Free Geek Principles - Revision history

Rfs at 21:12, 4 December 2010

2010-12-04T21:12:21Z

Rfs: /* Principles for Official Free Geeks */

2010-09-05T15:31:34Z

Principles for Official Free Geeks

Rfs: /* Principles for Official Free Geeks */

2010-09-04T14:41:12Z

Principles for Official Free Geeks

Rfs at 17:50, 16 February 2010

2010-02-16T17:50:02Z

MetraBot: Robot: Changing Category:Startups

2009-04-25T01:04:17Z

Robot: Changing Category:Startups

Rfs at 04:37, 22 January 2009

2009-01-22T04:37:15Z

Rfs at 03:16, 21 January 2009

2009-01-21T03:16:04Z

Rfs at 18:22, 15 January 2009

2009-01-15T18:22:23Z

Rfs at 18:15, 15 January 2009

2009-01-15T18:15:24Z

Rfs: /* Why these principles? */

2008-10-01T15:31:41Z

Why these principles?

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:12, 4 December 2010
Line 43:		Line 43:
	[[Category:Free Geek Intergalactic]]		[[Category:Free Geek Intergalactic]]
	[[Category:Trademark]]		[[Category:Trademark]]
		+	[[Category: Strategic Planning]]

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 <ol start="5">
-<li> ''Be democratically run in a non-hierarchical way that is open and transparent to all participants in its programs.'' This may take many forms. Basically, the people who volunteer at a Free Geek should be able to help shape it and determine the organization's priorities and programs. At the mothership Free Geek (in Portland), we have the [[Council]], which sets overall policy and vision, and a number of working groups which involve both staff and volunteers in developing and maintaining programs. Much of the paid staff is a worker collective -- there's no one boss.
+<li> ''Be democratically run in a non-hierarchical way that is open and transparent to all participants in its programs.'' This may take many forms. Basically, the people who volunteer at a Free Geek should be able to help shape it and determine the organization's priorities and programs. At the mothership Free Geek (in Portland), we have the [[Council]], which sets overall policy and vision, and a number of working groups which involve both staff and volunteers in developing and maintaining programs. Much of the paid staff is a worker collective.
 <li> ''Be a non-profit business (as legally defined in their location), must follow honest business practices and have the stated goal of advancing the common good.'' In the U.S. most Free Geeks opt to charter their corporation under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code, that is as public benefit organizations. This form of organization allows the group to operate free of income tax and to offer receipts that donors can deduct from their own taxes. Other countries have different systems for chartering organizations. If you are in another country research how [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonprofit NPOs] are chartered in your country.
 </ol>

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 <ol start="5">
-<li> ''Be democratically run in a non-hierarchical way that is open and transparent to all participants in its programs.'' This may take many forms. Basically, the people who volunteer at a Free Geek should be able to help shape it and determine the organization's priorities and programs. At the mothership Free Geek (in Portland), we have the [[Council]], which sets overall policy and vision, and a number of working groups which involve both staff and volunteers in developing and maintaining programs. The staff is a worker collective -- there's no boss.
+<li> ''Be democratically run in a non-hierarchical way that is open and transparent to all participants in its programs.'' This may take many forms. Basically, the people who volunteer at a Free Geek should be able to help shape it and determine the organization's priorities and programs. At the mothership Free Geek (in Portland), we have the [[Council]], which sets overall policy and vision, and a number of working groups which involve both staff and volunteers in developing and maintaining programs. Much of the paid staff is a worker collective -- there's no one boss.
 <li> ''Be a non-profit business (as legally defined in their location), must follow honest business practices and have the stated goal of advancing the common good.'' In the U.S. most Free Geeks opt to charter their corporation under section 501(c)(3) of the IRS code, that is as public benefit organizations. This form of organization allows the group to operate free of income tax and to offer receipts that donors can deduct from their own taxes. Other countries have different systems for chartering organizations. If you are in another country research how [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonprofit NPOs] are chartered in your country.
 </ol>

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Inspired largely by the [[Wikipedia:Rochdale_Principles|Rochdale Principles]], these principles were approved by the [http://lists.freegeek.org/pipermail/council/2004-September/001023.html council on 8-18-2004] to guide potential new Free Geeks in determining whether they are eligible to use our name and to supplement our mission statement.
 ==Free Geek Principles==
@@ Line 23: / Line 17: @@
 ==Annotated Principles==
 ===Why these principles?===
 As staunch supporters of [[Free Software]] and its [http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/ attendant philosophies], and as reg'lar folk who just want to do what we do and not deal with legalities, we approach trademark law warily. On the other hand, our project has gained a certain amount of renown and is attracting people who wish to recreate the magic in their hometowns. These are certainly good people, but we want to have some say over who we're affiliated with - and we want to use this position to strongly suggest to certain things that we feel are essential to what a Free Geek is. Some of the principles may seem strange or unnecessary for some people, but they really do represent what, to us, is the essence of Free Geek -- so here's our attempt to unpack some of those dense sentences.

@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 </ol>
 [[Category:Bylaws]]
-[[Category: Bylaws]]
+[[Category:Free Geek Intergalactic]]
-[[Category: Startups]]
+[[Category:Trademark]]

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 : Note the corresponding strike out of the relevant sentence in the "annotated principles" below. Also note that the annotated principles (below) and the introductory paragraph (above) are not part of the principles, but rather serve to frame their context.
 : If we adopt this proposal, the subtitle below would simply say "Free Geek Principles", not "Free Geek Fair Use Principles".
-==Free Geek <s>Fair Use</s> Principles==
+==Free Geek Principles==
 An organization that would be affiliated with Free Geek must:
@@ Line 23: / Line 24: @@
 ==Annotated Principles==
 ===Why these principles?===
-As staunch supporters of [[Free Software]] and its [http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/ attendant philosophies], and as reg'lar folk who just want to do what we do and not deal with legalities, we approach trademark law warily. On the other hand, our project has gained a certain amount of renown and is attracting people who wish to recreate the magic in their hometowns. These are certainly good people, but we want to have some say over who we're affiliated with - and we want to use this position to strongly suggest to certain things that we feel are essential to what a Free Geek is. <s>We're developing a [[Free Geek Fair Use Policy|fair use policy]] so people can know if it's ok for them to use our name.</s> Some of the principles may seem strange or unnecessary for some people, but they really do represent what, to us, is the essence of Free Geek -- so here's our attempt to unpack some of those dense sentences.
+As staunch supporters of [[Free Software]] and its [http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/ attendant philosophies], and as reg'lar folk who just want to do what we do and not deal with legalities, we approach trademark law warily. On the other hand, our project has gained a certain amount of renown and is attracting people who wish to recreate the magic in their hometowns. These are certainly good people, but we want to have some say over who we're affiliated with - and we want to use this position to strongly suggest to certain things that we feel are essential to what a Free Geek is. Some of the principles may seem strange or unnecessary for some people, but they really do represent what, to us, is the essence of Free Geek -- so here's our attempt to unpack some of those dense sentences.
 ===Principles for Official Free Geeks and Affiliates:===