2004 Annual Report
Software in the Public Interest, Inc.

Prepared as of July 1, 2004 on August 11, 2004

Chapter 1  Introduction

At the July 1, 2004 Software in the Public Interest (SPI) annual meeting, the Board asked the President of SPI to collect submissions and prepare an annual report. Then-President Ean Schuessler's term expired before the report could be completed. Incoming President John Goerzen completed the report and presented it.

SPI's 2003 annual meeting was held July 8, 2003. The 2004 meeting was held July 1, 2004.
Submitted by John Goerzen, Report Editor

1.1  President's Letter

Fellow Hackers and Friends,

SPI's seven short years have been a wild ride. We've seen Free Software has grow from a philosophy into a movement that is becoming a way of life. We've truly come of age. Every IT organization in the world has a Free Software strategy or is under working to adopt one. Linux provided Microsoft the adversary no one thought possible. Fortunes were won and lost. Powerful new friends appeared. Legal pitfalls, bad legislation and surprising traitors have all so far failed to stop the phenomena we all love. SPI survived these stormy seas and is still working to bring commercial quality support services to Free Software projects everywhere.

We have had our own internal challenges as well. The runaway growth of the movement has tested the will and even the physical ability of our all volunteer staff to the limit and beyond. We've made mistakes and even had a few disasters. None of these problems have proven fatal thanks to the dedication of our membership, officers, supporters and pro-bono volunteers. The journey has been a learning process.

We've had some real successes along the way as well. Debian, the shining star of SPI projects, has continued its rocket powered growth. In 2004 Netcraft Ltd. announced that is the Debian the fastest growing web server OS in the world. The Brazilian government announced comprehensive plans to implement Debian nationally. New maintainers and the number of available packages continues to grow on a daily basis.

This is truly exciting and challenging time to be involved with SPI. The potential of Free Software is no longer a dream. It is a reality. Every day more and more people depend on Free Software to communicate with their friends and family, to run their businesses and to satisfy their creative urge. With that success comes a great new responsibility. Every new Free Software project must show professional competency and commitment or face failure. Today, more than ever, there is a need for SPI and the services it provides.

I'm truly proud to have played a part and thank each of you for the opportunity. Let's make the next seven years just as unbelievably amazing.

Happy Hacking,

 
Submitted by Ean Schuessler, SPI President

Chapter 2  Committee Reports

The following report was submitted by an SPI committee:

2.1  Bylaws Committee

The Bylaws committee was established with resolution 2003-01-06.wta.2 with a 1-year charter. The committee's purpose is to review SPI's bylaws and advance specific suggestions for improvement. On January 5, 2004, the Board adopted resolution 2004-01-05.dbg.1, which removed the expiration provision.

The committee issued its first bylaws amendment recommendations on July 1, 2003 according to its original charter. A vote was not held immediately because the membership committee was in the process of ensuring the integrity of SPI's membership roster. In January, 2004, the Board adopted resolution 2004-01-06.wta.4, calling for a vote among the membership once the membership committee's work was complete. That vote began on March 2, 2004.

While the vote was in progress, the Board received advice both from SPI's legal council and others that certain provisions in the new proposal may need adjustment for full legal compliance. On March 2, 2004, the Board suspended the vote until these issues could be fully considered. As of July 1, that analysis has not yet been completed.
Submitted by John Goerzen, chair of the Bylaws Committee

Chapter 3  Board Report

Board members as of July 8, 2003: Board members as of July 1, 2004: Changes that occurred during the year:  
Submitted by John Goerzen

Chapter 4  Treasury Report

4.1  Accounting Issues

Volunteer accounting services have been a serious problem for SPI virtually since its inception. In 2004, SPI initiated a comprehensive audit of its past financial records. Brainfood, Inc., a Texas corporation, provided pro-bono clerical assistance in processing the backlog of mail that had overwhelmed the volunteer SPI Treasurers.

 
Submitted by Ean Schuessler

4.1.1  Audit Results Summary

The audit revealed more than $18,000 of uncashed donation checks. Other investigations by the SPI Treasurer revealed SPI was the victim of some fraud due to publishing the SPI bank account number for online donations.

 
Submitted by Ean Schuessler

4.1.2  Corrective Actions

The Board and membership engaged in extensive discussions about the causes of and best methods to address the problems encountered. The Board authorized apology letters to be sent to all contributors that could be reached, along with their original checks. Checks that had not yet expired were to be deposited as soon as possible.

On May 4, the Board affirmed, via resolution 2004-05-03.bp.2, the ability of the President and Treasurer to work together to take the necessary steps to solve the problem. At the same meeting, the Board approved resolution 2004-05-04.dbg.2, giving the Treasurer a limited budget and discretion to take necessary steps to solve problems without further Board approval, with an expiration in six months.

 
Submitted by John Goerzen

4.1.3  Preventing Re-Occurrence

The Board, Treasurer, officers, and membership continue to work on ways to make our organization resilient in the face of such problems in the future. Greater transparency has been asked of our treasurer, and various proposals for professional or voluntary assistance are under consideration. Some have expressed the desire to wait with major structural changes until we have passed the immediate problem and can more clearly analyze the specific failures.

The Board authorized the new treasurer to obtain a Post Office box dedicated solely to SPI matters to provide a stable correspondence address. The Board also authorized expedited posting of draft meeting minutes to help keep the membership better informed of SPI news.

 
Submitted by John Goerzen

4.2  Account Balances

As of June 30, 2004, SPI held $568.64 and $238.27 in two checking accounts at American Express Centurion Bank. As of July 13, SPI held $39,504.43 in an American Express Financial Advisors AXP Cash Management Fund.

 
Submitted by John Goerzen based on earlier reports from Branden Robinson

Chapter 5  Member Project Reports

During the past year, wxWidgets (formerly wxWindows) was invited to become a SPI member project.

The following report was received from an SPI member project:

5.1  Debian Project

The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system. This operating system that we have created is called Debian GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for short. Debian is by far the most significant SPI project and represents the majority of SPI's membership and financial transactions.

 
Submitted by Ean Schuessler

Chapter 6  About SPI

SPI is a non-profit organization which was founded to help organizations develop and distribute open hardware and software. We encourage programmers to use the GNU General Public License or other licenses that allow free redistribution and use of software, and hardware developers to distribute documentation that will allow device drivers to be written for their product.

SPI was incorporated as a non-profit organization on June 16, 1997 in the state of New York. Since then, it has become an umbrella organization for projects from the community.

In 1999, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States government determined that under section 501 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code SPI qualifies for 501 (c) (3) (non- profit organization) status under section 509 (a) (1) and 170 (b) (1) (A) (vi). This means that all donations made to SPI and its supported projects are tax deductible for the donor.

 
Submitted by Ean Schuessler
This document was translated from LATEX by HEVEA.