AFFS (was: Re: [Fsfe-uk] expo)

[Alex Hudson]

Hi Graham,

On Sat, 2004-10-09 at 21:36 +0100, Graham Seaman wrote:
> As as new-ish member I'm still trying to get the hang of how this all 
> works; some specific questions:

Funnily enough, we did get asked a couple of these at Expo. I often
forget that people find their way to the fsfe-uk list by routes other
than the AFFS website; sometimes knowledge of AFFS is presumed.

> - where do I find the minutes from previous meetings

Generally, on the website - although, it has been put in an
"interesting" section (About). Expect this to be cleared up soon - the
current minutes (that were referred to) haven't been published yet
because I haven't written them up; those should be available within the
next few days.

> - where is the affs mailing list and what are the requirements for 
> joining it

AFFS-Project is available at:

        http://www.affs.org.uk/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/affs-project

It's a vaguely new list, hence little traffic and few subscribers. I
hope that will change over time. There are no requirements for joining
it - you just have to be interested in the topic, really.

>  - what are the relative roles of the fsfe-uk list and the affs list

The FSFE-UK list exists to discuss issues relevant to Free Software in
the UK. AFFS-Project is there to discuss issues relevant to AFFS. Where
something concerns Free Software in the UK, it might be topical on
AFFS-Project also if it is about how AFFS should "deal" with the issue
(e.g., responding to a consultation). AFFS-Project is about practical
actions AFFS should be taking, FSFE-UK is more general. AFFS-Project is
also topical for things that aren't directly relevant to Free Software
in the UK; for example, organisation of AFFS activities are really only
tangentially related to Free Software (although the activity could be
aimed at promotion/development of Free Software).

> And a more general one:
> - what is the relationship of the affs to the fsfe?

The AFFS is the UK associate organisation of the FSFE. That means that
we're separate and independent, but that we do work closely together. We
have very good communication with our friends in Europe (both the FSFE
and other associate organisations), which has basically come about
because of the associate relationship. AFFS also collects donations for
the FSFE - this is a relatively new thing, to deal with the vagaries of
exchanges rates (etc.), and hence is a bit unique to the AFFS (other
associates don't have this arrangement AFAIK).

I hope this is helpful!

Cheers,

Alex.