-snip-
We've had a lot of groups form to come up with ways of "getting out there". Right now, I'm with the DASH Ambassador Group, we've been waiting for you! Where have you been? LOL.
Cool.
Who were the team leaders, what was the outcome, what level of buy-in did the DASH Foundation have?
Currently, we're helping out on the promotional video. What does buy-in mean?
Buy-in: You could have a group that is on their own and the Foundation won't listen to a bloody thing they say. If, however, the Foundation says, we like this approach and we will listen and take note of everything, and we won't say 'go away because we didn't think of that first' - then you have buy-in.
Or something like that.
I've never really understood the obsession with crypto foundations and why people get so riled up about them. The Dash Foundation (same as the Bitcoin Foundation and others) is just a collection of people who are funded by the community to work on certain goals established by the Foundation's board. If the Foundation becomes out of touch with the community, the community stops donating, funds dry up, and the Foundation dies (happening with Bitcoin right now).
In our case, the Dash Foundation happens to be "endorsed" by our lead dev, but so what? You or me or anybody else can do whatever we want to promote Dash however we chose. The Foundation is nothing more than a centralized entity with a little street cred and some cash. They don't have control over anything.
That's another thing--I've seen several posts over the past weeks about people concerned about how much "power" Evan has. Y'all, Evan has as much power as we give him. Don't like an update that he releases? No problem--don't update your client. If enough of the network doesn't update, then he's effectively cut out. Not that there's any foreseeable reason for that to happen, but you get my point. It's the miners, the MN owners, and the users who choose what version of the software to run.
Finally, there's been talk about the "bus factor" (what if Evan gets hit by a bus tomorrow). It's irrelevant. God forbid we lose Evan...but so what? Bitcoin lost Satoshi and they've managed to survive.
The entire point of crypto is to create a decentralized entity that's in the hand of its users. Some of those users and developers band together to form a Foundation. That's great. Help them, or do your own thing. It's up to you.
Without a foundation, there is no entity to protect the interests of the coin. So far, they have obtained trademarks for Darkcoin, DarkSend, DASH, etc... I beileve they've written the licensing agreement for Darkcoin/DASH, which, although open, as some requirements when used (credits, I believe they made a modified version of one of the existing licenses) FYI, it was all done so far with voluntarily time, and donated funds (mostly Evan and others on board)
The foundation is a legal entity that can deal with anything that requires a "person" which would benefit the coin. They haven't spent any donated funds yet, they post their meeting minutes, and when they decide to spend any of those funds, it will be done transparently.
Finally, a foundation, and it's members can vote on things that require decisions quickly. If you have a deep interest in the future of DASH, I highly suggest joining the foundation.
It's not like the rest of the world doesn't have a choice. They have ultimate choice. They can refuse to upgrade a wallet, and there are forums where they can voice their opinions as well as gather oppositional strength. They can also take over development if enough people back it. This almost happened with Litecoin when they refused to switch from script. One day, this whole thing could be huge and ungainly (it already is ungainly - remember last time Evan asked the forum for an opinion? Ugh!) This is why there is a foundation. It comes with positives and negatives but ultimately the node runners and miners decide.
The foundation has tried to set up the rules of governance to be transparent as possible and this original board, though not voted in (chicken and egg scenario) have created a foundation and example for future boards to follow. Their terms are 2 years, the next board will be voted in.
This isn't a centralized entity for the coin, it is only a group of people that try to do things
for the coin. The developers might ask them their opinion, they may follow it, but the miners and MN and node owners ultimately decide. Developers are a central point, but they need not be followed. and once the code is accepted by the network, it's once again, decentralized.
And you're right, we can have dozens or more foundations for DASH. They can each have their own reason for being. They can all have the same reason for being and fight eachother, or work together. But at the moment, I think only one is needed ;P