Corporate Funding FSF vs GNOME

First of all I don’t believe there is anything wrong with accepting corporate funding. The issue at hand is that corporate funding shouldn’t dictate or suggest the direction of an organization.

The FSF has three tiers of funding each receiving the same benefits. The only difference is that each tier is represented on the Patron List in groups. The first tier is $30,000. The Second tier is $25,000 and Under. The Third tier is $15,000 and Under. You can see who contributes the most as they are listed first.

When you become an FSF Corporate Patron, you get these benefits:

Corporate Patronage Benefits

Corporations show their support for the community and the mission of the FSF by giving financial help. Many of our Patrons come to the FSF because their employees ask them to recognize our work.

At FSF, we recognize and appreciate our corporate patrons in a variety of ways.

FSF Corporate Patron Logo
FSF’s corporate patrons can display the FSF corporate patron logo on their website and other materials.

Company Name and Logo on the FSF Patron List
If desired, your company’s name and logo will be listed on this site.

Complimentary Free Software Licensing Consultation
All corporate patrons receive two complimentary hours of Free Software licensing and/or GPL consultation from FSF’s GPL Compliance

Lab (with a reduced rate for further consultation)
Subscription to the biannual FSF Bulletin and monthly Free Software Supporter

Keep your organization informed of what’s happening in the free software world

Five T-Shirts
For your free software loving hackers.

GNU Art Print
Suitable for framing and public display – here

Complimentary Passes to the FSF’s LibrePlanet Conference
Each corporate patron receives two complimentary passes to FSF annual LibrePlanet conference (and a reduced rate for additional tickets).

To sign up as a corporate patron, please write to .

https://my.fsf.org/donate/patron/benefits.html

It is also noteworthy that the FSF itself say on its website that it does not endorse the activities of its corporate patrons.

Corporate patrons affiliate themselves with the FSF and the GNU project through financial support. The FSF does not endorse the activities of its corporate patrons. You can read about the benefits of corporate patronage program, and then find out how your organization can support the FSF and become a corporate patron, by contacting us at

https://my.fsf.org/donate/patron/

Now we look at the GNOME Foundation side of things. The Advisory Board currently costs $10,000 per company (1-49 employees) or $20,000 per large company (50+) and each company can have three representatives. The benefit from doing this is that the executive board of the Gnome Foundation will listen to their advice (but they don’t have to act). Is the Advisory Board a euphemism for Lobbying?

Here are the benefits from the official GNOME foundation website site:

Advisory Board

The Advisory Board is made up of organizations and companies that support GNOME. The Advisory Board has no decision-making authority but provides a vehicle for its members to communicate with the Board of Directors and help the Directors guide the overall direction of GNOME and the GNOME Foundation[sic]. Get more details about the way the Advisory Board works.

The Advisory Board consists of representatives from the following GNOME Foundation member corporations and projects:

ACCESS
Canonical
Debian Project
Free Software Foundation
Google
Hewlett-Packard
IBM
Igalia
Intel
Motorola
Mozilla Foundation
Nokia
Novell
OLPC
Red Hat
Software Freedom Law Center
Sugar Labs
Sun Microsystems

Each Advisory Board member has up to three representatives. An up-to-date list of representatives is maintained on the Advisory Board wiki page.

http://foundation.gnome.org/about/

It also looks like the Advisory Board does a LOT more than just “provide a vehicle for its members to communicate”. Check out the following:

Roles and Responsibilities of Advisory Board Members

Represents and advises on the needs of the primary downstream partners served by GNOME.

Receives and actively provides input and discussion on topics sent to the Advisory Board list or discussed at Advisory Board meetings.
Topics include things like financial reports, project status, and event planning.

Promotes GNOME. The GNOME Foundation and Advisory Board members often work together to promote GNOME, and members are expected to work with the GNOME Foundation to promote GNOME when opportunities arise. For example, by speaking about GNOME at industry events or at company or government meetings where people are not familiar with GNOME.

Identifies/presents opportunities for collaboration and alerts GNOME to significant relevant developments within other industries or working groups. This can include things like suggesting a GNOME presence at an established event or pointing out opportunities for partnership and making introductions to other companies and organizations.

Helps the GNOME Foundation grow and improve as an organization. Identifying services that the GNOME Foundation can provide for GNOME Foundation members, Advisory Board members and GNOME users. This can include things like suggesting a local event or project shortfalls (documentation, integration, support) that could be addressed by GNOME Foundation resources.

Provides mentorship and advice to community members working on projects like marketing, finance and fundraising. Mentorship can be provided directly by the Advisory Board member or by others in their company.

Ensures that their company is involved and engaged with upstream discussion and events where relevant. For example, ensure that the appropriate people are subscribed to the right forums and involved with upstream decisions.

Attends and sponsors GNOME events that align with the Advisory Board member’s needs.

Offers guidance, advice and resources. This guidance can include not only opportunities for how to acquire money but other ways to solve problems. Examples include helping to solve our system administration shortage, planning representation at events, etc.

http://foundation.gnome.org/about/advisoryboard/

I think this proves you can accept corporate funding and still be true to the ideals that founded your organization.