[OSGeo-Discuss] "Hostile Takeover" -- what do we mean by this?

[Jody Garnett]

This was something that was explained to me in f2f meeting in 2016.

Apparently other non-profits have had a situation where new members from a
specific community or point of view are voted in due to lax requirements
and come to dominate the board selection process. The wording "hostile" is
a bit unfortunate, a takeover could happen without ill intent because *there
is lots of good our community wants to do in the world*.

An easy example is the "osgeo irrelevant threads" where participants
question if a OSGeo needs to be a software foundation. While our software
foundation is gradually taking on more scope, it would be a shame to lose
site of our primary focus. Specifically we have grown to take on open
geospatial advocacy where the principles we have learned with open source
are being applied to new areas (open source, open standards, open data,
open development ... and now open education and open science).

One strength we have is two pronged approach allowing OSGeo to remain
focused while local chapters tackle regional and national challenges to the
adoption of open geospatial, and initiatives and partnerships take on the
same topic in specific sectors.

Sorry if my rant above does not specifically answer your question, I am not
responsible for the original language used above. Checking history it comes
down to this edit:


>    - (cur
>    <https://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=Membership_Process&diff=108262&oldid=79316>
>     | prev
>    <https://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=Membership_Process&diff=79316&oldid=78405>
>    ) 05:39, 15 August 2014
>    <https://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=Membership_Process&oldid=79316>
>    ‎ Camerons <https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/User:Camerons> (Talk
>    <https://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=User_talk:Camerons&action=edit&redlink=1>
>     | contribs
>    <https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Camerons>)‎ . . (4,764
>    bytes) (+362)‎ . .  (Added →
>    <https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Membership_Process#Responsibilities>‎
>    Responsibilities: as per action from
>    http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Board_Meeting_2014-08-14) (undo
>    <https://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php?title=Membership_Process&action=edit&undoafter=78405&undo=79316>
>    )
>
>
--
Jody Garnett

On 28 August 2017 at 09:41, Sara Safavi <sara at sarasafavi.com> wrote:

> Hi discuss,
>
> In the notification emails from CRO to new charter member nominees, the
> following is included (emphasis mine):
>
> *"(Charter Members) have the following responsibilities: (1) annually vote
> for OSGeo Board Members; (2) annually vote for new OSGeo Charter Members
> and (3) be aware of and protect against a hostile takeover of OSGeo."*
>
> I have had more than one nominee of mine contact me asking what exactly
> this means. I agree with their concerns: this is strange language to use,
> is not reflected in our bylaws, and frankly does not fit the image I
> presented when I first contacted them asking if they would accept a
> nomination.
>
> It may be a language barrier or simply a misunderstanding, but can we
> clarify what is meant by using this kind of verbiage, and consider a
> re-wording?
>
> Thanks,
> Sara
>
> _______________________________________________
> Discuss mailing list
> Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>
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