PSF Meeting Minutes for March 12, 2009
A regular meeting of the Python Software Foundation ("PSF") Board of Directors was held over Internet Relay Chat beginning at 16:02 UTC, 12 March 2009. Steve Holden presided at the meeting. David Goodger prepared these minutes.
Contents
1 Attendance
The following members of the Board of Directors were present at the meeting: Brett Cannon, David Goodger, Raymond Hettinger, Steve Holden, Martin von Löwis, Tim Peters, and Stephan Deibel (arrived at 16:14). Also in attendance were Kurt Kaiser (Treasurer) and Pat Campbell (Administrator).
2 Minutes of Past Meetings
The January and February 2009 Board meeting minutes were not ready.
3 Votes Taken Between Meetings
No votes were taken since the 9 February 2009 Board meeting.
4 Status of Past Action Items
(Pending action items appear like this.)
Action items are tracked in the private PSF wiki and their status is recorded in the regular minutes. The numbers in square brackets (like "[0]") refer to the action item ID on the wiki.
4.1 Carried Forward
The following are action items carried forward from the 9 February 2009 meeting, as highlighted in the minutes (Section 4, Status of Past Action Items). Numbers in [brackets] represent the item ID in the PSF private wiki.
[11] Originally from June 2006, Section 6, PSF Records: The Board agreed to assemble the existing records in one place, have them scanned, and enter them into the PSF data repository. D. Goodger will coordinate this work and maintain the records. [Update 2008-12-08] D. Goodger will identify the records for scanning and send photocopies to P. Campbell. [Update 2009-03-10] Copies received by Pat Campbell.
Copies received by Pat Campbell 2009-03-10.
Status: in progress.
[30] Originally from August 2006, Section 10: T. Peters will ask the advice of Larry Rosen regarding concerns with the contributor agreement.
Status: carried forward.
[13] Originally from December 2006, Section 4, Jython Contributor Agreements: D. Goodger will write to the Jython contributors and ask them to sign contributor agreement forms, in combination with item 1 [11] above (transferred from A. Kuchling).
Status: carried forward.
[29] Originally from March 2007, Section 18, Bylaw Change Survey: S. Holden will call for a separate discussion of changes to the bylaws [with S. Deibel's help]. Include an affiliation program [ref. July 2008 section 8].
Ready for member vote after incorporation of attorney comments.
Status: in progress.
[23] Originally from 14 April 2008, Section 5, Treasurer's Report: S. Holden will assist K. Kaiser with accounts receivable reminders.
Status: in progress.
[15] Originally from 14 April 2008, Section 7, PyCon Asset Record-Keeping: D. Goodger will update the assets file in PSF CVS with the details of the laptops and VGA2USB boxes purchased for PyCon 2008.
Status: in progress.
[16] Originally from 14 April 2008, Section 12, Sponsor Membership Issues: D. Goodger will update the member information in members.xls (sponsors & nominated members) & sponsor-addrs.txt, in PSF CVS.
Status: carried forward.
[22] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.1, Treasurer's Report: K. Kaiser will submit an expanded report to psf-members.
Status: carried forward.
[4] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.2, Treasurer's Report: D. Goodger will follow up regarding the PyCon transaction analysis.
Status: carried forward.
[5] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.3, Treasurer's Report: D. Goodger will ensure that documentation for unpaid PyCon tutorials is found and provided.
Status: carried forward.
[9] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.7, Treasurer's Report: D. Goodger will follow up regarding unpaid PyCon sponsorships.
Status: carried forward.
[10] Originally from 16 June 2008, Section 6.8, Treasurer's Report: D. Goodger will follow up regarding unpaid PyCon registrations.
Status: carried forward.
[25] Originally from 11 August 2008, Section 6.2, PyCon UK Sponsorship: R. Hettinger will propose a blanket policy for sponsorships, instead of one-off requests.
Status: carried forward.
[17] Originally from 8 September 2008, Section 7, PSF Logo: D. Goodger will produce final layouts for a PSF logo.
Status: carried forward.
[34] Originally from 8 December 2008, Section 5, Role of Administrator: D. Goodger and P. Campbell will verify and update the member contact information.
Status: carried forward.
[38] Originally from 12 January 2009, Section 7.2, Trademarks Committee (TMC): J. Tauber will work with the Trademarks Committee on establishing voting procedures.
Status: carried forward.
[39] Originally from 12 January 2009, Section 7.3, Trademarks Committee (TMC): J. Tauber will document the Trademarks Committee procedure as discussed at the Board meeting.
Status: carried forward.
[40] Originally from 12 January 2009, Section 7.4, Trademarks Committee (TMC): J. Tauber will work with counsel on a proposal to register Python trademarks.
Status: carried forward.
[41] Originally from 12 January 2009, Section 9, Members' Meeting: D. Goodger will issue a call for membership and Board nominations.
