LWN: Comments on "What is KDE e.V. for?"

What is KDE e.V. for?

bastian — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 12:26:16 +0000

The founding members of the KDE project and other developers that could
reasonably have claimed any rights to it, have assigned the rights to the
KDE name to KDE e.V.

What is KDE e.V. for?

giraffedata — Thu, 16 Sep 2004 21:29:56 +0000

It's hard for me to see (from the information in the article) why KDE e.V.is relevant enough to anything for people to be concerned about how it operates.

In particular, I don't see how KDE e.V. can control a trademark that was in use by others before KDE e.V. existed. Did someone with rights to the name transfer them?

e.V. means "registered organisation"

ber — Thu, 16 Sep 2004 18:44:02 +0000

e.V. standing for "eingetragener Verein" means "registered organisation".
Such an organisation can gain tax-except status (called "gemeinnützig"
for their donations. Then they are a non-profit in that they are
not allowed to make profit.

What is KDE e.V. for?

kogerler — Thu, 16 Sep 2004 15:36:27 +0000

Maybe it is peripheral for many, but it should be pointed out that a "e.V." = "eingetragener Verein" in German law is a non-commercial legal entity (actually a legal person) that forms a popular framework for many interest groups in Germany, ranging from local sports teams to national charity entities.
These organizations significantly differ from U.S. 501(c) nonprofit organizations/corporations (such as the Gentoo Foundation) in that that they lack the tax exemption that 501(c)s can claim on their profits.