Hi all,
Inkscape's been growing by leaps and bounds this last year, thanks to all the efforts of its community. Part of the growth process requires formalizing certain things - such as how we handle Inkscape's finances.
Up to now, I've handled Inkscape's finances as part of my own. However, with the income we'll be getting from Google, and the increasing amount of donations we've been receiving, now is a good time to set Inkscape up with a more formal way to manage its money.
The Inkscape admins have considered a number of options. The one we like best is to join the Software Freedom Conservancy (http://conservancy.softwarefreedom.org/). For the past few months I've been working with the SFC, and just recently learned we've been accepted! Here's more info:
http://inkscape.org/conservancy/
However, before this becomes official, there are three things I think we need to do: First is to give the community the opportunity to voice any questions or concerns before anything gets set. Second, we need to review the agreement that the SFC requires us to sign. Third, we need to select a set of official representatives who will sign the Agreement papers that cause Inkscape to become part of the SFC.
As part of this, we need to decide how official (monetary) decisions will be made by Inkscape. This is required by the SFC mainly so there is a defined way for determining how funds will be spent. Do we require a full concensus of the Inkscape representatives? A simple majority? Or is the word of any one representatives enough? My own feeling is that a simple majority (3 out of 4 reps) is enough.
We also will need to have a defined procedure for adding/removing representatives.
Please review http://inkscape.org/conservancy/ and give some thought as to how we should organize Inkscape, and share your thoughts in this thread.
Thanks, Bryce