[PD-dev] Invitation for the Pd project to join the Linuxaudio.org consortium

[Ivica Ico Bukvic]

Dear Pd developers and contributors,

My name is Ivica Ico Bukvic and I have been lurking on the Pd lists for
quite some time now (I've also been lucky to have had an opportunity to meet
some of you in person at one of the recent conferences). I am a Linux audio
user and with it obviously a Pd enthusiast. Considering that I am currently
acting as the elected director of the Linuxaudio.org consortium, I would
like to use this opportunity to invite all developers and contributors to
please consider having Pd become a member-project of the consortium. With
this membership, one of the developers/contributors (or commonly the
original author) would be asked to serve as the project's representative who
would stand for its interests and concerns within the context of the
consortium.

The Linuxaudio.org consortium is designed to promote the use of open-source
audio software whose presence is also on the Linux platform (therefore
cross-platform projects are also welcome to join). The membership currently
is project-based and does not cost anything and in return the member
projects do get exposure whenever there is an opportunity to do so (i.e.
Conferences, Expos etc.). In addition, each project gains a one-member board
representation and with it an ability to cast vote and/or voice their
concerns. Active participation in the voting process is optional so the
projects and its members have an ability to control the level of their
involvement.

The consortium has been in existence for a little bit over a year and during
this relatively short period of time has gained 28 member projects. Some of
them include Ardour, Rosegarden, Csound (John ffitch being the board
member), the recently joined FreeBob project which is currently working on a
soon-to-be-released Linux Firewire audio driver, ALSA, Agnula, Core Sound,
4Front Technologies, Mandriva (formerly known as Mandrake), JACK, JAMin, and
others. Daniel James (UK) formed the consortium at last year's Linux Audio
Conference, becoming its first director. This year he has stepped down and
I've been voted as the next director of the consortium.

Some of the upcoming projects include creation of a foundation and expansion
of membership to end-users as well as institutions and vendors. We will try
to generate enough cash-flow through the sponsorship and possible membership
dues (something that will be an optional thing as the membership will come
in various levels in order to acknowledge the fact that many potential
members who may be interested in joining may also lack financial resources
to be able to sustain a paying membership; so if you do decide to join, you
will not be affected by such changes unless you choose to be). With such
funds we hope to undertake various PR projects as well as issue annual
awards in recognition of:

*projects that have exhibited most progress in the past year
*artists whose works have been generated using solely open-source software
*institutions which have provided most support to the open-source audio
community (software, hardware, services, or via various other resources)

We are also planning to sponsor CD series featuring music made solely
utilizing GNU/Linux software. Finally, we are also considering to possibly
support a bounty-based system where we could try to fund most urgently
sought additions to the current Linux audio scene (this would likely be a
vote-based system).

For more info please see:

http://www.linuxaudio.org

Needless to mention that having Pd project on the roster will greatly
accelerate the recognition of this institution and therefore its outreach.
Hence, I would like to urge you to please consider joining the consortium.

The actual procedure is rather straightforward: the person who is selected
to represent the project should simply e-mail me at ico at linuxaudio.org
expressing your interest to join the consortium on behalf of the Pd project.
I will take care of the rest. Once joined, it is advisable to also subscribe
to the consortium's mailing list (it is currently a very low-traffic list)
in order to keep up-to-date with the latest news and/or changes.

All that being said, I've already talked to Miller about this idea and he
has expressed a genuine interest, but considering that Pd nowadays is a
labor of many developers and contributors, we both agreed it would be better
to post this idea of membership on the dev list in order to allow for
everyone involved to voice their concerns, thoughts, and/or ideas.

Finally, for what it's worth, I've also noticed that recently there has been
a lot of talk on the Pd list regarding forming a foundation and/or
bounty-based system of some sorts that would help Pd grow, which is
something that Linuxaudio.org could easily complement once its foundation is
put in place.

Should you happen to have any additional questions and/or concerns, please
do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you very much!

Best wishes,

Ivica Ico Bukvic, composer & multimedia sculptor
http://meowing.ccm.uc.edu/~ico/