3 The Organization
This lesson will explore types of organizations that you can form when thinking about advancing your scientific open source software entity. There is no “correct answer” when considering what type of entity to operate your software project under, but there are numerous pros and cons of various kinds of structures. We’ll work to build familiarity with each of the entity types and explore case studies that will help us better understand the advantages and sometimes dissadvantages of each type of entity.
4 Non Profit
Not-for profit legal structures are in good spiritual alignment with the ethos of open source. In most legal jurisdictions, a non-profit entity operates in an area of the law where the nation it is legally based within allows it to operate without paying income tax on its profits due to its “charitable purpose” being in alignment with the needs of that country’s society. Rules vary widely, and none of this lesson should be construed as advice. Each software project and team must make their own decisions about what works for their community, situation and legal / geographic constraints. This lesson serves to introduce you to a few of the models and organizations that operate under them.
4.1 Fiscally Sponsored Project
This is a somewhat USA-specific approach, but it can often be emulated to some extent by associating your project with a larger not-for-profit entity.