<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;">Daniel,<br>First, thanks for the book link, looks like an excellent resource.<br><br>I see your point about a directory structure 'starter kit' <br>and the actual procedures for managing a project as <br>open-source. At best, a pre-populated structure may <br>save some busy-work while launching the project, and <br>give some hints to the day-to-day operation (what tools <br>are installed there, the directory permissions etc.).<br><br>I wonder if it is less 'starter kit' and more 'cookbook'<br><br>Let's take the utility and telecom personnel attending GITA as an example. I believe they'll find their problem spaces (e.g., asset network design / maintenance) largely unpopulated at the moment with targeted open-source apps. Let's assume that no combination of existing open-source tools solves their problem without significant additional
coding.<br><br>Rather than passively waiting for someone else out <br>there to develop the application, or building a solution <br>in-house, I'd like these utility folks to feel empowered to <br>combine forces and develop their solution as open-source.<br><br>Most certainly (we hope) they'll enlist the open-source <br>developer community. But I'd like for as few structural <br>hurdles as possible to stand in the way, or the industry <br>people will simply dismiss the entire idea as too complex <br>and never even get started.<br><br>What do you suppose are the most effective things we as<br>a community can build or do to pave the way for this<br>model of industry participation?<br><br>Robert<br><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(16, 16, 255); margin-left: 5px; padding-left: 5px;"><br>I think it would be challenging to come up with an "Open-Source Project Starter Kit" that really works. I mean, launching and running an open source project
is not only about making the source available under the right project infrastructure and tools, it is also in large part a different way to build and manage software and its community of users and developers, and this knowledge does not come in a box.<br><div class="plainMail"><br>The book "Producing Open Source Software" could be a good starting point: <a href="http://producingoss.com/" target="_blank">http://producingoss.com/</a><br><br>My personal advice to anyone willing to launch and run a successful open source project would be to join and contribute to existing successful open source project for a little while, then try to immerse yourself in the way they do things, and apply those tricks to your project.<br><br>Daniel<br>-- Daniel Morissette<br><a href="http://www.mapgears.com/" target="_blank">http://www.mapgears.com/</a><br>Provider of Professional MapServer Support since
2000<br><br>_______________________________________________<br><br></div></blockquote></td></tr></table>