Re: (Important) Boost Foundation meeting this Wednesday

From: Louis Tatta (louis_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-03-11 20:22:26

On Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 12:23 PM David Sankel <camior_at_[hidden]> wrote:

> Our monthly Boost Foundation meeting is this Wednesday at 3pm Eastern
> (12pm Pacific).
>

To: Boost developer community and Boost Foundation Board

Hi everyone, I write to address two important matters regarding recent
events.

First, upon reviewing my messages with David and conferring with Vinnie, I
must apologize for a miscommunication. I did not realize that “copyright
assignment” was a term of art which means to transfer all legal rights and
title. I thought instead it meant that Boost Foundation would receive a
license to reproduce the logo without permission in referential contexts.
Vinnie wasn’t involved in this so it is unfair to blame him; in fact, the
task of this communication was delegated to me specifically because David
suggested that dealing with someone else might be preferable to dealing
with Vinnie.

Second, as the agenda for the Boost Foundation board meeting occurring on
March 13th includes a discussion of the new website, I would reiterate our
proposed contribution to the developer community. A transfer of copyrights
is not in line with Boost tradition, but it is still possible for us to
have a healthy relationship. Thusly we repeat our previous offer:

1. The boost.org domain will point to The C++ Alliance servers running the
new website, which we will operate and pay for.

2. Administrative access to the new cloud services will include Sam Darwin
(CTO of C++ Alliance), plus anyone appointed by the developer community.

3. The new Boost logo (“B Mark”) will have its copyright and trademark
retained by The C++ Alliance, and it will be published under a license
which allows for irrevocable, permissionless reproduction in the context of
referring to the Boost Libraries. The text for this is being prepared by
our legal team, and it will be similar to the wording found under
“Foundation name and C++ logo” here https://isocpp.org/home/terms-of-use.

4. Work on the website and documentation will continue in the repositories
now under control of the developer community at
https://github.com/boostorg/website-v2 and
https://github.com/boostorg/website-v2-docs and licensed under the BSL.

5. If and when the developer community feels that the new website,
infrastructure, or level of support received does not meet with
expectations, the boost.org domain can be pointed away from The C++
Alliance servers.

We believe this proposal is fair, generous, and respectful to tradition. It
honors contributors by empowering them to continue their work, in a way
that preserves the independence of the Boost project.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Louis Tatta
CEO, The C++ Alliance, Inc.