[Foss4g2008loc] Re: Proceedings and/or CD

[Arnulf Christl]

Hi, 
some comments from a list lurker. I have cut the post so that it is easier to find. 

Antony Cooper wrote:
> Hi All
> 
>>>> On 10 March 2008 at 18:28, in message
> <007d01c882cb$bdfff7a0$1703a8c0 at SAHAIntRSA.local>, "Inge Netterberg" 
> <inge.netterberg at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Evening,
[...]
> One issue that will need to be clarified in advance is that of
> copyright - the appropriate Creative Commons licence should be used
> to allow the proceedings to be put on these different CDs and Web
> sites.  Will anyone be allowed to place material from the proceedings
> on their own Web sites, etc?  This needs to be clarified in advance.

We can strongly urge people to publish under a Creative Commons license but I am not sure whether we can make it a must criterion. We could say that only CC oder GNU FDL licensed material will be published on the CD. Then it will also be possible for people to publish all proceedings at their own web sites. My suggestions would be to recommend a CC version that allows commercial use without prior notification. This would allow to use the material in commercial contexts without having to explicitly request this use with every author. But that is only my personal opinion. 

This should come as a motion on this list so that the committee can vote on it (I did not follow closely how well formed your local committee is, can you have motions, votes and passes?). If it passes we should then make sure to explain the implications on an introductory page so that people know what goes on before they submit proposals.  

> Posting them afterwards will be a hassle, particularly given the
> usual post-conference exhaustion experienced by conference
> organisers!  :-)  The CD should contain whatever is submitted by the
> cut-off date.  Late submissions can be added to the Web sites.  I

+1

> presume that an inability to be disciplined and meet deadlines is not
> a general characteristic of the open source community!

It is a general characteristic of the open source community to submit at the very latest date possible. This is a discipline all of its own. You have to make sure that the deadline to submit abstracts for selection is announced 14 days 7 days and two days ahead. Then make sure to announce the final date for ready-to-print content in the exact same manner. 

>> 4.	How does the "open community process" work on the selection of
>> presentations?
> 
> If you are referring to the academic track, they need to be reviewed
> by a team of referees.

FOSS4G had a e-voting system that did its job really well (as far as I can tell). Paul Ramsey will be able to elaborate on that. 

Regards, 
Arnulf