<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> <meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffcc" text="#000000"> Hidde Brugmans wrote: <blockquote cite="mid1139938285.21935.83.camel@localhost.localdomain" type="cite"> <pre wrap="">This email is sent to get somewhat more information than is available in the press release, and to ask when we can see the Foundation come to the foreground and take it's role as the caretaker of Ubuntu. </pre> </blockquote> The Foundation exists as a fallback in case Canonical is no longer able to carry Ubuntu forward. I set it up to ensure that the Ubuntu project has muscle if it needs it, regardless of the outcome with Canonical Ltd. There are sufficient funds there to make good on all support commitments (the toughest being 5 years on the server for Ubuntu 6.04) as well as to continue the core project development for a substantial period of time. Of course, as long as Canonical is able to continue funding the project, it makes more sense to keep the Foundation funds untouched. As Mako points out, no organisation is beyond corruption or misdirection. The best defence you have against that is to ensure that there is strong community participation in the governance of Ubuntu. That means stepping up to help document decisions, and keeping track of developments to ensure that narrow interests (mine or anybody else's) don't send us all off at a tangent. Hope that helps, Mark </body> </html>