[Board] Resurrecting the Eclipse discussion

Tue Jun 12 09:24:06 PDT 2012

I agree with Paul totally- and while I can't speak for the off-list debate,
I didn't read the discussion on this list as particularly negative.
Personally, I want more info before I vote on anything, and I've been
trying to get that info ever since. Ironically, my proposed changes to the
motion were designed to be more positive from OSGeo's perspective- eg lets
not phrase this as something we need to do because we think OSGeo is
failing, but lets do it because it seems like a good thing to do.

I didn't really read much negativity into other people's comments either-
only good old-fashioned discussion.

Jo

On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 5:20 PM, Paul Ramsey <pramsey at opengeo.org> wrote:

> I for one am not opposed to playing footsie (and, indeed, welcome our
> new corporate overlords</gratuitousreference>), but at the end of the
> day wonder "what does it mean?" What concrete actions would arise from
> this talking? Projects dual-listed as "OSGeo projects" and "Eclipse
> projects". Are we just saying that we don't expect our projects to "go
> steady" with us (do we even currently expect them to? I don't think
> so?) Are we saying more than that? I guess it never got past the
> footsie stage so people are probably reacting to the blank slate of
> possibilities by projecting their own worst (best) interpretations of
> what *could* happen.
>
> P.
>
> On Tue, Jun 12, 2012 at 9:16 AM, Michael P. Gerlek <mpg at flaxen.com> wrote:
> > The board motion I proposed earlier was to encourage our projects to
> work with the Eclipse Foundation where it made sense to do so. It was
> intended to be a simple and relatively mild proposal as a first step
> towards working together in the future. Unfortunately, the reaction to this
> was negative and in some (off-list) cases downright hostile.
> >
> > Given that reaction, I suspect it unlikely the Eclipse Foundation would
> be willing to sponsor OSGeo at this time. I'm certainly not willing to
> re-enter the fray without strong support from others in OSGeo.
> >
> > _mpg
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org [mailto:
> board-bounces at lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Seven (aka Arnulf)
> > Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 7:39 AM
> > To: board at lists.osgeo.org
> > Subject: Re: [Board] Resurrecting the Eclipse discussion
> >
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > Hash: SHA1
> >
> > Mark,
> > this is a good summary, thanks.
> >
> > In my understanding we already decided to go ahead with continue talking
> to the Eclipse Foundation. But we need a primary contact on our side who
> leads this effort and maybe Michael is frustrated enough to not want to
> take the lead here (Michael, can you chime in please?).
> >
> > My proposal was to ask Eclipse to become a strategic sponsor - and work
> out together with them what this will exactly "buy" them. I would be happy
> to explore this together with someone from Eclipse but as I am in Europe
> and most of the rest of the board is in Northern Americas it might make
> more sense to have someone else take this on. Ideas?
> >
> > Best regards,
> > Arnulf
> >
> >
> > On 11.06.2012 15:58, Mark Lucas wrote:
> >> OSGeo future and Eclipse?
> >>
> >> Sorry I haven't gotten back to this earlier.
> >>
> >> I hope this won't be misinterpreted so let me emphasize a couple of
> >> points:
> >>
> >> I believe the OSGeo is the global leader in open source geospatial
> >> development We have the top projects as members, we have
> >> infrastructure that supports development, we host great international,
> >> regional and local conferences. I am also very impressed with the
> >> caliber of the committees and board members
> >>
> >> I would like to see us preserve all of that an enhance it.
> >>
> >> There is always room for improvement and areas of concern, maybe some
> >> of those could be addressed through a relationship with another entity
> >> - such as Eclipse.
> >>
> >> 1) We have no staff 2) Our president is stepping down - who is the
> >> face of OSGeo? 3) We spend much more time discussing how we spend the
> >> little money we have then how we raise more funding 4) There is not
> >> any real focus on open source business models 5) Many of the ex
> >> Directors, open source geospatial companies,  and key contributors are
> >> focusing on other avenues (DM Solutions, OpenGeo, Autodesk,
> >> RadiantBlue, ESRI, Oracle just off the top of my head). 6) I'm worried
> >> how we sustain and grow the organization
> >>
> >> Please don't take this as a doom and gloom forecast.  We have success
> >> and inertia behind us, as the board we have the obligation to guide
> >> the organization.  Now is the time to think about the way ahead.  I'm
> >> all for exploring a relationship with Eclipse if we believe it
> >> preserves our strengths and helps to address my concerns.
> >>
> >> Mark
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Jun 11, 2012, at 9:12 AM, Jo Cook wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hi All,
> >>>
> >>> I have been chatting to someone who it turns out is peripherally
> >>> involved in the Eclipse LWG and is going to be in on a conference
> >>> call with them on Thursday. He has a small open source GIS project,
> >>> and they have offered to put it under their banner. He is ambivalent,
> >>> but I've asked him for some more background on what they offer, and
> >>> any process that projects would need to go through. I'm hoping that
> >>> this will fill in some of the gaps that those of us (me in
> >>> particular) had about what Eclipse are offering, so that we can
> >>> kick-start the discussion again- hopefully a bit more positively this
> >>> time with the additional background.
> >>>
> >>> I hope that's useful, and that people feel the discussion is worth
> >>> kick-starting- I certainly do. If so, I'll report back towards the
> >>> end of the week when I have some more information.
> >>>
> >>> All the best
> >>>
> >>> Jo -- ***Jo Cook* Astun Technology Ltd, The Coach House, 17 West
> >>> Street, Epsom, Surrey, KT18 7RL, UK t:+44 750 095 8167 iShare - Data
> >>> integration and publishing platform <http://www.isharemaps.com/>
> >>>
> >>> *****************************************
> >>>
> >>> Company registration no. 5410695. Registered in England and Wales.
> >>> Registered office: 120 Manor Green Road, Epsom, Surrey,
> >>> KT19 8LN VAT no. 864201149.
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________ Board mailing list
> >>> Board at lists.osgeo.org <mailto:Board at lists.osgeo.org>
> >>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________ Board mailing list
> >> Board at lists.osgeo.org http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
> >
> >
> > - --
> > Exploring Space, Time and Mind
> > http://arnulf.us
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> > Version: GnuPG v1.4.11 (GNU/Linux)
> > Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/
> >
> > iEYEARECAAYFAk/XVKAACgkQXmFKW+BJ1b1ahgCeJ4fO3W6w0eSf7Yz0JBd1wskj
> > DF4AnApJ+kzW9TKe7YHGxRFbvS7nWg2w
> > =0fN9
> > -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> > _______________________________________________
> > Board mailing list
> > Board at lists.osgeo.org
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Board mailing list
> > Board at lists.osgeo.org
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
> _______________________________________________
> Board mailing list
> Board at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/board
>

-- 
***Jo Cook*
Astun Technology Ltd, The Coach House, 17 West Street, Epsom, Surrey, KT18
7RL, UK
t:+44 750 095 8167
iShare - Data integration and publishing platform<http://www.isharemaps.com/>

*****************************************

 Company registration no. 5410695. Registered in England and Wales.
Registered office: 120 Manor Green Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8LN VAT no.
864201149.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/board/attachments/20120612/b89526f0/attachment.htm>