[OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeo: Taking stock of OSGeo after six months

[Tim Bowden]

On Wed, 2006-08-16 at 10:11 -0700, Gary Lang wrote:
> As a board member, I’d like to throw out a question to our audience,
> as we reach the six-month mark.
> 
> I’d be very interested to hear the general public’s description of the
> following, from their perspective: 
> 
> What’s not working about OSGeo?
> 
> What is working about OSGeo?
> 
> Thanks ahead of time for your comments.
> 
> Gary
> 

Gary,  some comments on the first six months and some questions for the
board/ list.

As a lurker on this list it has been very exciting for me to see the
OSGeo foundation take off.  It gives us the opportunity for 'branding'
and market presence.  Some Issues I see:  The incubation process seems
to be taking some time to get going.  Others who are involved have
already said enough about this one.

Allied project hosting: This is probably a subset of the incubation
process, but recently the gpsd project was looking for hosting.  Is
there any reason why the board can't have the discretionary power to
make a quick decision to host a project with simple needs that is of use
and value to osgeo members without it being a formal part of or
'protected' by osgeo?  The more complex the procedure, the less use
osgeo can be to small projects.

Logo usage: As a 'fellow traveller' rather than a member (voting/
financial/ however) I'd like an easy way to register (for want of a
better word) to use some sort of osgeo logo in my business/ web site as
my consulting work is mostly GeoFOSS based.  Has this gone anywhere?

In asking for this I realise there is a conflict between promoting osgeo
and protecting the brand;  I do want to use the osgeo brand (in whatever
capacity I may be allowed), but I don't want the brand diminished by
organisations or individuals who will discredit or misrepresent the
organisation (either unintentionally or intentionally).  Some control
obviously needs to be put on how and who uses the logo.  That's a
problem for better minds than mine, but it's one of the important
challenges I see.

Annual conf: I take it foss4g2006.org is the forerunner to
conf.osgeo.org?  To what extent will it travel around the globe?  I take
it this will depend on local osgeo chapters to do the legwork?  Will
various chapters 'bid' for the privilege of hosting the conf?

Hot issues & media releases:  Does the board have the skill/ authority
to generate quick media releases pushing the osgeo position (is there
such a thing?) to the media when issues are hot?  Ie, geoDRM, free
geodata, patents etc?  Is osgeo on the radar of the 'GeoMedia'?  If not,
who is putting us there and keeping us there?  Is it possible for us to
react quickly enough before an issue loses focus in the media?  Does
Osgeo plan to get monthly coverage in the various regional geo print
media?

Lots of questions, but I think the time is coming when we need to
address some of these issues in a more visible way.

Thanks,
Tim Bowden
Mapforge Geospatial