Incorporation redux

[Evan Leibovitch]

billt-lxSQFCZeNF4 at public.gmane.org wrote:

>Actually the structure was something that TLUG lacked. The death of Jan made that very obvious. As for other umbrella groups being available, the people who initiated the incorporation (of which you were one) felt that no such group provided the structure that GTALUG ended up offering.
>  
>
First off, I was _not_ one of the people who started the incorporation. 
I was involved in a few exploratory meetings, came to the conclusion 
that the activity was pointless (and said so publicly), and dropped out 
long before any real effort was undertaken. Anyone involved is invited 
to check their records.

(Honestly, given everything I've said recently, do I sound like someone 
who helped to start GTALUG?)

As for filling the vacuum left by Jan, that's a people issue not an 
infrastructure issue. Arguably the sudden (but far less tragic) 
departure of Laszlo many years previous to Jan's death was an even 
greater loss -- yet we coped. TLUG can survive the loss of anyone here 
and keep going just fine. The "structure" of TLUG as we've known it 
could survive the dissolution of GTALUG tomorrow and hardly anyone would 
notice. People who volunteered to help GTALUG could still do their good 
work within an unincorporated LUG without diminishing the value of their 
work.

All the signs have been -- and not a single argument here has challenged 
the notion -- that GTALUG was created to fix something that was never 
broken. Having a corporation doesn't magically make the website easier 
to manage or spam easier to extract from mailing lists. Nor does it 
simplify volunteer recruitment. In fact, it complicates things because 
of the costs and extra paperwork involved.

>Everyone knows the vision: To advocate linux and the open source communities within Toronto and the GTA by providing a forum for people to get together and discuss the topics among interested people.
>

Such a limited goal (one can hardly call it vision) is easily handled 
without incorporation. The forums are provided by websites, meetings and 
mailing lists, and none of that requires incorporation. Indeed, the vast 
majority of LUGs worldwide -- including those I have visited in cities 
such as Paris, Sydney, São Paulo and Tokyo -- are not incorporated, yet 
they manage to have high quality meetings and mailings -- not to mention 
social events -- just the same. Having a national body that is 
incorporated (Linux Verband, Japan Linux Association, AFUL, Linux 
Australia) which unincorporated local groups can use for infrastructure 
as necessary is a globally proven, efficient and successful model. Even 
Linux International can be (and has been) used in this context. And it 
also worked in Canada, for many years before GTALUG existed.

The only time local LUG incorporation is normally considered is when 
there is a desire to do something substantial beyond meetings and 
mailings. Usually the nature of that desire is considered before 
incorporating (not after), and it's rarely done without getting a broad 
consensus of the pre-incorporation community. This is something that the 
founders of GTALUG most certainly never did.

And as for the name... it's completely incorrect that the incorporators 
could not use the name TLUG for legal reasons. I have a very detailed 
explanation of why, but I suspect that to many this thread has been 
tiresome.

---

Those of us who hoped for rational debate and understanding about a 
greater purpose for incorporation, without personal attack, have been 
sadly disappointed. The founders and directors of GTALUG, who are 
generally very good and well-meaning people, just can't seem to grasp 
what's being asked for, and continuance of this thread is likely to 
generate far more heat than light in that regard. I consider this a 
missed opportunity for GTALUG to really demonstrate its value to the 
broader community, but that's how it goes...

To everyone else, I apologize. I genuinely hoped to help spark an 
enlightened discussion about GTALUG's future, one that could help 
produce some ideas or energize the community behind its LUG. Instead the 
spark seems to have lit a fuse or two. So long as the personal stuff 
subsides, I'll stop pressing the issue.

Talk is cheap, there's too much real work to be done in the support of 
Linux and the advancement of open source use in Toronto.

- Evan

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