<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div>+ 1</div><div><br></div><div>Maria<br><br><div><br></div><div><div id="Signature"><div name="divtagdefaultwrapper" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font><b>----------------------------------------------------</b></font></span><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">See you at FOSS4G Seoul: </span><table cols="2" rows="1" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td rowspan="2"><font color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="http://2015.foss4g.org/">http://2015.foss4g.org</a>/</span></font></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">----------------------------------------------------</b></div><div><b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Prof. Maria Antonia Brovelli<br>Vice Rector for Como Campus and GIS Professor<br>Politecnico di Milano</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ISPRS WG IV/5 "Web and Cloud Based Geospatial Services and Applications"; OSGeo; GeoForAll Advisory Board; NASA WorldWind Europa Challenge; SIFET </span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div></div><div name="divtagdefaultwrapper" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font><font><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><a href="x-apple-data-detectors://1/0" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="address" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1/0">Via Natta, 12/14 - 22100 COMO</a> (ITALY)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">Tel. <a href="tel:+39-031-3327336" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1/1">+39-031-3327336</a> - Mob. <a href="tel:+39-328-0023867" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1/2">+39-328-0023867</a> - fax. <a href="tel:+39-031-3327321" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1/3">+39-031-3327321</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">e-mail1: <a id="NoLP" href="mailto:maria.brovelli@polimi.it" tabindex="0"></a><a href="mailto:maria.brovelli@polimi.it" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1/4">maria.brovelli@polimi.it</a></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><a id="NoLP" tabindex="0">e-mail2</a>: <a href="mailto:prorettrice@como.polimi.it" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2">prorettrice@como.polimi.it</a></p></font></font></span></div></div></div></div><div><br>Il giorno 26/set/2015, alle ore 20:35, Siki Zoltan <<a href="mailto:siki@agt.bme.hu">siki@agt.bme.hu</a>> ha scritto:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div><span></span><br><span>+1</span><br><span></span><br><span>Zoltan</span><br><span></span><br><span>On Sat, 26 Sep 2015, Massimiliano Cannata wrote:</span><br><span></span><br><blockquote type="cite"><span>Darrel YOU ARE WRONG.... BUT</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>osgeo is a great and successful community and this alone desrve the OSGeo</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>existence.</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>Before we only had project oriented communities (mapserver, grass, etc).</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>But now we have a place in the network to get togheter with all projects</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>and users. Aren't we using stack of softwere instead of a single solution</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>very often?</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>FOSS4G is where we exchange ideas, create innovation and get fun also.</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>Some excellent work is done also in some working groups... incubation and</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>geo4all for example...</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>So you are WRONG!</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>BUT.... i have to agree that things could even be better :-)</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>In my opinion (and this is part of my manifesto even if i still have one</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>more year to serve the board):</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>- we need to redefine objectives of the association cause things have</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>changed (reault framework...)</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>- we need to better promote our valuable software and community (marketing.</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>..)</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>- we need to review and redefine rules so that they are transparent and</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>clear (communication... )</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>- we need to lower the rates of our international meetings to be more</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>inclusive</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>- we need a plan for investment (investment plan..)</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>So i call for a face2face meeting of 2 days of all the board members in the</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>next months to discuss all these points.</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>Apparently the last board was not able to set a date, but i'm keen that the</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>new board will be able to do it. It will aslo he agood starting point to</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>define our working plan...</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>The i call all of you charter member to help and do things... continuing in</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>shaking the community but also propose and act to make the world a better</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>place. Then if you think the world would be better without osgeo... well...</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>be part of the community is not mandatory :-)</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>Best</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>Proudly member of osgeo</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>Maxi</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span>Il 25/Set/2015 21:57, "Darrell Fuhriman" <<a href="mailto:darrell@garnix.org">darrell@garnix.org</a>> ha scritto:</span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>The recent discussion on the board list</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span><<a href="https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/2015-September/013172.html">https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/2015-September/013172.html</a>> that</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>came out of the question of the 2014 videos has got me thinking about a few</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>things again, and I want to try to get them out there.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Grab a mug of your favorite liquid and hunker down, because I put some</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>time and effort into this, and your own well considered reply is</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>appreciated.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Keep in mind that all of these comments are coming from my personal</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>perspective, which, like everyone˙˙s, is an incomplete picture of the whole.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Much of what I˙˙m going to say has been rolling around my head for a while,</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>so I˙˙m just going to put it out there.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>I will start with a provocative thesis:</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>OSGeo lacks visionary unified leadership and without it will become</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>irrelevant.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Of course, making such a claim requires support. So let me break down the</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>statement.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>˙˙Visionary leadership˙˙ is really two things, ˙˙vision˙˙ and ˙˙leadership.˙˙ I</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>will address each in turn.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>OSGeo lacks vision</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>I looked at the list of ˙˙Goals˙˙ for OSGeo</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span><<a href="http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/about.html">http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/about.html</a>>. I wonder: when was</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>the last time these goals were evaluated for both success and relevancy?</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Here is my own opinion of success of some of these goals. (In the</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>interest of brevity, I haven˙˙t tried to tackle everything. That˙˙s left as</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>an exercise to the reader.)</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Example 1</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>To provide resources for foundation projects - eg. infrastructure,</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>funding, legal.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Allow me to break each of those examples down.