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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=1 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Below is a note that Tyler
Mitchell and I put together to help describe some of the 'open letter'
groups' thinking around the name issue. There is also a new POLL related
to it - please vote when you have a minute. It will be very helpful to
measuring peoples' opinions.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=1 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=1 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><a
href="http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/community/polls/ms_autodesk">http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/community/polls/ms_autodesk</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=1 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>At the end of this message
is a poll for you to vote on.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Those of us that signed the
open letter may not have laid out exactly what it meant to us to have a shared
name brand. This note is an attempt lay out those reasons clearly, so we
all understand why we thought it was important to share name brands.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Each of us knew that:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><br>
* MapServer has had a good history, significant market share and has good
equity in its name. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><br>
* Autodesk is a very successful company, with successful products and has
significant amounts of brand equity<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><br>
* Autodesk were planning to release "Tux" as open source and continue
to develop it through an open source community<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Autodesk had a choice to
make: a) offer to work with MapServer to find common ground, to build synergies
and not compete; or, b) set up their own open source geospatial software
foundation as a home for their product, develop their own independent branding
for their product and end up competing with MapServer.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>In the spirit of open
source, Autodesk engaged DM Solutions, UMN, Steve Lime and other developers,
etc. to try to find a way to work together.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Granted, it was behind
closed doors because an NDA was required for a public company like Autodesk to
even have such a conversation with outsiders, but we thought we had a very good
representation of the leaders in the community.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Our collective thinking was
that a common name for the products would be ideal. Having both products
under the same banner was good, but only if both products and the foundation
could share that common name. There was going to be potential for
confusion, but sharing a common prefix for two different products is not
unheard of and it was going to be a major change. We all wanted to keep
building on MapServer momentum instead of ignoring MapServer and building
something independent of it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>After all the feedback from
the community, it's more than obvious that the naming is an major issue.
But the naming of both the products really represents the willingness to share
the brand or not. A "MapServer Foundation" cannot equally
represent both MapServer and MapGuide. The names are the brand. If
a product can't use the name, then it isn't using the brand. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Autodesk decided that it
would rather take the harder road and work with an existing community, than go
it alone and work against that community.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>And the MapServer
stakeholders decided they would take the hard road and work with Autodesk to
find a common path, rather then compete head-to-head.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Then the story broke, and
the MapServer community had the reaction we all saw to the name. The general
reaction to the announcement outside of the MapServer community has actually
been quite positive.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>If a common name brand can't
be used, then one alternative will be that MapServer is not going to be leading
the startup of a foundation that can house both MapServer and Tux. As
well, such a foundation can not be called the "MapServer Foundation"
any more than it should be called the "MapGuide Foundation". In
many ways, voting against sharing the name brand is actually voting against
working with Autodesk on starting the MapServer Foundation. Autodesk will not
be willing to put their investment into a foundation that hides their name
brand under the name of another web-based mapping project. It has already
invested a lot of money in promoting the "MapServer Foundation",
which no one else has ever done.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>So this was the thinking and
these are the choices. We didn't do it all perfectly and not having
broader community input was a real problem. I wish that we could have put the
following question out there for community feedback from the very start.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Here is the poll question,
please cast your vote and comment on the poll online at:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=1 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><a
href="http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/community/polls/ms_autodesk">http://mapserver.gis.umn.edu/community/polls/ms_autodesk</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>-------------<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>What serves the MapServer
Community best?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>a) Work with Autodesk under
the MapServer Foundation, creating a unified brand name, with MapServer and
Autodesk lending their respective brand equities to each other and working
together to make open source web mapping the platform of choice.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>b) Work with Autodesk to
release its product through a foundation with a different name such as
"MapTools", with MapServer now competing directly with the new brand
name that will be created and heavily promoted by Autodesk, even though they
will likely be housed by the same foundation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Gary Lang<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Courier New"'>Tyler Mitchell<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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