[Gdal-dev] 1.3.2 Release, OSGeo, etc

[Frank Warmerdam]

Folks,

I am hoping to get a GDAL 1.3.2 release out soon and would appreciate anyone
aware of pressing issues to identify them to me.   I haven't done much of a
pass through bugzilla and at this rate I won't be able to before the release.
But I would like to skim for high priority bug fixes.

I think the main remaining work item I really want to address before the
release is completing multipoint and multilinestring support for the new
SDE driver.

--

My intent is to turn control of GDAL over to the GDAL Project Steering
Committee after the 1.3.2 release.  I have written a proposed set of working
rules for the project steering committee.  They can be found at the following
url, and feedback is welcome.

   http://www.gdal.org/srctree/rfc/RFC1_PMC.txt

GDAL/OGR is currently in "incubation" as an OSGeo project.   We are making
up the process as we go for the initial eight projects (including GDAL) so
it is a bit chaotic.  But things are firming up.  The "Incubation Status"
page for GDAL can be found at:

   http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/GDAL_Incubation_Progress

Note that the OSGeo home page for GDAL is http://gdal.osgeo.org.  Currently
I am planning to operate that essentially as a mirror of www.gdal.org, but
we might want to review that decision.  Possibly www.gdal.org should become
a redirect to gdal.osgeo.org, and that be the "primary home" for GDAL.

I'm also reviewing infrastructure migration questions, like:
  o Should we move GDAL to the OSGeo SVN server (I'm keen on this after some
    initial reluctance)?
  o Should we use the OSGeo download area for source and binary releases of
    GDAL?
  o Should we use OSGeo mailing lists for gdal-dev?
  o Should we add additional GDAL mailing lists, such as an announce and a
    users list?

Ultimately these decisions will need to be made by the GDAL PSC (project
steering committee).

I have been making a painstaking review of the copyright status of GDAL/OGR
source code.  Examining the headers of each and every source file in
the project, and looking for any problems or ambiguities.   This first pass
is roughly 75% complete, and has identified a fair number of concerns.
The working document can be found at:

   http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/GDAL_Provenance_Review

The intention is to come through the OSGeo incubation process with a
sense that the code has been looked over carefully and is believed to be
free of possibly copyright infringement issues.  There will definately be
some work needed after the review to correct identified issues.  In some
cases code may be dropped from GDAL (as was a bunch of ancient COM code
intended to implement the OGC coverages API), while in other cases I may
need to seek permission to use code that is ambiguous or even to rewrite
code that is questionable.

Overall the message I want to get out is that there will be some changes
in the governance, and infrastructure for GDAL in the coming months.  My
intention is to "let go" of GDAL to some degree with the intention that
it will grow into a more mature project where other stakeholders can have
influence and play a bigger role than in the past.   I welcome advice on
what the GDAL community would like to see in this regard.

Best regards,
-- 
---------------------------------------+--------------------------------------
I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGF, http://osgeo.org