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Infrastructure</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>It˙˙s true that OSGeo provides some infrastructure, such as Trac instance,</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Mailman, SVN repos. If the budget is to be believed, we pay some $3,500/yr</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>to OSUOSL for said infrastructure. I wonder if such a service is necessary,</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>however. Issue tracking and source control are much better provided by</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Github, which is free for organization such as ours.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>I say this because a) that˙˙s money that could be better spent elsewhere</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>and b) supporting these services burns precious volunteer time (more on</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>that below).</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>There are clear cost savings available, which are not taken advantage of.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>For example, OSGeo could be hosting FOSS4G infrastructure: conference</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>websites and registration, a central location for conference videos</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>(regardless of platform/provider). This neglect is especially galling given</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>that FOSS4G is OSGeo˙˙s sole source of income.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Funding</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>OSGeo does not fund projects. It has provided some funds to pay for Code</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Sprints ˙˙ $15k in 2014 according to the budget</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span><<a href="http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Budget_2014">http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Budget_2014</a>>.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Legal</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>I see nothing that has been done on this front recently. Please feel free</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>to correct me.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Conclusion</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>OSGeo, where it actually does what it claims, has not adapted in ways that</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>could save money.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>My grade: D</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Example 2</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>To promote freely available geodata - free software is useless without</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>data.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>The geodata working group is dead. As near as I can tell by perusing the</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>mailing list archives, and the wiki, there has been no meaningful activity</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>in the past two years (maybe more).</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>My grade: F</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Example 3</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>To promote the use of open source software in the geospatial industry (not</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>just foundation software) - eg. PR, training, outreach.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>The Board of Directors</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span><<a href="http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_of_Directors#Packaging_and_Marketing">http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_of_Directors#Packaging_and_Marketing</a>></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>page says:</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Packaging and Marketing</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>OSGeo˙˙s marketing effort has primarily been focused around the packaging</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>and documentation efforts of OSGeo-Live, and to a lesser extend[sic],</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>osgeo4w. [˙˙] It has been entirely driven by volunteer labour, with 140</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>OSGeo-Live volunteers, and printing costs have been covered by local events</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>or sponsors. In the last couple of years, OSGeo has covered local chapter</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>expenses required to purchase non-consumable items for conference booths</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>(such as a retractable banner). In moving forward, OSGeo hope to extend</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>marketing reach by providing co-contributions toward printing costs of</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>consumable items at conferences, such as toward OSGeo-Live DVDs.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Local Chapters</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Much of OSGeo˙˙s marketing initiates are applied at the local level. In</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>many cases, this is best supported through as little as an email list and</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>wiki page. OSGeo also supports local chapters by offering to pay for an</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Exhibition starter pack for local chapters. Local chapters are also usually</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>the coordinators of conferences and related events, as mentioned above.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Exhibition starter packs almost never happen; OSGeo-Live explicitly gets</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>no support; and OSGeo struggles to staff a booth at its own conference to</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>say nothing of any other conferences.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Note: Local chapters certainly do do marketing and outreach, but these</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>efforts are essentially unsupported by the OSGeo Foundation. In fact, this</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>goal and the Board of Directors webpage seem to be explicitly</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>contradictory.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>My grade: F.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Commentary</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>I could go on with my own personal evaluations, but I˙˙m not sure that˙˙s</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>necessary. The only place I see that OSGeo has unquestionably succeeded in</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>the past few years is the final goal, ˙˙To award the Sol Katz award for</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>service to the OSGeo community˙˙.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>So, what˙˙s my point here? It˙˙s simple: there is no longer a coherent</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>vision for what OSGeo should be. I˙˙ll return to that below, but let me</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>continue with my other point.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>OSGeo lacks leadership</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Again quoting the Board of Directors˙˙ page:</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>The board˙˙s primary responsibility is to efficiently and effectively make</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>strategic decisions related to the running of OSGeo.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>I won˙˙t bore you with the details, but a perusal of the board meeting</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>minutes would indicate that strategy is rarely, if ever, a part of the</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>meetings.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>The emphasis on consensus-based decision making often leads to no</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>decisions being made. I can˙˙t count the number of discussions that have</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>come up on the board list only to devolve into a morass of nit-picking and</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>eventual lack of action when everyone tires of the discussion. What action</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>that is taken is often to ˙˙delegate˙˙ to a (possibly inactive)</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>sub-committee, then never follow up.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Instead what we have is a great deal of inertia, little interest in</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>changing things, and no clear indication of what the Board˙˙s priorities are.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>If priorities do exist, they˙˙re lost in a maze of confusing, incomplete</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>and often contradictory information on the wiki. (Wikis ˙˙ like abandonware</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>for documentation.)</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>On pending irrelevancy</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>I encourage you to ask some random people in the open source geospatial</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>community what OSGeo means to them. I would make a bet that the most common</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>answer is a blank stare.