Follow-up from SFC on the exciting OpenWrt One project (was Re: [VOTE] Endorse the creation of OpenWrt One)

[Karen M. Sandler]

I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to write back on this to the whole 
group
on openwrt-adm last month.  First, SFC is extremely excited to be 
carrying
out this project with OpenWrt, and we are very grateful to John
Crispin for volunteering to do most of the hard work to make this 
happen!
As we wrote in the public announcement, we think this project is 
extremely
valuable for promotion of OpenWrt itself, as well as related to SFC's 
work on
copyleft compliance and the right to both software and hardware repair.

I just wanted to clarify some nuanced points regarding how the fiscal
sponsorship relationship between OpenWrt and SFC will work regarding 
this
project (since SFC is a "comprehensive" fiscal sponsor as we discussed
in our initial conversations now a long time ago!). Ultimately, SFC will
be on the hook as the legal entity behind OpenWrt One — this will help
both limit the liability that individual volunteers have in this 
endeavor
(including in particular John), and of course it allows us to front
expenses and cost risks, and collect any revenue generated into 
OpenWrt's
earmarked fund, and finally make sure that the OpenWrt trademark is well
respected — all of which are our jobs that the fiscal sponsorship
agreement laid out.

As a result, we're working closely with John to make sure he's not 
out-of-pocket
on any serious expenses.  We appreciate his willingness to do that, but 
we do
wanna to make sure volunteers have as limited risk as possible.

Specifically, with regard to the MAC addresses, we have initially 
purchased a
block in SFC's name that we'll use for the sample run of 15 devices that 
John
is personally funding.  We're working with IEEE to either rename that 
block
to be in OpenWrt's name, or we'll purchase a second block in OpenWrt's 
name.
There are some hurdles there in doing that, and we're actively working 
on it.

As for paying for the MAC addresses, if they're ultimately in SFC's 
name, we
won't ask OpenWrt to bear the costs of acquiring the MAC address block 
from
your earmarked fund.  If they're in OpenWrt's name (or later transferred 
into
that name), we will use earmarked funds.

(We know that it'll be important to the project promotion that the name
  “OpenWrt” pops up in Wireshark and elsewhere when these devices are out 
in
  the field, and if it is all possible under IEEE rules to do that (and 
we
  think it is), we will make it happen.)

Finally, the framing below about how the OpenWrt MAC address block was
going to be funded is awkwardly worded — John used some words that are
actually buzzwords that have a different meaning in the non-profit
world (such as “private, non-project funds”).  We take what John was 
saying
to mean that he has donors lined up to cover the cost so it will be a
net-cost of $0 to the earmarked fund at SFC, notwithstanding that both 
the
donations and costs will happen at SFC on OpenWrt's behalf.

Generally speaking, if folks want to donate to the OpenWrt project, they 
can
make earmarked donations at https://openwrt.org/donate and 90% of 
donations
made there will go directly into the OpenWrt account, to be used for 
projects
and initiatives, such as this OpenWrt One — pursuant to the Project
Leadership Committee for OpenWrt at SFC.

Looking forward to seeing this all come to fruition!


John Crispin wrote to openwrt-admin on 2024-01-17:
> OpenWrt One will be a wireless networking device designed for free and
> open source software enthusiasts, encouraging people to tinker with and
> learn about embedded development and Linux networking.
> 
> OpenWrt One is intended to benefit OpenWrt as the project shall receive
> a share of the revenue for each unit sold.
> 
> Our intent is to build a unit with OpenWrt friendly hardware
> specifications which makes it well supportable and serves as a 
> potential
> role model for manufacturers - it will receive the same level of
> community support as other OpenWrt capable devices, there will be no
> priority tier, no paid support channels and no dedicated OpenWrt
> flavours or similar. The device support shall be fully upstreamed into
> vanilla OpenWrt.
> 
> OpenWrt One is a private voluntary initiative led by me (John Crispin).
> The initial R&D cost for the ODM design is privately paid for by me,
> without utilising any OpenWrt funds. I will not be making any profit
> from this. To reduce liabilities, time to market and burden on
> individual developers or the project as a whole, I propose to 
> co-develop
> the OpenWrt One PCB together with the ODM behind the Banana Pi
> community. The OpenWrt One will reuse design aspects as well as the 
> form
> factor of existing Banana Pi PCBs and enclosures.
> 
…
> By starting this vote, I am asking fellow developers of the OpenWrt
> project to:
>  ? a) Endorse the usage and mention of the OpenWrt trademark and logo
> for the OpenWrt One hardware device, allowing the ODM to print the
> OpenWrt logo on the silk screen and enclosures as well as branding the
> resulting device "OpenWrt One" and marketing it as such. Software
> Freedom Conservancy (SFC) agreed to take care of the legal agreement
> with the ODM if the vote succeeds.
>  ? b) Authorise SFC, Inc. to register an IEEE MAC Address Block Large
> (MA-L) on behalf of OpenWrt. The required one-time payment will be
> covered by private, non-project funds.
>  ? c) Agree that SFC will receive a percentage of the revenue of each
> unit sold by the ODM, on behalf of OpenWrt with the received funds 
> being
> directed towards the OpenWrt project under the existing fiscal 
> agreement
> in order to cover future expenses. Right now I am aiming for a share of
> around 10% with an expected price tag of around 100$ per unit.



Karen M. Sandler
Executive Director, Software Freedom Conservancy
she/hers
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