MapServer Foundation - Open Letter

[Pericles S. Nacionales]

Hey, how about a new map projection in the shape of a Cheetah!

-Perry

Steve Lime wrote:
> Someone already sent along one idea- a cheetah with a map instead of spots...
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
>>>>Emil Zegers <taatuut at PLANET.NL> 11/28/05 9:08 AM >>>
> 
> Congratulations all with this remarkable step ahead.
> 
> Looks like MapServer is getting even more mature very quick.
> 
> Also looking forward to see proposals for the new logo :-)
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Emil Zegers
> 
> 
> ----- Oorspronkelijk bericht -----
> Van: Steve Lime <steve.lime at DNR.STATE.MN.US>
> Datum: maandag, november 28, 2005 2:37 pm
> Onderwerp: [UMN_MAPSERVER-USERS] MapServer Foundation - Open Letter
> 
> 
>>An Open Letter to the MapServer Open Source Web Mapping Community
>>
>>November 28, 2005
>>
>>Greetings MapServer community,
>>
>>We are pleased to share with you some exciting news about the 
>>future of open source web mapping.
>>
>>Over the past few years MapServer adoption has grown ten-fold and 
>>has become the web mapping platform of choice for many businesses, 
>>government agencies, nonprofit groups and individuals. The 
>>MapServer developers have added powerful new features. The 
>>community has enjoyed three incredible conferences and continues 
>>to support each other and enhance the community.
>>
>>We want to ensure that this success and momentum continues for the 
>>MapServer product and community. MapServer continues to run well 
>>in diverse environments and its rich set of features play an 
>>indispensable role in many organizations. More than ever, we are 
>>committed to improving MapServer and providing exceptional value 
>>to the community.
>>
>>To this end, we take this opportunity to share two bits of news: 
>>the creation of the MapServer Foundation and welcoming the 
>>addition of Autodesk's next-generation web mapping platform 
>>(previously known as Tux) as open source into the foundation.
>>
>>MapServer Foundation
>>
>>We are delighted to announce the creation of the MapServer 
>>Foundation (mapserverfoundation.org). The foundation is a 
>>nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide a supportive 
>>framework for open, collaborative development of geospatial 
>>software. Several groups and individuals are collaborating to help 
>>launch and sponsor the new foundation. Financial support from 
>>Autodesk will allow us to get the foundation up and running. In 
>>this letter, we present some ideas of how we think the foundation 
>>can help the community, but these ideas need broader discussion 
>>and debate within the community.
>>
>>We looked to other successful open source movements, such as 
>>Apache, to see how our community could benefit from the creation 
>>of an independent foundation. It is clear that the time has come 
>>to create a formal infrastructure to help further support and 
>>promote the professional open source web mapping development 
>>environments and communities. While initially focused on web 
>>mapping projects, we hope the foundation will adopt other open 
>>source geospatial projects that need a home.
>>
>>Forming the foundation is only the beginning, as we now seek 
>>community involvement and participation. The foundation will have 
>>a governance model that allows it to be run by a Board of 
>>Directors that represents the community. How it is ultimately 
>>going to be run is up to the members of the community. The 
>>foundation will also have a set of bylaws that provide structure 
>>and can be amended through a community voting process.
>>
>>Role of the foundation
>>
>>The first priority for the foundation is to engage the broader 
>>MapServer community. Members of the community are encouraged to 
>>join and get involved. Consider this letter as your invitation to 
>>participate. The community web site is the place where you, as a 
>>user and participant in the community, can follow and contribute 
>>to the development of the MapServer Foundation family of projects.
>>
>>The primary responsibilities of the foundation may include:
>>
>>   * Support code repository and other project infrastructure
>>   * Formalized process for decision-making (e.g. where to host 
>>the next conference)
>>   * Legal protection for the source code and developers of the 
>>software    * Paying for development work on minor improvements of 
>>the platform
>>   * Acting as a central repository for marketing, branding and 
>>professional image development of the product
>>   * Providing process for mitigating disputes
>>   * Financial support for advocacy, sponsorship, community 
>>events and conferences
>>
>>Many of these community-related functions have been overseen in an 
>>ad-hoc manner or deferred to the University of Minnesota or other 
>>organizations in the past. The foundation will streamline the 
>>coordination of legal, administrative and governance efforts.
>>
>>As MapServer will now be officially managed by the foundation, it 
>>no longer makes sense to call it UMN MapServer. Product branding 
>>is also becoming more important and this is a good opportunity to 
>>introduce a more visual name for the product. We propose calling 
>>it MapServer Cheetah. This presents a fast and agile image that 
>>suits the product well and will help differentiate it from other 
>>MapServer products.
>>
>>MapServer Cheetah & MapServer Enterprise
>>
>>We are also very excited about Autodesk's decision to release 
>>their next generation web mapping platform into the open source 
>>community through the MapServer Foundation. This adds further 
>>legitimacy to our open source development platform. Their product 
>>will be named MapServer Enterprise and is the successor to 
>>Autodesk MapGuide but built on an entirely new architecture.
>>
>>MapServer Enterprise and MapServer Cheetah will be run as two 
>>separate but parallel projects. There are no plans to merge them 
>>into one but we aim to share technologies between the two projects 
>>wherever possible. We also hope to provide utilities that allow 
>>the community to easily use one or both platforms.
>>
>>MapServer Enterprise will be licensed using the OSI-approved GNU 
>>Lesser General Public License (LGPL). MapServer Cheetah will 
>>continue to be licensed under an MIT-style open source license. 
>>Autodesk is eager to participate in an open and transparent 
>>development process driven by independent guidance from the 
>>community. We encourage you to check out MapServer Enterprise, 
>>which is available today on the community web site.
>>
>>We are proud to be part of this community and we hope you will 
>>join us in establishing the MapServer Foundation. For more 
>>information on how to get involved, please visit the community 
>>site at: mapserverfoundation.org and join the mailing list 
>>discussions.
>>Sincerely,
>>
>>Steve Lime, Chair, MapServer Technical Steering Committee (MTSC)
>>Yewondwossen Assefa, MTSC Member
>>Howard Butler, MTSC Member
>>Daniel Morissette, MTSC Member
>>Perry Nacionales, MTSC Member
>>Frank Warmerdam, MTSC Member
>>Tom Burk, University of Minnesota
>>David McIlhagga, DM Solutions Group
>>Tyler Mitchell
>>Claude Philipona, Camptocamp SA and FOSS4G 2006 organizing committee
>>Gary Lang, Autodesk
>>
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