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>I would ask the board members to come up with three things, other than</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>FOSS4G, where the OSGeo membership has shown its importance to the</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>community as a whole in the last two years. Something where people say,</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>˙˙Did you hear about [exciting thing] OSGeo is doing on X?˙˙ To be clear, I</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>don˙˙t mean just things that OSGeo has a finger in, but things that need</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>OSGeo. If OSGeo disappeared tomorrow, would any of these projects be</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>significantly affected?</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>I don˙˙t think it can be done. The OSGeo Foundation is sliding into</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>irrelevancy ˙˙ and it may already be there.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>If anything should be seen as strategic for OSGeo, it˙˙s FOSS4G, the</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>foundation˙˙s primary (sole?) source of income. Even regarding its flagship</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>public event, the board is largely absent. Rather than provide adequate</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>resources and planning, they instead rely on burning out volunteers, then</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>make post-hoc demands on the way they should have done it, provide no</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>future support for organizers to heed those demands, rarely follow up, then</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>go on to repeat the same mistakes the following year. Honestly, it˙˙s</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>surprising that FOSS4G has failed only once. (I think this is a reflection</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>of the demand for the conference, not the blazing competence of OSGeo.)</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Michael Gerlek brought this up</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span><<a href="https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2015-July/014521.html">https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2015-July/014521.html</a>> on the</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>osgeo-discuss list in July, and probably has a more generous spin on it. He</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>essentially argues that it˙˙s time to declare mission accomplished and shut</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>down or rebooted. I agree with his points, and I˙˙m arguing that OSGeo can</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>have something to offer, but it will require a major re-think of its</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>mission.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Fixing things</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>I hinted at this in my recent questions to the board candidates, but I</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>want to be explicit here: OSGeo needs to evolve or die.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Here˙˙s how I would do it:</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> 1.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> The board needs to evaluate all of its goals, as defined on the About</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> page, to decide if they are still truly goals. Define any new goals.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> 2.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> Ask the question: ˙˙What does it mean to succeed at this goal?˙˙</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>If the goal is vague, or ongoing, give a timeline: ˙˙What does success look</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>like for this goal one year from now?˙˙</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> 1.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> Create measureable objectives for achieving those goals. Ask the</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> question, ˙˙How will we know if we˙˙ve succeeded?˙˙</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> 2.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> Prioritize the goals.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> 3.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> Allocate resources to the goals.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Obviously this is a tricky one, but I think we can look at this a balance</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>between Importance and Effort.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Spend money to reduce to the effort required, more money if the goal is</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>more important ˙˙ this might be the hardest cultural shift. Volunteer time</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>is precious and easily discouraged. Make sure that you make it as efficient</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>as possible by spending money when you can.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>For example, many of the infrastructure services OSGeo provides can be</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>easily outsourced to more featureful services that are more responsive and</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>rely less on volunteer labor.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> 1.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> Close the loop on tasks. When a task is delegated to a committee or</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> individual, track its progress, both to know that it is or isn˙˙t happening,</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> and to be able to acknowledge and incorporate the work when it˙˙s done.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> Failing to acknowledge people˙˙s labor or to use the results of that labor</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> will virtually guarantee that the volunteer does not continue to help.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> 2.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span> Evaluate success and failure. GOTO 1.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Aside: none if this will happen without a strong executive. Whether that</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>position is paid or not is up to the board, but it˙˙s clear that there needs</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>to be someone who can make decisions without endless rounds of fruitless</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>discussions. The board as currently constituted is not dysfunctional, but</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>it is mostly afunctional.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>I˙˙m will go so far as to suggest this: Fly every board member who is</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>available to a two or three day retreat. Get everyone in the same room, a</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>professional facilitator to speed the process, then figure out what OSGeo</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>is going to be and how to get there. Don˙˙t fret excessively about the</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>expense ˙˙ this isn˙˙t about saving money, it˙˙s about saving OSGeo.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>If you ask me, irrelevancy is a fate worse than death. Be bold! It˙˙s</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>better to try to do something big and new then fail than to simply fade</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>away and be forgotten.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Though my comments above may sound harsh, they are sent with the very best</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>of intentions. I want OSGeo to succeed, but OSGeo is never going to succeed</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>if it doesn˙˙t know what it˙˙s try to succeed at. Without real reform, I</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>don˙˙t see success happening, just irrelevance. Here˙˙s hoping this gets the</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>ball rolling.</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Darrell</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>_______________________________________________</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span>Board mailing list</span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span><a href="mailto:Board@lists.osgeo.org">Board@lists.osgeo.org</a></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span><a href="http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board">http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board</a></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><blockquote type="cite"><span></span><br></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><span></span></blockquote></div></blockquote><blockquote type="cite"><div><span>_______________________________________________</span><br><span>Discuss mailing list</span><br><span><a href="mailto:Discuss@lists.osgeo.org">Discuss@lists.osgeo.org</a></span><br><span><a href="http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss">http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss</a></span></div></blockquote></body></html>