incubation checkup was Re: [Board] Meeting Reminder - this Friday

[Frank Warmerdam]

Jo Walsh wrote:
>>> I am concerned that incubation can be seen as too much of a chore. 
>> something then I think we have to set a reasonable target level for
>> projects to graduate incubation.
> 
> Argh, I didn't mean to lower the bar on what we have, which is
> lightweight as is reasonable, probably and well thought out. 
> It is just difficult when a project's entrance to the foundation is
> instantly all these legal issues and a burden of inspection, that I
> want to see that balanced with more positive support. I know expecting
> a lot more people to give up their free time isn't sustainable. 

Jo,

Right - the question is where does the support come from.  It is
already difficult to get folks to actively mentor, much less ask
more.

>>> GeoNetwork is looking for some help with bug tracking and release
>>> management, i think. 
>> Looking for advice?  Actual do-the-work help?  Setting up infrastructural
>> services?  Really, I don't think we have a bag full of developers just
>> looking for something to do.  But I'm sure we could at least squeeze some
>> advice, and infrastructure help out if desired.
> 
> Advice primarily, i think, and perhaps another pair of eyes. Is this
> paying for this the sort of thing that its appropriate to work with 
> a project to seek project directed sponsorship? You've taken a lot 
> of initiative with GDAL to do this; how easy is it for another project
> to get logistical help to use OSGeo as a support seeking vehicle?

I think for some projects, establishing a project sponsorship program
to hire a part time or full time contract maintainer can be a valuable
effort, and not unduely difficult.  The difficult part really is whether
it is practical to find sponsors willing to support the project.  GDAL
is in the enviable position of being used day-to-day by many commercial
organizations.  A significant fraction of those have been willing to
help the project as sponsors.

Some other projects may have a harder time if their user base is
either not depending heavily on them, is not able to easily provide
sponsorships (I have found governments find it hard to get a
sponsorship role through purchasing for instance), doesn't have a lot
of funds (ie. NGOs or individual consultants) or the user organisations
are already supporting the project with in-kind development effort.

In the case of GeoNetwork I think Jeroen would need to make a judgement
call about whether he thinks he could collect enough sponsorships to
justify the effort.  If he can, it may well be practical to turn them
around as extra developer support.

> But where the interesting parts are, are often in the edges between
> projects - e.g. GeoNetwork + Jeroen are keen to join edges more with
> GeoServer and with gvSIG to form something like an 'integrated suite'.
> There's the PostGIS/GRASS/QGis axis as well... 
> 
> Cross project but not foundation wide and sometimes the kind of thing
> that could be a good target for a sprint  - Jody is proposing some
> metadata madness at FOSS4G - but benefit from more structured support
> - call it 'strategic development'? ;) 
> 
> Is this something the foundation wants to directly help projects work
> on, or wants to encourage the development of consultancies to produce?
> If so how can we be most helpful with least resources? Or is enough of
> the right movement happening organically in the world that we do
> enough by sitting here being a repository of trust and social hub?

I certainly hope to see increasing integration between the projects.
I'm hesitant to try and fund such efforts out of general foundation
funds as it raises a very sticky question about how we pick what to
fund, and what not to fund.  But I think the foundation might
provide some kinds of support - such as FOSS4G providing sprint
facilities, and SAC helping maintain subversion, bug tracking,
download servers and buildbot.

Eventually I would like to see the foundation fund more system
administration for stuff like automated builds (buildbot), and
of course the ever elusive OSGeo branded installer.

Best regards,
-- 
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGeo, http://osgeo.org