March 8, 2001
Long Beach, Calif., USA

A regular meeting of the Python Software Foundation (the "Foundation") Board of Directors was held at the Hilton Long Beach at 2 p.m. Dick Hardt, president of the Foundation, presided at the meeting.

1. Attendance

The following members of the Board of Directors were present at the Meeting: David Ascher, Paul Everitt, Fredrik Lundh, Tim Peters, Guido van Rossum, Greg Stein, Thomas Wouters. No members were absent.

A quorum was present.

Also in attendance was Dick Hardt, president of the Foundation.

2. Duties of President

The meeting began with a discussion of the role of the president. Hardt asked for a mandate that described what he should do, what limits he should observe, and what directives the Board wished to give him.

3. Budget

Action Item: Hardt was directed to draft a budget for Board approval.

The board discussed how the Foundation should fulfill its educational role, specifically how should it use its budget to further its educational objectives.

The Board unanimously adopted the resolution

RESOLVED, that the Foundation will not pay for development or documentation for Python or other software that the Foundation owns or makes available as Open Source software.

4. Communications

The Foundation needs mailing lists for communicating with members and the public. It also needs a Web site.

Action Item: Greg Stein will create mailing lists.

Action Item: Greg Stein will set up Web pages.

5. Sponsor discussion

The Board directed Hardt to continue seeking out sponsor members. There was a discussion of what freedom he should have to perform branding activities. The Board allowed him to develop the brand, but warned against over-promotion or dilution.

The Board further directed Hardt to seek out sponsor members that visibly or actively use Python. There was concern that a potential member might use the Foundation as a marketing vehicle for itself.

Action Item: Paul Everitt will prepare a short paper on how to sell Python to managers.

6. Voting procedures

There was a long discussion about valid ways for the members to vote.

Action Item: Greg Stein will determine how to vote in new members under the Bylaws.

The Board reach a basic consensus that it wanted to enable some kind of email or electronic voting, provided that it is legally allowed. The Board expressed an intent to change the Bylaws at its next meeting, when the text of the necessary changes will be provided.

Action Item: Paul Everitt will determine the conditions under which the Board can amend the Bylaws.

7. Python Interest Groups

The Foundation will collect references to Python Interest Groups, but does not intend to assist with the organization or operation of such groups. If a member is interested in leading the activity, the Foundation could provide overall coordination and guidance to groups.

8. Intellectual property

The Board discussed several issues related to contributions of intellectual property. It concluded that the Foundation should formalize its policies and craft legal documents and contributor forms that address the issue. The Board must decide whether to require copyright transfers or to accept licensing arrangements.

Action Item: Hardt will continue working with the current owners of Python's intellectual property -- the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI), BeOpen, and Stichting Mathematisch Centrum (CWI) -- to arrange transfer of ownership or licensing to the Foundation. He should also formally complete the transfers of IP from Digital Creations for recent Python development and Mark Hammond for Pythonwin.

9. Tax-exempt status

The Board discussed the requirements of operating a non-profit corporation and questions about seeking recognition as a tax-exempt charity from the IRS.

10. Adjournment

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.