webmink's blog

I joined in with the Open Source Initiative in 2008, was elected to its Board in 2010 and became its President in 2012. Along with the Board, I've pursued a vision of OSI transforming into a membership organisation, serving open source not only as steward of the Open Source Definition and arbiter of which licenses satisfy its requirements and thus deliver software freedom, but also as an enabler for people and organisations that want to make open source better and more popular.

Christoph Hellwig, supported by Software Freedom Conservancy (Conservancy), has initiated a lawsuit in Germany against VMware for alleged violations of the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2, an OSI approved license.

April annually sees the start of the OSI Board year, with resulting vacancies and the appointment of directors to fill them. This year saw vacancies arising due to the retirement of Board officers -- Karl Fogel, who has done a tremendous job as OSI's Treasurer, and of Martin Michlmayr, whose work as OSI's Secretary has been beyond measure. Also leaving due to term limits is Harshad Gune, and Richard Fontana's seat was open due to the one-year terms for directors representing Individual Members.

OSI recently held its first election for a director selected by its new Individual Membership. From a very strong field of candidates, a clear majority of Individual Members expressed preference for Richard Fontana to be elected as OSI's newest Director.

The OSI Board extends congratulations to Richard M Stallman on his induction into the Internet Hall of Fame. His work with the GNU Project and the various forms of the General Public License has been a key force in the evolution of Free and Open Source software and he has been an inspiration. We also congratulate the other inductees on the recognition of their contribution to the Internet.

The new OSI Board met in Washington DC last week. We held an effective face-to-face meeting where we discussed the progress of our plans to transform OSI into a member-based organisation. We held officer elections, once again electing Martin Michlmayr as Secretary, filling the vacancy for CFO left by Alolita Sharma by electing Karl Fogel and replacing him as Assistant Treasurer by electing Mike Milinkovich. I was re-elected as President and thank the Board for that vote of confidence in this time of change.

One of the ways we're turning OSI into a member organisation is to gradually replace the Board with member-selected directors. This process started last year when OSI's Affiliate members -- non-profit organizations themselves -- selected candidates for the Board.

Software Freedom Conservancy have announced a fundraising campaign for an Open Source non-profit accounting system.

Former OSI Board member Danese Cooper writes:

One of the pillars of the Indian FOSS Community passed away this week. Known for his humor, his uncompromising honesty and his generosity in sharing FOSS knowledge with like-minded individuals. His sudden passing after a massive heart attack has shocked and saddened his friends across the FOSS World.