WordPress Foundation Launches Website

[Ryan]

Nope, that was never talked about as a goal since the Foundation was first discussed 3 years ago.

I recall reading something about setting up a committee system. It's possible that I was reading third-hand information on it. It's only a fuzzy memory :p

I'm not interested in creating a new bureaucracy to slow down WP or replacing the leadership and development structures already in place (and working very well) on WordPress.org. It's not that committees always suck, just that they usually do, and I've never seen a committee create world-class user-facing software.

Yeah, I wondered about this myself when I heard about it being a committee. If it aint broke, don't fix it!

In the US we call that illegal, and you go to jail or pay huge fines. Come on.

Tax avoidance is. Tax optimization (which I assume is what Dan was actually referring to) is not.

[davecoveney]

the cynic in me feels that this is a tax avoidance proposition for Automattic

In the US we call that illegal, and you go to jail or pay huge fines. Come on.

Matt, don't accuse me of accusing you of doing something illegal! I never ever suggested you were doing anything that is against any laws.

There's a massive difference in tax avoidance and tax evasion. The former is normal and to be expected, the latter is illegal.

Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_avo...nd_tax_evasion

Running charitable or non-profit foundations as a means of mitigating the tax-load on an organisation is actually quite a normal thing to do. As an example Ikea is a famously large user of this approach, with almost all their R&D carried out in such a foundation. It's less common for UK companies because we have excellent tax breaks for R&D (generally over 100%.)

You're right that things will happen more quickly if the foundation is led by you, rather than by a committee. This is normal. Benevolent dictatorships are usually quite effective up to a point. But under such regimes you will find increasing levels of dissatisfaction. I hope that your plan in the long term is to develop it into a more democratic solution. If you don't then you will face far more difficult questions than any of those posed above.

[matt]

I see -- I suppose it's possible that Automattic will have its own foundation (like the Google one) someday to do charitable works, but that's not the purpose or the structure of the WP Foundation whose whole point is to be independent of Automattic.

[davecoveney]

Will Automattic be contributing to the foundation? Incidentally - a foundation to do charitable works for third parties is a different thing to one which does works for first parties. eg, the Ikea foundation does charitable works in the fields of interior design!

Ultimately both organisations share the same leadership - so, to that end may share that leader's ambitions and requirements?

The only difference I can see is that Toni Schneider is not involved in the foundation.

[wpmuguru]

Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_avo...nd_tax_evasion

Running charitable or non-profit foundations as a means of mitigating the tax-load on an organisation is actually quite a normal thing to do. As an example Ikea is a famously large user of this approach, with almost all their R&D carried out in such a foundation. It's less common for UK companies because we have excellent tax breaks for R&D (generally over 100%.)

Whatever the terms mean in legal circles, in day to day conversation here (Canada):

-avoiding taxes & tax avoidance are both used to politely reference doing something shady to avoid paying taxes.
-charitable foundations, R&D, etc. used to reduce taxes are referred to as tax shelters.

[MiroslavGlavic]

I thought Automattic controlled all of the WP world.
Is Automattic going to transfer things to WPF?

The way I see this working is two possible ways:

#1: Automattic gets absorbed into WPF

#2: Automattic handles the commercial side, WPF hands the non-commercial/non-profit side of the WordPress world.

[davecoveney]

Whatever the terms mean in legal circles, in day to day conversation here (Canada):

-avoiding taxes & tax avoidance are both used to politely reference doing something shady to avoid paying taxes.
-charitable foundations, R&D, etc. used to reduce taxes are referred to as tax shelters.

In common conversation you can call things whatever you like, but the compound verb describing the use of charitable foundations to mitigate tax contributions would be "to avoid tax." :-)

There is nothing shady in avoiding tax that you don't have to pay.

What I'm trying to get to the bottom of what this foundation's constitution happens to be, and who the foundation is meant to benefit.

There's nothing wrong in questioning things. I'm a great believer in what Matt and Automattic have achieved. I've paid Automattic good money for commercial licenses, and Automattic have gained business on the back of advice I've give to at least one corporate in the UK. A core part of our business is based on WP, however, so it's in our interests to a: contribute, and b: question changes that could impact on WordPress in the future.

[davecoveney]

I thought Automattic controlled all of the WP world.
Is Automattic going to transfer things to WPF?

The way I see this working is two possible ways:

#1: Automattic gets absorbed into WPF

#2: Automattic handles the commercial side, WPF hands the non-commercial/non-profit side of the WordPress world.

Automattic have a large amount of control, because they employ the most contributors to the project. Those contributors make decisions. They do a great job.

I would imagine that some of those employees would move to the WPF, but I don't know that. It's a wait and see situation.

[Jeffro]

What I'm trying to get to the bottom of what this foundation's constitution happens to be, and who the foundation is meant to benefit.

Seems pretty self explanatory to me.

The point of the foundation is to ensure free access, in perpetuity, to the projects we support. People and businesses may come and go, so it is important to ensure that the source code for these projects will survive beyond the current contributor base, that we may create a stable platform for web publishing for generations to come. As part of this mission, the Foundation will be responsible for protecting the WordPress, WordCamp, and related trademarks. A 501(c)3 non-profit organization, the WordPress Foundation will also pursue a charter to educate the public about WordPress and related open source software.

As long as this foundation doesn't screw things up like OpenSourceMatters an Joomla, it should be ok.

[Ryan]

As part of this mission, the Foundation will be responsible for protecting the WordPress, WordCamp, and related trademarks.

I wonder if that means Automattic will be gifting the trademarks to the WordPress foundation. That seems overly generous if it is the case. Those domains must be worth mega bucks.