[OSGeo-Discuss] Proprietary GIS on our OSGeo website

[Jeffrey Johnson]

We have that kind of page here
http://osgeo.getinteractive.nl/about/migrate-open-source-gis/ ... The
link was removed from the hero area when Steve Feldman changed this in
Boston, so there is no content there now.

Are we not willing to even mention the names of these proprietary
products for fear of 'promoting' them? Or do we want to present the
user coming from outside our community some context about which open
source projects are an analogue or replacement for the proprietary
products they are already familiar with? Thats the real question in my
mind.

On Thu, Sep 21, 2017 at 11:01 AM, Angelos Tzotsos <gcpp.kalxas at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thank you Daniel,
> +1
>
>
> On 09/21/2017 06:45 PM, Daniel Kastl wrote:
>
> I think "Switch2osm" is a very good example how to help migrating to
> non-proprietary tools: https://switch2osm.org/
> I quickly went through their site and as far as I could see, competitor
> names only appear in case studies.
> Maybe we could have "switch2foss" in a similar way.
>
> It's a very good idea to help new users to find open alternatives to the
> proprietary software they're using right now.
> I agree with many here, that this doesn't require to provide links to them.
>
> Best regards,
> Daniel
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 21, 2017 at 4:53 PM, Gert-Jan van der Weijden (OSGeo.nl) <
> gert-jan at osgeo.nl> wrote:
>
> As a regular user of proprietary GIS software (ArcGIS, FME, Oracle Spatial
> etcetera) I can assure that it is very valuable to have some sort of
> guidance in the diversity of the FOSS landscape.
>
> I agree that "similar proprietary products" isn't the right label.
> However, instead of the proposed "migratte from" (which sound like a
> complete migration plan) I'd suggest the label "comparable proprietary
> software".
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Gert-Jan
>
>
>
> María Arias de Reyna schreef op 21-09-2017 8:30:
>
> On 20 September 2017 at 02:41, Helmut Kudrnovsky <hellik at web.de> wrote:
>
> Dear OSGeo community
>
> I want to bring you a discussion on a github ticket about linking to
> "similar proprietary products" [1] to your attention.
>
> My comment there:
>
> "I support and concur with Venka that the item "Similar Proprietary
> Products" should be removed. There isn't only one proprietary GIS
> software
> out there, there are several others. IMHO such comparisons may be part
> of
> e.g. a reviewed scientific paper/elaboration, where our OSGeo projects
> - if
> they want to - may link to. I see no added value for OSGeo to serve
> such
> links. As already elsewhere mentioned by me, reciprocity is the key if
> such
> items are listed, but I can't see this happen. "
>
> I'm pretty much convinced that more effort to help our OSGeo projects
> improving on every level (e.g. documentation, reach out, testing, etc)
> is
> the key rather than linking to proprietary software. One of such
> opportunities may be the upcoming Google Code In (GCI) 2017 e.g. to
> produce
> nice screenshots for documentation, produce some fancy videos etc.
> based on
> tiny little tasks for students aged 13 to 17. A good invest in the
> young who
> will be our OSGeo's future.
>
> Kind regards
> Helmut
> OSGeo charter member
>
> [1] https://github.com/OSGeo/osgeo/issues/100
> [2] https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2017-September/
> 036217.html
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>
> Hi,
>
> On my opinion, it makes sense to show relation between propietary and
> free and open software. Just because we want to people to migrate to
> free and open source software, so it is good if they can search for
> the software they are currently using to know what software will they
> use. It makes sense, it makes life easier on migrations.
>
> Said this, I prefer the "Migrate from" label much better. And sure, no
> link to the product, just the name. Why would we need a link? If they
> don't know what that software is, the information is useless to them.
> If they already know what that software is, the information is
> redundant. So having a name is fine, having a link is nonsense.
>
> Is "Migrate from" label aggresive? Not at all. We are OsGeo, we are
> promoting FLOSS. Promoting FLOSS means we are encouraging people to
> move from propietary to open. That is our philosophy, that is our
> motto. If propietary software feels bad because we follow our goals...
> well, then maybe they should stop promoting their own software too
> because that makes me feel bad.
>
> Regards,
> María.
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>
> --
> Angelos Tzotsos, PhD
> Charter Member
> Open Source Geospatial Foundation
> http://users.ntua.gr/tzotsos
>
>
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