[OSGeo-Discuss] role of foundation with regard to licensing

[Tim Schaub]

Hey-

Frank Warmerdam wrote:
> Tim,
> 
> The PSC is considered to be a committee of the foundation, and in 
> particular
> it's representative is considered to be an officer of the foundation
> (corporation) giving them some ability to speak for the foundation legally.
> 

Ok.  I didn't get this from a read of 
http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Project_Steering_Committees (the part about 
consideration as a committee and PSC rep as officer of foundation).

I think this answers my question.  I didn't know how formal the 
arrangement was (or even needs to be).

>  >> I imagine this would happen with some constraints from the 
> foundation (e.g.
>>> OSI approved licenses only)
>>>
>>> I know that in practice, this is probably the way things already are. 
>>> Why
>>> rock the boat?  Why assign copyright to OSGeo in the first place [2]?
> 
> The primary reason to assign copyright to OSGeo is to make it easier to
> relicense in the future.  It is very hard to relicense a project with 
> copyright
> held by many contributors.

Right.  The reason I was asking was because I assumed the copyright 
assignment was primarily about relicensing.  Finding no information 
specifically on how the foundation determines what license to use, I was 
unsure how things would go in practice.

Sounds like the process goes like this (if OSGeo holds copyright):

1) PSC votes on license
2) PSC chair advises OSGeo board
3) OSGeo board decides on license

Perhaps all this seems obvious.  As the chair of the OpenLayers PSC, I 
was asking for clarification on the process because the PSC has been 
discussing both copyright assignment and relicensing.  I just wanted to 
know who to talk to if/when we make any decisions.  Sounds like the 
OSGeo board.

Just added http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Licensing

All mushy language.  If someone wants to firm it up (or delete it), 
please do.

Thanks,
Tim

> 
> There are also reasons not to assign license, foremost being the paperwork
> overhead involved in contributions agreements for all contributors.  Some
> contributors are also hesitant to surrender their control over their
> contribution.
> 
> Best regards,


-- 
Tim Schaub
OpenGeo - http://opengeo.org
Expert service straight from the developers.