View Full Version : On Using Credit Unions and Co-Ops to Distribute FLOSS Software and Hardware
Xanderfoxx
September 30th, 2008, 06:12 AM
I have recently had an idea on using a system of FLOSS Community Co-ops to make the Free Desktop more competitive.
According to this fledgling idea, there would be a retailer's co-op to distribute and market Linux and other *nixes at physical retail outlets all over the globe. This, and related ventures would be financed by a huge credit union, or system of credit unions working together. The credit unions would finance other ventures as well, such as family-owned organic agriculture, and alternative energy and data networks projects.
What do you think?
I keep looking up ideas I thought up independently crop up in various forms already in existence. Has this idea already occurred to you guys? (NOTE: my idea is VERY large scale. The smallest division of the Credit Union and other Co-Ops is divided by nation. The entire thing is global.)
EDIT:
Here is some reference material on the subject:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_Union
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retailers%27_cooperative
MaxIBoy
September 30th, 2008, 06:51 AM
Get back to me when you've made it happen.
Xanderfoxx
September 30th, 2008, 06:54 AM
Get back to me when you've made it happen.
Oh, haha. you, my fine sir, are not helping.
Does it look like I can do this myself?
I intend to draft a series of documents laying it all out.
It won't happen without all of these geniuses' help. The Community has done harder things than this, don't worry.
I'll do my part, you can rest assured.
I'll get back to you.
earthpigg
September 30th, 2008, 07:28 AM
so where does the income come from?
is your notion that users of FOSS users are supposed to open checking accounts with the credit union?
MrFSL
September 30th, 2008, 07:48 AM
Oh, haha. you, my fine sir, are not helping.
Does it look like I can do this myself?
I intend to draft a series of documents laying it all out.
It won't happen without all of these geniuses' help. The Community has done harder things than this, don't worry.
I'll do my part, you can rest assured.
I'll get back to you.
You, my fine sir, seem to read sarcasm where none has been explicitly leveled. - I would guess this is because you think you idea warrants sarcasm, disbelief, and ridicule. -- It is this internal doubt that would make me not want to follow you nor your ideas.
Xanderfoxx
September 30th, 2008, 08:43 AM
so where does the income come from?
is your notion that users of FOSS users are supposed to open checking accounts with the credit union?
(big sigh) In my plan, WE are supposed to build up capital using credit unions so that we create the captial required to expand the system.
The credit unions dedicated to FLOSS development and enhancement invests in the process, and the invest cycles.
If you do not know how a credit union works, looky here:
http://www.creditunion.coop/history/cu_philosophy.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_union
http://www.nafcu.org/Template.cfm?Section=What_is_an_FCU_&Template=/ContentManagement/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=30773
http://www.ncua.gov/RegulationsOpinionsLaws/charter_manual/2003CharteringandFOMManual.pdf
earthpigg
September 30th, 2008, 08:55 AM
i am familiar with the concept... only place that would give me credit when i was 18 was my job-related credit union :)
i suppose instead of "we" in my comment above, i should have said "john middle class doe".
:)
Xanderfoxx
September 30th, 2008, 09:28 AM
Here is an interpretation (digest) of my notebook:
First step:
Charter a national credit union, specifically for FLOSS developers and community members.
Specification Possibility for "Field of Membership":
Everybody who has registered with <http://counter.li.org/> is eligible.
Chartered as National Credit Union according to:
<http://www.ncua.gov/RegulationsOpinionsLaws/charter_manual/2003CharteringandFOMManual.pdf>
This would allow the entire FLOSS community to invest in themselves, and in their cause.
This explains further
[Excerpt from United States National Credit Union Administration:]
--INTRODUCTION--
A credit union is a member-owned, member-controlled, not-for-profit
cooperative financial institution formed to permit groups of persons to save,
borrow, and obtain related financial services and to participate in its
management. Member ownership and control are what make credit unions
unique. (NOTE: This fits right in with our philosophy, doesn't it?)
... (NOTE: Some historical info skipped.)
