[Board] So what is the purpose of OSGeo?

[Michael P. Gerlek]

I reiterate: it would be nice to see a succinct statement of opposition
to Paul's proposal that can be argued for/against.

Perhaps this good question of Arnulf's was meant to be such a statement?

> How can we (OSGeo) assure that we (OSGeo) apply the same vetting to
> anybody (OSGeo members?) who approach OSGeo wanting to do the same
thing? 

It is the Board's responsibility to make such decisions.  Sometimes
there is no clear-cut decision criteria, alas, especially for ideas that
are new and untried -- situations like this are why boards exist: to
make such policy decisions.

Three possible paths suggest themselves to me:

  1- simply declare the teach-in idea inappropriate, and end the
discussion
  2- put out a CFP for teach-ins and then choose amongst the respondents
     using a set of criteria, not unlike the annual conference
  3- judge each teach-in proposal on a case-by-case basis

(I'd personally suggest path #3, since the idea is relatively new and
untried; should it be successful or unsucessful, then the board can move
to path #2 or #1, respectively, the next time such a teach-in idea comes
around.)


[Personal aside: I find myself frequently disagreeing with Arnulf's
positions, but I have in the past and will continue in the future to
support his presence here precisely because he provides such a valuable
counterpoint to some of us -- making me at least stop and think through
my positions.]

-mpg

 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Arnulf Christl [mailto:arnulf.christl at wheregroup.com] 
> Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 8:26 AM
> To: Michael P. Gerlek
> Cc: Mark Lucas; OSGeo-Board
> Subject: Re: [Board] So what is the purpose of OSGeo?
> 
> Michael P. Gerlek wrote:
> > I too have been refraining from doing anything but listen, 
> since I'm not
> > a Board Member, but the number and tone of emails Paul's 
> proposal has
> > raised is surprising to me.
> 
> My very personal experience tells me that this will give us 
> loads of problems and I am trying to slow down the 
> discussion. The more positive feedback Paul's proposal gets 
> the more I'll have to oppose it. For me this is painful 
> because I really appreciate Paul's Open Source business 
> activities and think that the teach-in proposal is great - 
> but not as so tightly connected to an OSGeo event. More over 
> I think that neither Paul not Jeff need that. I might even 
> support it from my company without having any financial 
> return I am so much in favor of making this happen. I wonder 
> why it has developed into such a problem?
> 
> > As I understand it, a couple members-in-good-standing of 
> the Community
> > are in good faith
> 
> "members-in-good-standing" "good faith" and "moral blessing" 
> are completely not quantifieable and therefore not 
> reproducible and therefore not transparent categories. 
> 
> How can we (OSGeo) assure that we (OSGeo) apply the same 
> vetting to anybody (OSGeo members?) who approach OSGeo 
> wanting to do the same thing? 
> 
> >    (1) trying to spread the message of the Foundation,
> >    (2) willing to assume the financial risk,
> >    (3) pay OSGeo some money, and not incidentally
> >    (4) try to make a living by promoting open source.
> 
> I'd hate to be associated as an opposer to (4) as you will believe. 
> 
> As a side note - we should really make sure what our member 
> categories are. The most recent additions I heard are "real 
> member" and "members-in-good-standing". Come off it. We have 
> participants, members and charter members. Suffice it should. 
> 
> 7
> 
> > In return, they are are asking OSGeo to provide its moral 
> blessing by
> > allowing the use of the logo, brand, etc.
> > 
> > There seems to be some concern that this might draw away from annual
> > conference: okay, that is a clear tangible issue which can 
> be reasonably
> > discussed.
> > 
> > However, there seem to be other, larger undercurrents of 
> concern being
> > voiced by some of the board members -- but which I'm not 
> able to readily
> > understand.  Maybe I missed a mail somewhere along the way, 
> but it'd be
> > nice to see a succinct statement of opposition that can be argued
> > for/against.
> > 
> > -mpg
> > 
> >  
> > 
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org 
> >> [mailto:board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Mark Lucas
> >> Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 4:46 AM
> >> To: OSGeo-Board
> >> Subject: [Board] So what is the purpose of OSGeo?
> >>
> >> Sorry, couldn't ignore this one....
> >>
> >> I'm really surprised and confused about some of the negative 
> >> reaction  
> >> to Paul Ramsey's proposal to provide training for OSGeo 
> projects and  
> >> solutions.
> >>
> >> It is clearly a good thing in my mind.  We have several 
> >> active members  
> >> of the OSGeo projects proposing to spread the word and 
> >> provide a much  
> >> needed service.  They are offering to take the risk and 
> provide both  
> >> financial and advertising benefit to the OSGeo.
> >>
> >> It is in our best interest to raise the bar for all OSGeo 
> >> solutions -  
> >> training is a much need part of that.  OSGeo needs to 
> participate in  
> >> these types of things to stay in the public eye and raise the  
> >> financial resources to carry on its cause.
> >>
> >> It is quite true that it is extremely difficult for many 
> to justify  
> >> travel outside their own countries to the agencies or 
> organizations  
> >> they work for.  It is naive to think that we are going to 
> >> change that  
> >> fact.  There is a customer need for OSGeo training all over 
> >> the world  
> >> - OSGeo should be encouraging a thousand flowers to bloom. 
>  None of  
> >> this happens for free.  Open source should not be confused with  
> >> 'free', it costs money and resources to do these things and 
> >> we need to  
> >> encourage all of the help we can get.
> >>
> >> We should be putting our energy into positively encouraging our  
> >> solutions and their promotions, raising more resources for 
> >> OSGeo so we  
> >> have the ability to help those in need.
> >>
> >> Mark,
> >> a has been board member ;-)
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> >>
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