X.Org Foundation achieves non-profit public charity status

[Alan Coopersmith]

[Also posted at http://www.x.org/wiki/Other/Press/501c3StatusDetermination ]

The X.Org Foundation is pleased to announce that the U.S. Internal Revenue
Service has determined that the X.Org Foundation qualifies as a public
charity under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.  This
allows for contributions to the Foundation to be considered tax deductible
for U.S. taxpayers.

The Foundation's Board offers our deep gratitude to our legal counsel at
the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC), including Karen Sandler, Justin
Colannino, and Aaron Williamson, for their hard work, guidance, and
assistance throughout the multi-year process of applying for this status.

Contributions to the X.Org Foundation are used to further our mission to
support the development of the open source graphics stack based on the
X Window System, and to educate students and developers about the technology
in the stack.   The X Window System is one of the oldest Open Source
software projects in the world, since its creation at MIT in 1984, and has
become the standard graphical interface across Linux & Unix workstations
and servers, and has been included in a number of mobile phones and tablets
as well.   Foundation members and contributing developers continue to
enhance and maintain the existing X software base, while also researching
and developing next generation open source graphics technologies such as
the Wayland project.

The Foundation is currently funding stipends for several students to learn
about open source development, developer community participation, and the
various portions of the graphics stack via X.Org's "Endless Vacation of Code"
program, which allows students to spend breaks between semesters participating
in open source development on the graphics stack.

Funding from the Foundation will also be used to hold the 2012 X.Org
Developer Conference, hosted by SUSE Linux GmbH, in Nuremberg, Germany
from September 19 through 21, including helping cover travel and lodging
expenses for developers and students who could not otherwise afford to
attend.   This year's conference will include a celebration of the 25th
anniversary of the release of X11, the current core standard upon which
the window system is based.

Since its founding, the Foundation has also supported "hackfests" to gather
developers together for focused meetings to advance specific areas, held a
book sprint to create documentation to better educate users & developers,
helped members and students travel to other open source conferences such as
FOSDEM to present their work to wider audiences, and obtained access to
standards documentation and technical specifications for members to use.

Membership in the Foundation is open to those who have contributed in some
way to the X Window System.   Members may vote in annual elections for the
Board of Directors and other questions put to the Foundation membership.
Further details are available at http://www.x.org/wiki/Membership .

Significant funding for the Foundation has come from Intel, Google, and
Oracle (previously Sun Microsystems), as well as from the previous X.Org
industry group that was run by The Open Group.   With the determination of
charitable non-profit status, we will be looking for contributions from a
wider range of donors.  To contribute, or for any other questions about the
Foundation, please contact the X.Org Board of Directors at
board at Foundation.x.org.

Public information about the Foundation and its projects may be found on
the web site http://www.x.org/ - public disclosure of such documents as
required by the Internal Revenue Code is at http://www.x.org/foundation/ .

-- 
	-Alan Coopersmith-              alan.coopersmith at oracle.com
	 Oracle Solaris Engineering - http://blogs.oracle.com/alanc