Sent to the psf-members mailing list on 2009-02-24.
Status: done.
[42] Originally from 12 January 2009, Section 10, Legal Issues: K. Kaiser will look into acquiring errors and omissions insurance for the Board of Directors.
Status: carried forward.
4.2 New On 9 February
These action items originated at the 9 February 2009 Board meeting on IRC.
[43] Section 9, Internet Domain Management: S. Holden will frame a motion regarding the management of the PSF's Internet domains.
See Internet Domain Management below.
Status: carried forward.
[44] Section 12, PSF Community Awards: D. Goodger will ask the members for nominations for the PSF Community Awards.
S. Holden sent a call for nominations to the PSF Board mailing list on 2009-03-04.
Status: carried forward.
4.3 New Between Meetings
No action items were added since the last Board meeting on 9 February.
5 Internet Domain Management
S. Holden:
With the recent offer of python.cn I realized that we need a formal set of actions to manage these. ... we need to be sure that renewals will occur on time...
It would also help to collect all the PSF's domains under a single registrar.
M. von Löwis: "I don't think we need a policy, we need someone in charge."
K. Kaiser noted that we record all domain information in "domains.txt" in PSF CVS, with the user/passwords in "accts_other.enc". "I think multiple registrars is OK, but we should pick one for new registrations."
M. von Löwis:
I don't think we need a single registrar. Isn't domains.txt fine as-is?
Currently, it seems that Kurt is managing most of them. If he is willing to continue to do so, I have trust. If he would rather hand this over, I would suggest Sean Reifschneider.
K. Kaiser: "Registrar email should continue to go to psf@python.org, and we should try to decouple from specific people. Pseudousers, e.g. psf, should be set up if we are going to change things."
[46] S. Holden will ask Sean Reifschneider about domain management services.
6 Members' Meeting
D. Goodger reported that the agenda for the members' meeting is up, ready to be fixed. 7 directors are running, so one slot is open. There are over 20 new member nominations. We currently have 86 nominated members and 22 sponsor members.
The Nominations 2009 page on the PSF private wiki will be used for the descriptions & recommendations of nominees, linked from the agenda.
The preparations were discussed. D. Goodger: "We'll need ballots, and collating proxy forms. Pat can help with that on-site." S. Holden and D. Goodger noted that it was too late to send out individual notices by postal mail.
D. Goodger noted that in May 2008 there was a trademarks discussion on PSF-members, where M. von Löwis proposed that the PSF give up control over the Python logo entirely. The Board agreed to add it to the agenda.
- [47] M. von Löwis will restart the discussion on giving up control of the Python logo, and formulate a summary and a resolution for the agenda.
- [48] K. Kaiser will prepare a 2008 financial report (P&L and balance sheet) in advance of the members' meeting.
7 Board Candidates
The possibility of expanding the number of seats on the Board of Directors was discussed. D. Goodger noted that this would need a resolution.
There are currently 7 candidates for 8 Board slots. S. Holden: "Do we need to encourage more Board nominations? At least by announcing there's an available place?"
S. Holden suggested an announcement on the PSF blog. D. Goodger: "A public blog post didn't work well last time. Non-members ran, members didn't elect them."
[49] S. Holden will send email to the members list regarding Board nominations.
8 Account Signature Authority
D. Goodger: "We only require one signature per check, right? So extra signatories are just bus/continuity insurance." K. Kaiser confirmed.
RESOLVED, that Kurt B. Kaiser, Tim Peters and Steve Holden be authorized signatories to all company accounts, and that the Treasurer complete all necessary formalities to ensure this.
Approved, 7-0-0.
[50] K. Kaiser will obtain signature cards from the PSF's bank and coordinate their signing.
9 PSF Coordinator for 2009 Google Summer of Code
M. von Löwis noted that we have to choose a PSF coordinator for GSoC immediately. After some discussion, the Board agreed to appoint Arc Riley as coordinator, with Titus Brown and James Tauber as backups.
10 PyCon Report
D. Goodger noted that current PyCon attendance figures are short of last year, but may pick up:
PyCon faces a potential loss in the $150,000 range, much due to low hotel reservations. Room reservations are under our obligation by about 700 room-nights at last count, at a cost of approximately $100 per room-night.
The Board discussed an appeal for help (a push for more attendance, or donations), but decided not to prematurely spread news of a potential financial loss (which may be perceived as an announcement of failure), but wait until after the conference. S. Holden: "I believe the correct approach is to see how the whole thing pans out, then adjust our plans once we know the outcome."
D. Goodger: "By all standards except [comparing attendance to] last year, it's a huge success. And I think it will be better than last year: more room, better service, etc."
M. von Löwis: "If we can encourage people to attend, we should do that - but not because we need the money, but because we want to share the great programme."
11 Adjournment
S. Holden adjourned the meeting at 17:01 UTC.