[OSGeo-Discuss] presenting open source software or open source projects

[Jody Garnett]

I would like to bring to discuss a question that we are struggling with for
the website/rebranding - do we present "open source software" or "open
source projects"?

This is not an easy answer, as the earlier discussion on this list did not
know how to recognize projects doing a rewrite (example OL2 --> OL3, or
project teams expanding and developing additional software components like
QGIS Server.

Here is the email from the marketing list:

The choose-a-project wizard is now working, we had to cut down some of the
> tags last week and change how the pages were done to make it happen.
> This touches on a conversation with Steve Feldman from the code sprint. As
> part of the focus exercise the home page <http://osgeo.getinteractive.nl/> was
> changed to says "Choose your software" which then links to
> "choose-a-project".
> It does bring up two interesting cases:
> 1) http://osgeo.getinteractive.nl/projects/qgis/
> QGIS - has several software projects now under one banner: QGIS
> Desktop, QGIS Server, more?
> This is kind of messing with the system (and resulting in oddities like
> QGIS being listed as a cloud processing service, I assume QGIS server could
> run in the cloud and qgis desktop offers processing).
> 2) http://osgeo.getinteractive.nl/projects/gvsig/
> Same thing, there are now multiple gvSig software projects: gvSIG
> Desktop, gvNIX, gvSIG Mobile, i3Geo



Recommendation for the beta website:
> - Making the QGIS Association page under Partners, linking to individual
> pages for QGIS and QGIS Server project pages.
> - Makin the gvSIG Association link to the individual software project
> pages for gvSIG Desktop, gvNIX, gvSIG  Mobile, i3Geo.
>

And Steven Feldman's reply:

My 1st thoughts on ‘projects’ and ‘software' are to look at definitions:
> *Project*:
>
>
> *"In contemporary business
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_sector> and science
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science>, a project is an individual or
> collaborative enterprise, possibly involving research or design, that is
> carefully planned <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan>, usually by a
> project team, to achieve a particular aim.[1]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project#cite_note-1>A project may also be a
> set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within
> certain cost and other limitations.[2]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project#cite_note-2>It may be a temporary
> (rather than permanent) social systems
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_system> as work systems
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_systems> that is constituted by teams
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team> within or across organizations to
> accomplish particular tasks
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_(project_management)> under time
> constraints.[3] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project#cite_note-3> A
> project may be a part of a wider programme management
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_management>” **https://en.*
> wikipedia.org/wiki/Project <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project>
> *Software*:
> *"Computer software, or simply software, is a part of a computer system
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_system> that consists of data
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_(computing)> or computer instructions,
> in contrast to the physical hardware
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_hardware> from which the system is
> built. In computer science
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science> and software engineering
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineering>, computer software is
> all information <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information> processed
> by computer systems
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_system>, programs
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_program> and data. Computer
> software includes computer programs
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_program>, libraries
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_(computing)> and related
> non-executable data <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_(computing)>, such
> as online documentation
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_documentation> or digital media
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_media>.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software> *


> My interpretation:
> Each different application e.g. QGIS Desktop, QGIS server is ‘software’
> (or we could alternatively use ‘application’ or 'program')
> The QGIS Project is the umbrella organisation/collaboration/social
> construct/enterprise that encompasses and coordinates the individual
> software/applications/programs
> I think the important thing for us as a marketing group is to consider
> what these terms mean to potential users rather than how we use them
> internally (for our community ‘project' can be interchangeable
> with ‘software’).


I am personally having a hard time thinking in terms of software since I
like the fact that open source project encompasses both the technology and
the people.
--
Jody Garnett
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