On Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 10:40 PM, Edouard A. <edouard@fausse.info> wrote:
One big advantage of having a foundation is that it makes the job of raising money easier, especially if you can get the foundation approved as "general interest" (tax deduction...).
However I don't think having a formal, legal definition makes the organization less monolithic and more flexible. The way you are organized is IMHO orthogonal.
I would tend to disagree with the assertion that organization would be orthogonal to the project. Let me state why I would disagree: 1. Having an organization dedicated to a project gives the project a clear direction and the mechanism for it to deliver in an organized manner. Right now the adhoc process of review and inclusion yields the very "beast" (used in an endearing manner) that is the monolithic Boost C++ Library. If you organized each sub-project as a sub-organization or sub-project of a bigger quality effort, then you can deliver what people have been looking for which are modular releases of Boost libraries, more open to contribution on a per-project basis, easier distribution, etc. 2. Because of the fund-raising capability introduced by having a Boost Software Foundation, you can then convince industry players to support an organization dedicated to advancing the ideals of the original project. Less abstractly it's easier to convince compiler vendors, third-party support providers, and users in general to fund an effort for advancing C++ language, application, and tool development. 3. What a formal organization can provide that a loosely knit group of volunteer developers+users can give is focus that is otherwise lacking to deliver the utmost quality we the users are looking for. By having a single organization represent the Boost community of users, developers, and supporters it can focus on the issues that need addressing: things like documentation, project management, release management, promotion/marketing, etc. These are the three reasons I would think having an organization like a Boost Software Foundation would do the Boost C++ Library project a whole lot of good on top of the good that it itself is already able to deliver. I HTH. -- Dean Michael Berris blog.cplusplus-soup.com | twitter.com/mikhailberis linkedin.com/in/mikhailberis | facebook.com/dean.berris | deanberris.com