<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<p>Dear Board of OSGeo, Project Steering Committee members,
stakeholders, all --</p>
<p> <b>FOSS4G 2019</b> in Bucarest, Romania (one week from today)
shows many, very positive signs, in particular for OSGeo dot org.
FOSS4G 2019 is a renewed opportunity for OSGeo dot org to build
recognition and respect among a crowded and often competitive tech
foundation world.<br>
</p>
<p> The spotlight is ready to shine on OSGeo dot org, and I ask the
Board and stakeholders, to <b>renew their commitments</b> to
support <i>both</i> the <b>OSI</b> definition of Free Software
and also, the <b>GPL</b> in its various forms [0]. <br>
</p>
<p> In the OSGeoLive Overview Presentation, the opening slide says :
<br>
</p>
<p> "<font size="+1">OSGeoLive -- an Open Source, Geospatial
GNU/Linux Distribution</font>"</p>
<p>(it may be that there are legal assertions by the GNU / Free
Software Foundation that affect this wording) This line could be
misunderstood to say, that OSGeoLive is a GPL project (!) In
contrast, the Debian project -- ironically not recognized by the
Free Software Foundation [1] -- has very strict rules on
publication contents, which are not always friendly to some OSI
definitions. The contents and inclusion guidelines for OSGeoLive
are <i>not the same </i>as the Debian project [2].</p>
<p> I believe that there is wide agreement within OSGeo dot org
community that both GPL and OSI definitions of software license
have their places, and that it is worthwhile to make sure that
partners and critics know that both approaches have a long-term
support with OSGeo, and on OSGeoLive Linux.<br>
</p>
<p> thanks and best regards from Berkeley, California
--Brian M Hamlin</p>
<p>[0] OSS is typically defined as software that can be accessed,
used, modified, and shared by anyone. OSS is often distributed
under licenses that comply with the definition of “Open Source”
provided by the<span> </span><a href="https://opensource.org/osd"
target="_blank" class="ext" style="box-sizing: inherit;
background-color: transparent; color: rgb(34, 118, 172);
text-decoration: none;">Open Source Initiative</a><span> </span>or
meet the definition of “Free Software” provided by the<span> </span><a
href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html"
target="_blank" class="ext" style="box-sizing: inherit;
background-color: transparent; color: rgb(34, 118, 172);
text-decoration: none;">Free Software Foundation</a>.</p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(50, 50, 50); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style:
normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space:
normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">[1] <a
href="https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.en.html">https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.en.html</a></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(50, 50, 50); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style:
normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space:
normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">[2] <a
href="https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/">https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/</a></p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(50, 50, 50); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style:
normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space:
normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><br>
</p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(50, 50, 50); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style:
normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space:
normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><br>
</p>
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: rgb(50, 50, 50); font-family:
"Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style:
normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal;
font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align:
start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space:
normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width:
0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-style:
initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><br>
</p>
</body>
</html>