[uktug-committee-public] [David Carlisle] Motion for the 2019 AGM

[Joseph Wright]

Forwarded at request of poster

-------- Forwarded Message --------
From: David Carlisle <d.p.carlisle at gmail.com>

I wish to  propose the following motion

start of motion text.
=====

The UKTUG Committee should arrange, before the end of 2019, a binding
electronic ballot of the membership  on the statement

   I agree that the UK TeX Users Group should be dissolved

The ballot is deemed to have passed if a majority of those voting vote yes.

The technical details of the ballot can be left to the committee,
whether an email  poll before the due date, or an online polling form,
as they deem appropriate, however it should be arranged such that a
decision is known before the end of 2019.

=====
end of motion text.





Notes in support of the motion

This motion proposes a separate electronic ballot rather than simply
voting to dissolve at the AGM  as a physical meeting is inconvenient
for most members, and to give some time for any discussion, reasons
for suggesting winding up as below.


UKTUG holds a not inconsiderable sum of money and has held it for many
years but appears structurally incapable of using it for the benefit
of the TeX community: engine developments, font developments, travel
support etc, have all gone unfunded.

More seriously it is totally disconnected from almost all TeX users.
TeX users have for decades gone to the internet (originally
comp.text.tex, these days more likely tex.stackexchange.com) for any
technical queries which leaves a national user group struggling to
find itself a purpose and struggling to get more than a hundred
members which is an insignificant fraction of the actual TeX
community.

If the group wound up, the committee would be charged with
distributing the funds. I am happy to leave it to their judgement but
giving some to DANTE to help cover CTAN costs and TUG to help cover
TugBoat costs would be two of my suggestions.