[OSGeo-Discuss] scale of FOSS projects

[Frank Warmerdam]

Miles Fidelman wrote:
...
> I think I've made this comment before, but it probably bears repeating:  
> History is a useful indicator.  As far as I can tell, most "really 
> successful" open source projects started out as efforts that had some 
> serious funding behind them, or something that allowed the initial 
> developer(s) some running room to get a project started.
> 
> The examples of "really successful open source projects" that come to mind:
...
> Linux: Started as a thesis project.  Filled a critical niche (free 
> alternative to Unix) - though it's still unclear why the BSD variants 
> didn't end up dominating this niche.
> 
> GNU tools: Stallman, and a cast of thousands - with MIT providing a home.
...
> At the moment, I can't think of any "really successful open source 
> projects" that didn't have their origins with "a network of 
> partly-funded enthusiast contributors" where the originator didn't have 
> some form of organizational home and/or a funding stream for the first 
> few releases of the software.

Miles,

I think that Linux and the GNU tools are very weak examples of your point.
Sure, Linux may have had some limited sort of financial support as a student,
but if a student building an operating system (and talking his professor
into letting it be his thesis effort) doesn't count as grassroots then what
does?  Does grassroots really have to imply homeless people living on the
street and writing free software on the computers at their local internet
cafe?

Likewise, Richard Stallman was provided some office space at MIT, but
was not, to the best of my knowledge, under salary for the first several
years he worked on the GNU tools.  Even if he was, letting a
researcher / lab assistant do a bunch of free stuff on work time isn't
the same (in my mind) as organized institutional support.

I think the distinction between "enterprise backed" vs "grassroots"
projects would be more like the comparison between MapGuide (enterprise
backed) and QGIS (a loose association of people, some of who are doing
the work on company time).  Even MapServer, while it has some
institutional support from UMN, NASA, etc, was much more skunkworks
than it was a strategically planned effort of one enterprise.

If the enterprise backed vs. grassroots comparison is to be meaningful
I think we have to avoid being to reductionist about what counts as
enterprise backed.  Having a job (in which you sneak in a bit of free
software work) isn't the same as being enterprise backed.

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