Re: Potential Launch of Boost Website: Request for Final Feedback

From: Louis Tatta (louis_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-02-16 17:21:28

David, I’ve reviewed the email communication in question and it looks like
we were on different pages. I’m not a C++ engineer nor do I have the
technical understanding of things like cloud architectures so I will
concede that what I wrote might not have aligned with what I had in mind.
Instead of pointing fingers or assuming bad faith, let’s clear up any
misunderstandings. This is our position:

* The C++ Alliance grants the right to reproduce the artwork we have
developed for the purpose of publishing the new website and related library
assets. In other words, we aren’t setting a legal trap.

* The C++ Alliance does not transfer copyright on any source code or
artwork, for the reasons Vinnie explained. This is not the Boost tradition.
We will, however, make our work open source via the Boost Software License.

* The C++ Alliance commits to taking care of the hosting and maintenance of
the new website, by paying for services directly. Not by making donations
to the Boost Foundation.

We hope this clarifies things and will bring us closer to a mutually
beneficial solution that will not result in discarding two years of work.

On Fri, Feb 16, 2024 at 2:31 AM David Sankel via Boost <
boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:

> On Thu, Feb 15, 2024 at 5:25 PM Vinnie Falco <vinnie.falco_at_[hidden]>
> wrote:
>
> > On Thu, Feb 15, 2024 at 2:17 PM David Sankel via Boost
> > <boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> > > The C++ Alliance has been in contact with the board and has agreed to
> > > assign copyright of the new website to the foundation.
> >
> > This is false. The new Boost website we developed is a complex web
> > application similar to a Boost C++ library except it is written in
> > Python. We did not assign the copyright for our code to anyone, and a
> > transfer of copyright is unprecedented in the history of Boost. Our
> > code would be licensed under the Boost Software License if anything,
> > but the copyright is ours as is customary.
> >
> > > The C++ Alliance has offered to donate funds to keep the server up
> > > and running for a couple years
> >
> > This is also false. We offered to host the website and administer it,
> > as we are already currently doing. The Boost Foundation has the
> > option, but not the requirement, to adjust the DNS records for
> > https://boost.org (which it controls) to point to our servers. At any
> > time they can change this and point back to their existing web server
> > (called “wowbagger”) which they also own and operate. If they don’t
> > like our changes, they can point the domain away from our server. If
> > they want us to do controversial things, we can refuse. This is only
> > fair. Giving the Boost Foundation complete ongoing control of our work
> > is not acceptable.
> >
>
> I am dismayed. If these things are false then we are not on the same page
> and I'm baffled at the written communication from your people that indicate
> otherwise. Either there is some serious miscommunication or we were led on.
>
> At this point, I don't see how I could support the C++ Alliance website
> becoming boost.org. We can come up with other ways to do a website
> refresh.
>
> -- David
>
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