[Board] Commercialize OSGeo?

[Arnulf Christl]

On Sun, June 1, 2008 13:57, Mark Lucas wrote:
> I think we all are probably in agreement that we don't want commercial
> control of OSGeo.  I think that it is probably necessary that we have broad
> commercial support if we really intend to put these technologies into
> play.  As you have said before, the next challenge is how to make a living
> promoting and supporting open source technologies.  We certainly don't
> want to be seen as 'anti-commercial'.
>
> Mark

When you search OSGeo Wiki with "anti-commercial" you end up on the page
"Free Software" http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Free_Software and there is a
bold "not". There is more:
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/%22Commercial_Software%22
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Business
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Commercial_Services
And I try to keep track of this kind of information here:
* http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Category:Advocacy

I give FOSS Business Model talks and presentations whenever and where ever
I can (it is so spatially related, linked, networked and globalized...).
These days I sometimes already get paid (really well) for doing this job.
For OSGeo I do it all gratis. Maybe only because I am so deep in the
matter I strongly believe that we should keep OSGeo *out* of commercial
activities.

But thats only me and I have a growing sensation that I might miss the
point completely. I still wonder whether I should take the chance to
gracefully disappear from the board at the next election. This is not
coquetry but a request for honest opinion, off list if you like.

Regards, Arnulf.

> On Jun 1, 2008, at 7:16 AM, Frank Warmerdam wrote:
>
>
>> Arnulf Christl (OSGeo) wrote:
>>
>>> Board,
>>> I have stated that I am against commercializing OSGeo. Paul hinted
>>> in the other direction. Are there any more opinions at this level of
>>> the organization? As far as I went into detail there is no precedence
>>> for a "Teach- in" of the proposed format by other organizations like
>>> Apache, Mozilla,
>>> OpenOffice.org or PostgreSQL. If there are I am very interested in
>>> getting more information. I am sure that we are not the first to have
>>> this kind of discussion.
>>
>> Arnulf,
>>
>>
>> I believe that Apache conferences are run loosely on a similar model.
>> That is, a conference organizer bids to put on ApacheCon, promising
>> some specific amount of money to the organization.  They (the organizer)
>> then operates commercially to maximize their profit on the event.  But I
>>  don't know what sorts of constraints they operate within with regard to
>> fee levels etc.
>>
>> I can't easily say whether I'm for or against commercializing as that
>> seems like a broad area.  Generally speaking I'm not keen on OSGeo
>> attempting to provide commercial services since I'm not convinced we
>> have the capacity to execute well, and more importantly I think it
>> impinges on the realm of the existing commercial FOSS4G service
>> providers, potentially putting us at odds with a key constituency of
>> ours.
>>
>> I'm not necessarily against partnering with commercial partners if we
>> can provide branding, promotion or other services.  Some care would need
>> to be taken to keep the option open to any qualifying organization so we
>>  aren't playing favorites in an arbitrary fashion.
>>
>> Ultimately I guess my view is more pragmatic than clear.  I'm
>> willing for OSGeo to get involved "commercial activities" if I am
>> convinced it advances the goals of the foundation.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> --
>> ---------------------------------------
>> +--------------------------------------
>> 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
>>
>>
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>
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-- 
Arnulf Christl
http://www.wheregroup.com