Sadly for us, Boost lost its lawyer today. Devin Smith has done wonderful work for us over the past few years, and I thank him both personally and on behalf of the Boost community. Quite unexpectedly even for Devin, he's found a new position as an in-house lawyer with a Pharmaceutical firm, and is moving on to greener pastures. I met Devin through contacts at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, when we were trying to establish a single standard Boost license. At a time when interest in Boost was growing faster than ever, our myriad licenses presented a barrier to adoption that could have been fatal to our mission. Without broad adoption, it's impossible to establish existing practice suitable for incorporation into the C++ standard. Devin seemed to "get" our needs in a way the other lawyers had not, and has been able to address them with quick intelligence, clarity, and straightforwardness. Those abilities are reflected in our license, which captures the intention of Boost while covering all the necessary legal bases. I don't think it's exaggerating to say that the result is a crucial platform on which our future depends. You probably know that all of Devin's work for Boost has been pro-bono -- if I understand correctly, all lawyers are obliged to do some -- you may not know that sometime last year, Devin's firm set up rules about what kinds of clients could qualify for pro-bono service, shifting the emphasis more towards social justice issues and traditional charities. In that context, free software doesn't quite make the cut. Devin has therefore been squeezing in Boost work voluntarily on the side, pursuing OSI license approval and tirelessly fielding tedious questions from potential users and their lawyers. Even though that had to be the least rewarding part of his work for us, Devin patiently answered every question, sometimes taking conference calls just to explain the license text. Devin has offered to try to help us find new representation (no guarantees, though). I'm also going to check back in with the Berkman Center; it'll definitely be important for us to have representation that undestands the open source world. We'll be very, very lucky if we can find anyone as capable and interested in our situation as Devin has been. Devin, the very best of luck with your new position. Boost will always be grateful for your essential contribution. -- Dave Abrahams Boost Consulting www.boost-consulting.com