[Board] So what is the purpose of OSGeo?

[Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo)]

On 30-May-08, at 1:25 PM, jo at frot.org wrote:

> On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 10:59:31AM -0700, Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo)  
> wrote:
>> On 29-May-08, at 10:41 AM, Arnulf Christl wrote:
>>>> It ends up sounding like the board could be out of touch with the
>>>> needs and interests of the community and its projects.
>>>>
>>> This may well be true. Is this a musing or a position? (I should
>>> know so that i can decide whether being on the board makes good  
>>> sense).
>>
>> You should know I speak more in generalities than specifics :)  It's
>> neither musing nor a personal position.  This is a hypothetical
>> position that observers of the board could come to during this
>> discussion.
>
> I have been learning from the openstreetmap-talk-legal list how
> counterproductive it can be to produce hypotheticals in support of
> one or another "position", with no objective means of grounding them.

Jo,

Sorry for confusing the discussion with my unclear explanation.  I  
meant to show that I do believe if there is an event that helps  
develop the community, helps educate about the projects and engages  
local people - that it would be a good thing to support.  Both  
practically and visually to OSGeo community at large.

Negatively speaking, if those positive attributes of an event were  
ignored, it could be seen as not recognising or caring about those  
values.  Yes it's hypothetical to say that, but it is also how I  
personally would feel (like it was a missed opportunity).  Since I  
know the issue is deeper than that and it doesn't mean that my mind  
can't be changed, I think I end up being too "fluffy" with my  
presentation.

I've been trying to bring balanced alternative viewpoints to the  
debates rather than say nothing or only give my personal opinion.   
Sorry when that becomes muddled, I'll try to keep it a bit clearer  
next time.

Tyler