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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Arnulf,<BR>
<BR>
It is not part of a bias. It is an observation of what actually happened. They asked for help setting this up. Please pay attention to this fact - they did not want to do this themselves.<BR>
<BR>
If your theory on how to build OSGreo up is that we should have ignored their requests and just said 'Arnulf says you should just handle this locally', I find that puzzling.<BR>
<BR>
I think reality is colliding with your theory here. Perhaps some counterexamples would be helpful instead of repeating that there's a bias without demonstrating that this is so.<BR>
<BR>
The practical concerns w.r.t. the transaction costs you raise are worth considering.<BR>
<BR>
Gary<BR>
<BR>
--- Original Message ---<BR>
From: "Arnulf Christl (CCGIS)" <arnulf.christl@ccgis.de><BR>
Sent: Mon 8/21/06 2:15 pm<BR>
To: "Gary Lang" <gary.lang@autodesk.com><BR>
Cc: "board@board.osgeo.org" <board@board.osgeo.org>, "fundraising@fundraising.osgeo.org" <fundraising@fundraising.osgeo.org>, "discuss-de@visibilitycommittee.osgeo.org" <discuss-de@visibilitycommittee.osgeo.org><BR>
Subject: [Fundraising] Re: [OSGeo-Board] Re: [Fundraising] Re: [OSGeo-Board] Re: [Fundraising] RE: [OSGeo-Board] German OSGeo Chapter formation, bank account<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
On Mon, August 21, 2006 19:35, Gary Lang wrote:<BR>
> Having just personally hooked us up with China and personally worked on<BR>
> bringing up thr Japan chapter, I am not sure where this bias shows up.<BR>
><BR>
> Gary<BR>
<BR>
This way of thinking is part of the bias. Its not that you do something<BR>
there but that they can do things by themselves. This seems to be<BR>
incredibly hard to understand for many people.<BR>
<BR>
I assume your personal hooking OSGeo up with China has a solid commercial<BR>
interest. Which is perfectly fine but different to the kind of bias I am<BR>
talking of. I think that the OSGeo that I see growing is just one level<BR>
more global than yours. We should share our visions or something like<BR>
that.<BR>
<BR>
It is a different thing whether you dictate others what you think they<BR>
need (and say "we need") and what they and you and I really need.<BR>
<BR>
This is funny. I did not bother a second to think about whether this<BR>
request could be any issue at all. I am slightly stunned at the immediate<BR>
responses. There are basically two reasons why I want to have a separate<BR>
banking account. The first is that we need to put community money that has<BR>
come out of the German conferences to good use. We (the FOSSGIS conference<BR>
team) have decided to put this money into OSGeo. The second reason is that<BR>
every time you shove money accross a border it loses value. The smaller<BR>
the amount the less it makes sense. So the easiest thing is to set up a<BR>
separate Euro account. If this is a big thing for OSGeo management and<BR>
results in a costly overhead we will do it differently. We can found a<BR>
small association with a bank account and then apply for an association<BR>
with OSGeo. Same thing other way round. Would that be better? Either way<BR>
up I end up on your doorstep sooner or later with some 5000 Euros sitting<BR>
on an account waiting to be spent for some OSGeo activity. Are we going to<BR>
make this difficult?<BR>
<BR>
> --- Original Message ---<BR>
> From: "Arnulf Christl" <arnulf.christl@ccgis.de><BR>
> Sent: Mon 8/21/06 1:24 pm<BR>
> To: "board@board.osgeo.org" <board@board.osgeo.org><BR>
> Cc: "fundraising@fundraising.osgeo.org"<BR>
> <fundraising@fundraising.osgeo.org>,<BR>
> "discuss-de@visibilitycommittee.osgeo.org"<BR>
> <discuss-de@visibilitycommittee.osgeo.org><BR>
> Subject: Re: [Fundraising] Re: [OSGeo-Board] Re: [Fundraising] RE:<BR>
> [OSGeo-Board] German OSGeo Chapter formation, bank account<BR>
><BR>
> Gary Lang wrote:<BR>
>> I also wonder what the impetus is. It seems like another governance<BR>
>> issue, wherein local chapters could register their localized<BR>
>> dissatisfaction with global decisions by funneling funds while enjoying<BR>
>> the benefits that we provide.<BR>
>><BR>
>> I can't think of a practical reason for doing this.<BR>
><BR>
> The practical reason is that Autodesk does not have to ship one set of<BR>
> posters around the world in all languages but that all languages can<BR>
> take care of it themselves. We need local money to pay for local<BR>
> expenses. Else a lot simply ends up in superfluous transactions fees.<BR>
><BR>
> > enjoying the benefits that we provide.<BR>
><BR>
> Who is "we"? Are you </FONT>
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