Foundation:2015 Presidents Report

Presidents Report for 2014 to 2015

Summary

Looking back over this past year, there have been few major things to highlight in the presidents report. Maybe that's a sign that the Gentoo Foundation Inc. is a mature well operating machine.

The Gentoo Foundation Inc. filed its annual reports in good time and remains in good standing in New Mexico.

Gentoo Trademark License Agreement

SwifT has been leading efforts to align the Gentoo Trademark License Agreement with best practice in the FOSS world. A draft exists and has been discussed among the trustees. It was published for discussion on the -nfp list. The trustees opted to delay the vote on its adoption to attempt to have a single document that covers the Gentoo Foundation Inc. and Gentoo e.V.

The new Gentoo Trademark License Agreement will not be retrospective.

Our 503(c)(3) Tax Status

The trustees have been working on our 503(c)(3) application, along with our Certified Public Accountant (CPA). We need help from a CPA to prepare or annual returns when we are successful with our 503(c)(3) application. This process has become prolonged as the IRS has a large backlog of applications and those from FOSS organisations that have been reviewed have mostly been rejected. This has not changed in the last year.

August 2015 Trustee Election Results

• robbat2
• SwifT

Congratulations to both robbat2 and SwifT being elected unopposed and thank you to betelgeuse, for serving as a trustee for the past two years.

As there was no vote in 2015, no Foundation members will be dropped from the membership list this year.

Gentoo Foundation Inc non Trustee Officers

When David Abbott retired from the board in 2014, he decided to keep his Secretary office. The Foundation now has two officers that are not trustees.

We have

• dabbott Secretary
• rich0 Assistant Secretary

That is seven people involved in running the Foundation rather than just the five Trustees. robbat2 our Infra Liaison officer returns as a trustee, so we are down one non Trustee Officer this year.

Foundation Activity Tracker

The Foundation Activity Tracker remains in the care and maintenance of the Assistant Secretary. It has proved its worth over the past year. This tool reminds both Officers and Trustees of what needs to be done and when which reduces the reliance of the proper operation of the Foundation on individuals memory. This in turn is good for the Boards and Officers 'Bus Factor'.

The Gentoo name trademark affirmation of use was completed successfully in July for the next 10 years.

Board Meetings

Board Meetings are generally held 3rd Sunday in the month at 19:00 UTC with the exception of the June meeting which would otherwise fall on Fathers day.

Closing Remarks

With seven active years behind us, the Foundation has shown that its a reliable active body. Both Gentoo and the Gentoo Foundation Inc. need to attract more members who are interested in the various facets of business administration to ensure the long term continuity of the Gentoo Foundation Inc. as an independent entity.