In 1934, Congress passed the Federal Credit Union Act "to establish a
Federal Credit Union System, to establish a further market for securities of the
United States and to make more available to people of small means credit for
provident purposes through a national system of cooperative credit, thereby
helping to stabilize the credit structure of the United States." That Act, as
amended, sets forth the basic structure which governs federal credit unions
today:
• Each credit union is funded by shares purchased by its members. The
purchase of a share allows the member to become an owner with the
right to vote.
• Membership is limited to a group, or multiple groups, each defined in the
credit union's charter, each of which have a common bond of occupation
or association (NOTE: such as the FLOSS community, implemented as "membership" with http://counter.li.org/) or are located within a well-defined neighborhood,
community, or rural district.
• Member control is democratically exercised regardless of the number of
shares held. No member has more than one vote.
• Management is placed in the hands of volunteers. Only one board
officer may be compensated. No other member of the board of directors
or any other committee member shall, as such, be compensated.
• Loans, which are the primary investment for credit unions, are made
exclusively to members. (NOTE: This would be our source of "income")
The passage of the Federal Credit Union Act established an administrative
structure within the federal government for the supervision of federal credit
unions. This structure was administered by a succession of federal agencies
over the years until Public Law 91-206 was enacted in 1970. This law formed the
National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) as an independent agency with
responsibility for regulating and chartering federal credit unions.
Also in that year, Congress established the National Credit Union Share
Insurance Fund within the NCUA to insure the shares of all federal credit unions
and participating state credit unions. The Fund is backed by the full faith and
credit of the U. S. Government.
That should help you out. Anything else, my friend?
Next post will contain my ODT-format document. I will be composing it, and taking my sweet time about it.
Until next time.
Xanderfoxx
September 30th, 2008, 09:46 AM
i am familiar with the concept... only place that would give me credit when i was 18 was my job-related credit union :)
i suppose instead of "we" in my comment above, i should have said "john middle class doe".
:)
LOL!!!
That *is* funny! :popcorn:
Actually, I thought the propaganda They spreaded was that credit unions were supposed to be crappy institutions that supplied ultra-low class people with financial services.
Instead, I get told that it is TOO EXPENSIVE!! PPPWWAAAAHAAAHHAHAAHH (ROFL)
(Sorry, but that was really great, I have to remember that one!!)
*AHEM* [getting all serious]
Well to answer your question (actually, implication), the members determine who will join, and if you create you own credit union, *you* will determine who joins (by way of the charter, which specifies the "membership field").
Supposedly, anybody can create their own (with help, of course), as well as join a credit union when you fall within their parameters.
The US government is just trying to make things difficult so that people will join banks instead, in an attempt to limit credit unions to people with little means in membership.
(Insert further skepticism about Bank lobbying and government affiliation here :))
The truth is, anyone with the knowledge (which is freely available), and the inclination (which I am attempting to motivate) can create their own create union to their own specifications, tailored to their own needs and demands. This means that credit unions are useful to all classes, AFAIK.
Anyway, this is easily solved! We create OUR OWN CREDIT UNION! I may not have a lot of dough, you may have only a little, but TOGETHER!!!!!
If we pool our resources, we can have the credit union invest in us (by way of loans).
I think it will work.
(But we will probably have to create a separate credit union in each country, as I think it may be quite a chore to create an international one. :D)
I'm glad we're on the same page, here, bro.
This is what will win it, I'm sure!! :guitar:
Xanderfoxx
September 30th, 2008, 11:55 AM
You, my fine sir, seem to read sarcasm where none has been explicitly leveled. - I would guess this is because you think you idea warrants sarcasm, disbelief, and ridicule. -- It is this internal doubt that would make me not want to follow you nor your ideas.
Hmm.
I have beem proved mistaken! That one poster has a valid point!
Point: Text discussions are easily misread, misinterpreted, and misconstrued.
Self-Note: Create mental model to reconstruct context, and to refrain from replying to a post until I have read post 20 times. Noted. Saved as "mind:/tmp/posting-rules-0095.odt".
Thank you. I have learned a valuable lesson. :guitar:
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