2008 $358.48 $-460.98 $-102.50 $8811.65 FY2009 $2,784.57 $-500.00 $2284.57 $11096.22 FY2010 $4,803.28 $-2,081.60 $2721.68 $13817.90 FY2011 $8,798.50 $-2,314.98 $6483.52 $20301.42 FY2012 $6,957.72 $-1,653.90 $5303.82 $25605.24 FY2013 $8,068.04 $-2,501.70 $5566.34 $31171.58 FY2014 $13,338.34 $-7,354.69 $5983.65 $37155.23 FY2015 $1,833.88 $-62.63 $1771.25 $38926.48 == DONATIONS == FY2006 06-Oct-09 - 07-Feb-07 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $3,399.50 $3,399.50 FY2007 07-Mar-05 - 08-Feb-25 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $4,231.81 $4,231.81 FY2007 In:Ink:Donation:Google $6,000.00 $10,231.81 FY2008 08-Mar-10 - 09-Jan-02 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $350.00 $350.00 FY2009 09-Mar-01 - 10-Jan-09 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $2,720.98 $2,720.98 FY2010 10-Mar-01 - 11-Feb-27 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $4,294.20 $4,294.20 FY2010 In:Inks:Donation:Packt $497.00 $4,791.20 FY2011 11-Mar-01 - 12-Feb-24 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $6,922.09 $6,922.09 FY2011 In:Inks:Donation:Packt $500.00 $7,422.09 FY2012 12-Mar-02 - 13-Feb-28 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $6,389.29 $6,389.29 FY2013 13-Mar-05 - 14-Feb-28 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $7,637.61 $7,637.61 FY2014 14-Mar-03 - 15-Feb-28 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $13,066.98 $13,066.98 FY2015 15-Mar-01 - 15-Mar-11 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $1,833.88 $1,833.88 Hackfest FY2014 14-Dec-05 - 15-Feb-28 Assets:PayPal $-6,153.39 $-6,153.39 FY2014 Ex:Inksca:Banking Fees $-260.61 $-6,414.00 FY2014 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $6,414.00 0 Hackfest FY2015 15-Mar-01 - 15-Mar-11 Assets:PayPal $-1,387.51 $-1,387.51 FY2015 Ex:Inksca:Banking Fees $-47.37 $-1,434.88 FY2015 Inc:Inkscape:Donations $1,434.88 0 == EXPENSES == FY 2007: $4,718.00 Expenses FY 2008: $460.98 Expenses FY 2009: $500.00 Expenses FY 2010: $2,081.60 Expenses FY 2011: $2,314.98 Expenses FY 2012: $1,653.90 Expenses FY 2013: $2,501.70 Expenses FY 2014: $7,354.69 Expenses FY 2015: $62.63 Expenses

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[karen@...41...: Re: updated Inkscape FSA]
by Bryce Harrington 12 Mar '15

