OSGeo services and tools ...

[Jo Walsh]

dear all,

One topic I'm very much looking forward to calm discussion about, 
is the matter of OSGeo online services, and the suggestion of a
"six-month reassessment" what is currently being provided on contract
with CollabNet. 

A few board meetings back, I volunteered to start writing a
description of what tools OSGeo has a need for. This was partly in
response to Gary's call for a clear list of "missing pieces" that we
could ask CN about their future plans to implement. 

http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Tools_Spec is what I started writing
then. This tries to look at it from the perspective of what a system
needs to implement for different groups of users, rather than as a
checklist of 'wiki, blog' etc. I am not sure where else to socialise
this sort of thing - WebCom's bag is more content than toolset
provision? and the SAC more about maintenance than development. It
would be good to narrow down the options as much as possible before
making requests for a lot of public feedback and suggestion.  

I would be in favour of making an investment from the "psychic budget" 
to figure out what would be involved in a Plan B, if only to have
something as a cost comparison to set alongside renewal of the current
contract and cost to OSGeo of replacing and integrating the "missing
pieces" in CN's offering. Hardware/bandwidth and sysadmin resources 
are something that OSGeo already have on offer on a volunteer basis.

While not wanting this discussion to take up too much time that could
be spent on the really key activities such as nailing down the IncCom
agreement docs, figuring out the budget / targets for FunCom, hacking
on fun georss member maps, I think it would be a particularly apt 
discussion to have in person and thus get through quickly.    

best wishes,


jo