Has anyone else noticed LinuxFund.org has been down for a while? Does anyone know what their status is? I’m concerned because I’ve found the following:
- LinuxFund.org has been down for a few months now(?). I vaugely remember checking back in Jan or Feb and seeing it down. I could be wrong though and it might just be something recent. Archive.org hasn’t picked up any mirrors since November 2004.
- According the Oregon Secretary of State, Linux Fund Inc. is disolved / inactive. However, this is likely just an oversight on their part. As you can see in that link its happened before and been resolved. From what I can tell it happens fairly regularly with other small orginzations and just means some paperwork was forgoten or lost.
- LinuxFund is not listed at GuideStar.org or in IRS Publication 78 (Theres also a 114~MB text file of Pub 78 here). Publication 78 lists all non-profit organizations which have tax exempt status with the IRS. Was Linux Fund ever a 501c3?
MBNA, the bank that issues the LinuxFund credit cards, indicates that the cards are still active and you can sign up by calling them. (the toll free number is on the website) Their marketing department indicates LinuxFund recieves payments from them to the following PO BOX:
Jerritt Collord
LinuxFund
PO BOX 14519
PORTLAND, OR 97293
Anyways, I e-mailed Jerritt (Executive Director, LinuxFund) last weekend, as well asBenjamin Cox (Founder and former Executive Director, LinuxFund) and DavidMandel their technical director / developer board member. Hopefully one of them will respond with an update.
LinuxFund was (is?) a great idea and supported several projects via grants including Linux Software Suspend, CodeCon, Gnu Enterprise, SCALE 2x, and others. The last official count I’ve found says they had over 6,000 people carrying LinuxFund cards. I still use mine all the time.
So if you have any idea on their status, drop me a line or leave a message in the comments.