12 Mar '15

[Forwarding Karen's reply at her request, as she's not subbed to the list. Also, added Karen, Tony, and Brad's addresses as auto-accept non-members. ] ----- Forwarded message from Karen Sandler <karen@...41...> ----- Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2015 20:59:45 -0400 From: Karen Sandler <karen@...41...> To: Josh Andler <scislac@...23...> Cc: Tony Sebro <tony@...41...>, inkscape@...41..., inkscape-board@...5... Subject: Re: updated Inkscape FSA Reply-To: karen@...41... On 2015-03-11 19:28, Josh Andler wrote: > Hi Tony, > > CCing the board list to have it publicly documented. So in reviewing > the revised FSA, here's an initial round of thoughts from me. > > In the last round of discussion, Tavmjong brought up the following and > I looked back at the previous thread and didn't see a response about > it. > > Section 3: > > The board has not agreed to give 10% of our income retroactive to > September 22, 2006. We agreed to start contributing 10% when the > agreement becomes effective. I would personally be happy to go back to > the date that Bradley first asked us to contribute 10% (October 2012) > but that would require a new vote. > > We also had a question about "pass-thru" income, in specific the Google > reimbursements for travel expenses to the mentor's summit. Does the 10% > apply to this? I think the Inkscape board wanted to make clear that > this > income is excluded. (We already settled, I think, that the 10% would > apply to the $500 Google gives Inkscape for each mentor and that > Inkscape would cover that 10% so any mentor that requests it gets the > full $500.) The Google reimbursements aren't income. > > A few of us are uneasy about the full retroactive to 2006. We hadn't > agreed to that, and it wasn't addressed when brought up last time. I > feel that the committee should decide how far back the retroactive > period should extend. That sounds fine. I actually proposed in #inkscape-devel that instead of a retroactive 10%, you just give us an amount that corresponds to a small annual donation. For example you've given OSUOSL $200 every year, so maybe you want to give us an amount that's equal to a retroactive $400 per year (or whatever you are comfortable with)? It would make for a nice public statement too :) > Also from Tavmjong's list of concerns last time: > The removal and addition of a board member by majority vote of the > board > is different from the previous agreement where the Inkscape developer > community can vote in and out board members. I think having the > Inkscape > developer community vote for new members is a good thing (voting to > remove members, I am not so sure about). > > This stands out to me as well. The community owns the project and > needs to have a say in who is on the board. ok - we drafted the agreement as we thought you would want it. Tony, can you propose a new section for this? > Section 8 feels like it was written to give SFC complete control if > things ever turned sour. If we were to want to terminate our > relationship with SFC (which I don't see happening), it feels like you > dictate all the terms and hold all the cards... it feels like a scary > prenuptial agreement. I'm not implying that SFC would act in such a > way, but that it is written so that it's an option, so it makes me > feel uneasy. Actually, this provision hasn't changed since the initial agreement I wrote back in 2006 :) It's drafted so that the project has as much chance as possible to find another organization (Conservancy can only object if it's reasonable - for example, say Inkscape wants to transfer its assets to TagSoup - a proprietary software nonprofit). I don't think we can make this provision any looser without running afoul of our tax obligations - once assets are in a c3 charitable organization they can't just be transferred to anyone, since they are being held in the public's interest. In practice, the few member projects that have decided to leave have not had a problem - we've done the best we can to help them transition (Mifos even had Conservancy flyers at their OSCON booth last year!) I hope this helps. karen > Cheers, > Josh > > > > > On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 3:15 PM, Josh Andler <scislac@...23...> wrote: > So, I fixed a couple things in there. Two were textual (an omitted > letter, and an omitted word), the others were minor formatting things > my OCD wouldn't let me leave be. I did it with track changes on so > it's easy to see. There was one which didn't get tracked which is odd, > but I unbolded the 2. before "Project Management and Activities". I > hope this isn't unwelcome. > > On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 11:32 AM, Tony Sebro > <tony@...41...> wrote: > Hi, all. > Karen and I discussed the employer conflict provision in the > representation section. Given the historical lack of corporate > influence in the Inkscape project, we're fine with removing the > provision entirely. Committee members will still be bound by > Conservancy's conflict of interest policy; we think that should be > enough. > > I've attached an updated version of the FSA for your review. If you > have any other questions, let me know; if not, I'll send around an > execution copy. > > Thanks! Best, -Tony > > -- > Tony Sebro, General Counsel, Software Freedom Conservancy > +1-212-461-3245 x11 > tony@...41... > www.sfconservancy.org > ----- End forwarded message -----

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Re: [Inkscape-board] updated Inkscape FSA
by Josh Andler 11 Mar '15

