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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Hi all,<br>
<br>
allow me to chime in. First, thanks to Bruce for abstracting from
the case by fleshing out these variations, and to all for your
thoughts!<br>
<br>
I'm pretty much in line that #4 is not very desirable, although
I'm not sure OSGeo should influence - I understand OSGeo more as a
project quality check, but not as project hypervisor. Usually
community is quite aware and the situation probably would
self-regulate. <br>
<br>
Actually, in the concrete case at hand the question was different
even from scenario #4, aka: Should OSGeo actively encourage
contributors in dual-license projects to clone commercial
functionality? On a side note, in the case on hand the commercial
player is a key contributor to the open-source version, as the
commit logs convey; this may or may not be relevant.<br>
<br>
Of course this situation was not planned, it just surfaced the
potential issue by coincidence. Consequently, I see no particular
severity in it, just a useful discussion. My personal preference?
Coexistence.<br>
<br>
-Peter<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On 03/07/2013 11:52 PM, Jody Garnett wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:E2D01440A0DF4A2786787F7260BFEC78@gmail.com"
type="cite">
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<div> OSGeo does not tend to have policies with respect to our
projects - the organisation is driven by its goals and does its
best be "hands off". </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The only exception to this is during incubation (when we have
a mentor available to answer questions) and some specific checks
to perform (check the IP, check that the license is open, check
that the development process is open to outsiders).</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>In this respect we are trying to do all the research that an
"contributor" would require before participating in a project …
and ensure each OSGeo project is in position to handle new
contributors. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>We have never been involved in the business model supporting
the project, and any related commercial considerations. If the
project does not have a useful model for commercial involvement
I would expect it to suffer, if it does not have a useful model
for community engagement (say the original JUMP) I would expect
it to fail (or be forked).</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>During incubation we ask that the community be handled with
"open source" and that contributors be handled with "open
development". Beyond that (rather low) bar the specifics of how
a project intends to stay viable and manage its commercial
relationships is outside of our scope. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I had hoped that the OSGeo Foundation could be part of the
solution (a reason GeoTools joined the foundation was to pursue
funding for thankless tasks such as documentation and
marketing). The recent board decisions take this goal off the
table.</div>
<div>-- </div>
<div>
<div>Jody Garnett<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<p style="color: #A0A0A8;">On Thursday, 7 March 2013 at 4:54 PM,
Bruce Bannerman wrote:</p>
<blockquote type="cite"
style="border-left-style:solid;border-width:1px;margin-left:0px;padding-left:10px;">
<span>
<div>
<div>
<div dir="ltr">This is a generic question that may help us
develop a consistent policy to be applied towards
projects that we are currently working with and those
that we may potentially work with in the future.<br>
<div><br>
<br>
I would appreciate some guidance on what we consider
acceptable commercial involvement within an OSGeo
project.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>To start this discussion off, I will propose a set
of scenarios to help start and guide the conversation.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>These are but four scenarios. There are of course a
continuum of variations to these.<br>
<br>
<br>
*****<br>
</div>
<div>Does OSGeo provide clear guidance as to what is
acceptable commercial involvement within an OSGeo
project?<br>
</div>
<div>*****<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Where do we draw the line on what is considered
acceptable involvement?<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Bruce<br>
</div>
<div><br>
<br>
=================</div>
<div>Scenario 1<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Organisation X is interested in furthering the
development of project A. The involvement is:<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>* X allows staff to work on project A<br>
</div>
<div>* staff contribute work to project<br>
</div>
<div>* staff are assigned commit access<br>
</div>
<div>* staff work within project processes and Project
Steering Committee (PSC) to <br>
ensure that contributed work is assigned a priority
release date<br>
</div>
<div>* staff integrate work with rest of project code,
provide automated tests etc<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
==================<br>
</div>
<div>Scenario 2<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Organisation Y offers commercial services based on
project B.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>* Y contracts staff to develop functionality on
behalf of a client G<br>
</div>
<div>* contract requires G to contribute software back
to project B<br>
* Y staff integrate work with rest of project code,
provide automated tests etc<br>
</div>
<div>* Y has both commit rights and staff on PSC and
ensure that work is <br>
prioritised for an early release.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
==================<br>
</div>
<div>Scenario 3<br>
<br>
<div>Same organisation Y offers commercial services
based on same project B.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>* Y contracts staff to develop functionality on
behalf of a client H<br>
</div>
* contract does not allow Y to contribute software
back to project B<br>
* Y staff delivers software to client H as a
standalone branch of B<br>
</div>
<div>* Y will only integrate above work to project B if
paid a fee.<br>
<br>
<br>
==================<br>
</div>
<div>Scenario 4<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>Organisation Z releases their previously
proprietary software as an Open Source project under a
GPL Licence. This becomes Project C.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>* Z also releases the software under dual
licensing, with a commercial <br>
closed source version containing more advanced
functionality than <br>
the open source version<br>
</div>
<div>* Project C attracts a number of developers<br>
</div>
<div>* Z retains control of PSC and discourages
developers from adding the <br>
functionality found in the closed source version to
the open source version<br>
</div>
<div>* if a developer does submit such functionality, it
is ranked by the PSC <br>
as low priority and is never released within the
open source version.<br>
<br>
</div>
<div>==================<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<div>_______________________________________________</div>
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</div>
</div>
</span> </blockquote>
<div> <br>
</div>
<br>
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<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="80">--
Dr. Peter Baumann
- Professor of Computer Science, Jacobs University Bremen
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.faculty.jacobs-university.de/pbaumann">www.faculty.jacobs-university.de/pbaumann</a>
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"Si forte in alienas manus oberraverit hec peregrina epistola incertis ventis dimissa, sed Deo commendata, precamur ut ei reddatur cui soli destinata, nec preripiat quisquam non sibi parata." (mail disclaimer, AD 1083)
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