[Foundation-l] Latest board resolutions

Fri Jul 28 11:18:45 UTC 2006

Anthony wrote:

>On 7/27/06, Brad Patrick <bradp.wmf at gmail.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>You have to be kidding.  Are you seriously suggesting the Foundation stop
>>buying servers?
>>    
>>
>I seriously think they should look into leasing them instead.
>
I don't know if that's necessarily the solution.  In the absence of 
proper and timely financial statements it is difficult to make an 
evaluation from that perspective.  We keep hearing about buying more 
servers, but precious little is done to project needs on the basis of 
the life expectancy of the hardware.

There are also frequent concerns expressed about legal suits that WMF 
could be faced with.  Even though I feel that at least some of those 
concerns are farfetched, good risk management would suggest that ways of 
protecting the assets be devised.  Developing an arm's length 
relationship between the ownership of the assets and any potential 
liability would serve us well.

Leasing could be a part of this through a sale and leaseback arrangement 
with a separately incorporated for profit company.

The feigned, "You have to be kidding," approach reflects a failure to 
properly consider these issues.

Ec