11 Mar '15

Hi Tony, CCing the board list to have it publicly documented. So in reviewing the revised FSA, here's an initial round of thoughts from me. In the last round of discussion, Tavmjong brought up the following and I looked back at the previous thread and didn't see a response about it. >Section 3: > >The board has not agreed to give 10% of our income retroactive to >September 22, 2006. We agreed to start contributing 10% when the >agreement becomes effective. I would personally be happy to go back to >the date that Bradley first asked us to contribute 10% (October 2012) >but that would require a new vote. > >We also had a question about "pass-thru" income, in specific the Google >reimbursements for travel expenses to the mentor's summit. Does the 10% >apply to this? I think the Inkscape board wanted to make clear that this >income is excluded. (We already settled, I think, that the 10% would >apply to the $500 Google gives Inkscape for each mentor and that >Inkscape would cover that 10% so any mentor that requests it gets the >full $500.) A few of us are uneasy about the full retroactive to 2006. We hadn't agreed to that, and it wasn't addressed when brought up last time. I feel that the committee should decide how far back the retroactive period should extend. Also from Tavmjong's list of concerns last time: >The removal and addition of a board member by majority vote of the board >is different from the previous agreement where the Inkscape developer >community can vote in and out board members. I think having the Inkscape >developer community vote for new members is a good thing (voting to >remove members, I am not so sure about). This stands out to me as well. The community owns the project and needs to have a say in who is on the board. Section 8 feels like it was written to give SFC complete control if things ever turned sour. If we were to want to terminate our relationship with SFC (which I don't see happening), it feels like you dictate all the terms and hold all the cards... it feels like a scary prenuptial agreement. I'm not implying that SFC would act in such a way, but that it is written so that it's an option, so it makes me feel uneasy. Cheers, Josh On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 3:15 PM, Josh Andler <scislac@...23...> wrote: > So, I fixed a couple things in there. Two were textual (an omitted > letter, and an omitted word), the others were minor formatting things > my OCD wouldn't let me leave be. I did it with track changes on so > it's easy to see. There was one which didn't get tracked which is odd, > but I unbolded the 2. before "Project Management and Activities". I > hope this isn't unwelcome. > > On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 11:32 AM, Tony Sebro <tony@...41...> wrote: >> Hi, all. >> Karen and I discussed the employer conflict provision in the >> representation section. Given the historical lack of corporate >> influence in the Inkscape project, we're fine with removing the >> provision entirely. Committee members will still be bound by >> Conservancy's conflict of interest policy; we think that should be enough. >> >> I've attached an updated version of the FSA for your review. If you >> have any other questions, let me know; if not, I'll send around an >> execution copy. >> >> Thanks! Best, -Tony >> >> -- >> Tony Sebro, General Counsel, Software Freedom Conservancy >> +1-212-461-3245 x11 >> tony@...41... >> www.sfconservancy.org >>

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[REFERENDUM] Hackfest sponsorship
by Bryce Harrington 11 Mar '15

11 Mar '15

Your vote is needed on several proposals regarding the planned Inkscape Hackfest 2015. Please vote on ALL numbered items. Proposals: 1. Should the $5000 budgeted for the hackfest be spent from reserves to sponsor travel and hotel expenses for Inkscape developers to participate in Hackfest Toronto 2015? [ ] Yes [ ] No. Use the budgeted funds some other way: ________________________________________________________ 2. Should we adopt a flat reimbursement model (similar to how we did LGM last year), or the proposed ranked reimbursement model (similar to how we did GSoC), or leave it open ended? [ ] a. Use flat reimbursement. Everyone is sponsored up to the same maximum amount. [ ] b. Use ranked reimbursement. Long term, high commit developers are sponsored up to a higher maximum than new developers. [ ] c. Use open ended. We'll fully cover all valid expenses incurred by the sponsorees. 3. If a flat reimbursement model is used, how should we set the maximum? [ ] a. Divide the total funds available ($5000 plus earmarked donations) by number of attendees. [ ] b. $2000 maximum each. If this results in actual expenses exceeding the available funds, hold a follow-up vote to determine what to do. [ ] c. $1000 maximum each. At this level we should be able to cover all expected attendees. 4. If a ranked reimbursement model is used, how should we set the maximums? [ ] a. As proposed on the Hackfest2015 page[1]; see Background for the amounts. [ ] b. As with (a) but each of the limits should be raised $500 higher. [ ] c. As with (a) but each of the limits should be reduced $500 lower. 5. If a sponsoree does not hit their maximum reimbursement amount for the hackfest itself, can they apply the remainder against LGM expenses? [ ] Yes. Consider LGM and Hackfest expenses lumped together for purposes of reimbursement. [ ] No. Airfare can be covered by either Hackfest or LGM sponsorship (or split between them), but hotel and food expenses for each event should be handled separately. Background: We've planned a hackfest[1]. We're undertaking a fundraiser to cover sponsorships, and we're also budgeting $5000 from reserves for this. We need to hold a vote on the sponsorship levels to make things official. >From the hackfest page, it was proposed to limit maximum sponsorshop amounts to the following, in hopes of spreading the funds across a wider number of people: * Up to $2000 each for Inkscape developers who have contributed for 3+ years and > 200 commits (About 18 developers qualify, not all currently active) * Up to $1500 each for Inkscape developers who have contributed for 2+ years and > 100 commits (About 17 additional qualify) * Up to $1000 each for Inkscape developers who have contributed for 1+ year and > 50 commits (About 24 additional qualify) * Up to $500 each for any Inkscape contributor listed in AUTHORS file with at least 10 commits by Jan 1, 2015 (About 50 additional qualify) Tavmjong Bah has volunteered as event coordinator for the LGM and hackfest events. [1] http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Hackfest2015

