Re: Lua Foundation?

[Andrew Starks <andrew@...>]

On Fri, Apr 21, 2017 at 1:45 AM, Daurnimator <quae@daurnimator.com> wrote:
>  On 19 April 2017 at 02:53, Andrew Starks <andrew@starksfam.org> wrote:
>> Has something like the idea of a Lua Foundation ever come up?
>>
>> The reason that I ask is because there seem to be many opportunities to
>> explore, all of which require some kind of momentum to be formed or strict
>> adherence to Lua's specific mission. As a result, many efforts feels like
>> hearding cats or sounding like an unwanted extension to Lua itself.
>
> Such as?
>
> I'm curious what you think can be solved by a "Foundation" that can't
> be solved by us, the community.

*I* believe that a "Foundation" serves three purposes:

1: To establish limitations and enforce them within its domain. This
is the most important purpose and is the most difficult to get done by
an unorganized community.
2: Create a space where projects and other efforts may be organized,
decisions made and specific work accomplished.
3: Promote the adoption of Lua and the work within the foundation by
making it more accessible.

Accessibility means many things:
 - Being able find what is there and to have some assurance of
quality, backed by the reputation of the foundation.
 - Providing some level of consistency in design, which creates a some
level of conceptual integrity. This applies to interface styles,
documentation and perhaps other aspects.
 - The overall ability to solve real problems in the real world for
real use cases.

>
> The main purpose for such a foundation might be as a legal entity and
> touch point for large organisations that don't know how to deal with
> individuals.
> It might be capable of
>   - applying for grants
>   - holding bank accounts for community funds
>   - being named as party to insurance (e.g. for conferences)
>   - being blessed by governments
> At the moment these are generally not done at all, by private parties,
> or sometimes via PUC-Rio and/or LabLua.
> I wouldn't be opposed to such an organisation, but I'm not entirely
> sure what problems you're solving for.
> I also have questions about where such a foundation should be
> founded/based to solve the legal issues it's designed to solve.

Yes. I also think that viability would depend upon starting small and
doing something useful early.  The rest can happen, or not happen, as
things evolve.



-- 
Andrew Starks