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Hackfest donation question
by Máirín Duffy 10 Mar '15

10 Mar '15

Hi folks, I had a quick question - do you have donation / sponsorship levels for corporate donations for the Inkscape Hackfest? If so, is there a link talking about this that I can refer to? (I looked at https://inkscape.org/en/support-us/hackfest/ but didn't see any listed) ~m

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My resignation
by J.B.C. Engelen (Johan) 05 Mar '15

05 Mar '15

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[REFERENDUM] LGM Sponsorship Amounts
by Bryce Harrington 04 Mar '15

04 Mar '15

Proposal: [ ] a. Cover travel and hotel expenses for Inkscape developers to participate in LGM 2015, maximum of $500 per developer, up to $5000 total. [ ] b. Cover travel and hotel expenses for Inkscape developers to participate in LGM 2015, maximum of $1000 per developer, up to $5000 total. [ ] c. Either a or b would be fine. [ ] d. The budgeted funds for LGM should be used some other way: ________________________________________________________ Background: LGM is an important meeting for the Libre graphics movement. We will be having a hackfest ahead of it, and should help hackfest attendees afford staying for LGM too. Having Inkscape developers get together is always a good thing. Having Inkscape developers talking with others in the Libre Graphics movement can even be better. We've budgeted $5000 for sponsoring LGM attendees. (Note this is in addition to $5000 + donations for hackfest attendees.) The question we need to decide in this vote is exactly how to split it up. Last year the board funded up to 5 developers, $500 each. For people attending the hackfest, $500 will likely sufficiently cover the additional hotel expense for the additional 4 days, depending on where they're staying. This would enable us to fund 10 developers. However, if we have some people attending LGM only, and not attending the hackfest, then they may have additional travel expenses and it may make sense to provide a higher allocation of $1000, but this may reduce the total number of developers we could sponsor. Last Year's Announcement: Interested in meeting up with fellow Inkscapers? Thanks to generous donations to the project, we are able to provide funds to reimburse five developers up to $500 each for attendance at the Libre Graphics Meeting in Leipzig in April. Anyone in the AUTHORS file as of Feb 19th, 2014 is eligible to apply. To register, please email Tavmjong Bah, our coordinator for the event, by March 6th to get on the list. He'll let you know what position you are in the list. Then, register for the conference, enjoy your time, and save your receipts. Afterwards email copies of the receipts to Tav, who will forward them along to SFC for reimbursement. A maximum of $500 US each will be reimbursed to five attendees for travel, hotel room, and food. Note that the LGM meeting may also give partial reimbursements, so if your total costs exceed $500 they may be able to help. In addition, the board is sponsoring Tavmjong Bah to attend both LGM as a speaker and as our event coordinator, and the co-located SVG Working Group Meeting. Tav will be representing Inkscape's interests at the SVG meeting, and will be working with them on features including mesh gradients, hatched fills, and auto-flowed text. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to Inkscape in the past. Your funding has made these sponsorships possible. We've found these face-to-face meetings invaluable both for sharing ideas and as general inspiration for advancement of the project. Last Year's Website Blurb: Thanks to generous donations from users, the Inkscape Project is pleased to pay for five developers to attend the Libre Graphics Meeting, to be held in Leipzig in April. Tavmjong Bah will be presenting and is sponsored to go as Inkscape's event coordinator; please contact him if you are an Inkscape developer and would like added to the sponsorship list. Tav will also be sponsored to attend the co-located SVG Working Group Meeting. Tav will be representing Inkscape's interests at the SVG meeting, and will be working with them on features including mesh gradients, hatched fills, and auto-flowed text.

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[REFERENDUM] Election Procedure (v.3)
by Bryce Harrington 02 Mar '15

02 Mar '15

A majority vote of the current board members is required for the following matter. Proposal: --------- Adopt Election Procedure version 3, as shown in Addendum for the Inkscape Board's official procedure for holding Board Elections. Diverging from this procedure is not allowed without board approval. [ ] b. Accept Election Procedure v.3 (or later) as official election procedure [ ] c. Accept Election Procedure, if the following changes are done: __________________________________________ __________________________________________ [ ] d. Do not accept Election Procedure Votes: ------ Bryce Harrington Tavmjong Bah Josh Andler Jon Cruz Ted Gould Johan Engelen b. MentalGuy Resolution: ----------- Background: ----------- The procedure detailed in the addendum derives from directions given in past elections, and incorporates ideas from X.org's recent board elections. Notably, in the past we've elected single individuals, but this procedure covers electing several members at the same time. Change History -------------- v.1 RFC Draft v.2 Clarify voting through the website Note pseudonyms are ok, but legal names will be needed Allow nominations v.3 Increase Candidacy signup to 2 weeks Post to both inkscape-announce and inkscape-devel. Drop mention of 'Enfranchised Accounts'. Clarify bits that will be specified per-election. Addendum: election_procedure.txt --------- Inkscape is holding elections for ${NUM_SEATS} new Board Members. ${INTRODUCTION_TEXT} Typically the board votes on things such as project fund expenditures (travel, conferences, marketing materials for events, etc), trademark related issue, other legal issues that arise, etc. The board does not have responsibility currently for technical decisions for the project, and does not handle social/community issues where there are no financial or legal aspects to the problem. Board membership requires a commitment of time: At a minimum you will be expected to participate in votes on the mailing list, which typically occur with a frequency of about 0 to 3 per month. You are required to be on the board mailing list, which has a volume of about 30-50 emails per month; you're not required to participate in the discussions, but it is very strongly encouraged. We also solicit volunteers from the board to serve as as event managers, team leaders, fundraising coordinators, etc. - Again, not a requirement, but we value board members who can shoulder such duties for the project. As specified in Section 6 or our charter we maintain a committee of seven project members. Section 6 reads as follows: "6. Representation of the Project in the Conservancy. The Developers, each a signatory hereto, shall represent the Project in its official communication with the Conservancy. There shall be seven Developers (together, the "Committee"), elected by the community members of the Project listed in the Project's AUTHORS file (the "Community Members"). Each Developer shall continue to serve until he or she resigns from the position. The Developers may be removed from the position at any time by a majority vote of the Community Members. Upon the resignation or removal of a Developer, the Community Members shall elect a replacement Developer to serve on the Committee. The Committee will elect a single individual to communicate with the Conservancy (the "Representative") and shall notify the Conservancy promptly following the election of a new Representative. The Representative will have the authority to instruct the Conservancy on the Project's behalf on all matters. This section may be modified by a vote of at least 3/4 of the Community Members, with the consent of the Conservancy, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld." Election Schedule ================= * Kickoff Announcement: ${date} + Post to inkscape-announce@ + Publish news item to website * Candidacy period Start: ${date} * Candidacy period End: ${date + 2 weeks} (08:00 UTC) * Publication of Candidates & start of Candidate Q&A: ${date + 2 weeks} * Election Start: ${date + 2 weeks} * Election End: ${date + 2 weeks + 2 weeks} (08:00 UTC) * Results Posted: ${date + 2 weeks + 2 weeks + 2 days} Membership ========== Inkscape developers listed in the AUTHORS file as of ${AUTHORS_DATE} are considered Official Members for purposes of this election, as per our Fiscal Sponsorship Agreement with the Software Freedom Conservancy. Only Official Members may run for the board positions, and only Official Members may vote for them. In this election we will be using the Inkscape website for conducting the vote, so you'll need to register with the website to cast your vote. ${HOWTO_VOTE_DIRECTIONS} Election Proctor ================ The Inkscape Board elects by majority vote an Election Proctor who will run a given election and ensure it's successful completion. The Election Proctor has the responsibility for ensuring the voting is done according to procedure, assuring that the Vote is accurately tallied, and announcing the finalized result of the Vote. Once the vote has been finalized, the selected individual(s) immediately become Board Members. The Community may challenge the Election Proctor's tally within 30 days of the vote finalization, by gathering a number of signatures from Official Members exceeding 2/3rds of the total number of Votes cast declaring the vote to be inaccurate. Should this happen, the Vote is nullified, a new election must be arranged by the Board, with the Election Proctor barred from proctoring future Inkscape votes. Board Election ============== The following text can be used to draft an announcement about the election, which should be sent to inkscape's announcement and development mailing lists. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following Board Members have resigned from their positions and need to be filled by new members: ${RETIREES} The election process starts with a Candidacy Period during which any Official Member may indicate interest in running for the positions. To register, please email ${ELECTIONS_ADDRESS}, giving your - Name [1] - Current professional affiliation - Statement of contribution to Inkscape or related technologies - A personal statement Alternatively, any Official Member may nominate another Official Member. At the end of the Candidacy Period, the applicants will be reviewed to verify eligibility. The list of candidates will then by published, and the community will have a chance to ask questions on the development mailing list. Finally, the election will be held using the Single Transferrable Vote (STV) voting system[2]. This is similar in mechanism to the Instant Runoff Vote (IRV) system we've used in the past[3], but for multi-seat results rather than the single-winner result of IRV. From a voter's perspective it's the same voting procedure: Rank candidates in order of choice with #1 being first choice, and so on. References ========== 1: Pseudonyms are acceptable for registration purposes, but please note that your legal name will need to be provided when officially joining the board as a member, and may be needed on various legal documents which will be publically disclosed for transparency purposes. 2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote 3: Past elections: 2006 Election + http://inkscape.13.x6.nabble.com/Election-process-for-Inkscape-Board-tt2805… 2008 Election + http://t48889.graphics-inkscape-development.graphictalk.us/opening-inkscape… 2012 Election + http://inkscape.13.x6.nabble.com/Inkscape-Board-Election-voting-time-tt4965… + http://inkscape.13.x6.nabble.com/Inkscape-Board-Committee-Nominations-tc496…

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[REFERENDUM] Funding pre-approved jobs
by Bryce Harrington 01 Mar '15

01 Mar '15

A majority vote of the current board members is required for the following matter. Proposal: Allocate $750 total from Inkscape's 2015 Budget for three Pre-Approved Jobs. [ ] a. Yes, allocate money from budget to jobs [ ] b. No, do not allocate from budget Background: Inkscape has set up a funded development process[1], and following that process has pre-approved[2] three projects from a list of suggestions. In the recent budget vote[3], we've budgeted $750 to spend in 2015 on funded work. This vote is to formally allocate $250 to each project's funds. I envision we'll need to do some fundraising on top of this to make the jobs more attractive, but this will give us a starting point. 1: https://inkscape.org/en/support-us/funded-development/, http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~inkscape.board/+junk/board-docs/view/head:/res… 2: https://www.mail-archive.com/inkscape-board@lists.sourceforge.net/msg00212.… 3: http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~inkscape.board/+junk/board-docs/view/head:/res…

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