[gdal-dev] Driver maintenance - long-term solution ?

[Nyall Dawson]

On Thu, 14 Jan 2021 at 07:26, Javier Jimenez Shaw <j1 at jimenezshaw.com> wrote:

> - How to finance the development of GDAL? Well, do not forget that Even is also working a lot in PROJ, a library by the way used by GDAL... (should GDAL contribute to PROJ, as QGIS should contribute to GDAL and PROJ?)

For reference -- QGIS indirectly sponsors improvements and fixes in
GDAL and PROJ by employing Even to work on upstream issues which
impact QGIS during the lead up to any QGIS major release. The project
has recently started doing a similar thing with GEOS through
sponsorship of Sandro Santilli.

Fingers crossed we see more upstream (including non-open-source)
applications follow the same model...

Nyall




>
> I want to thank Even for the great work he is doing.
>
> Cheers
> .___ ._ ..._ .. . ._.  .___ .. __ . _. . __..  ... .... ._ .__
> Entre dos pensamientos racionales
> hay infinitos pensamientos irracionales.
>
>
>
> On Wed, 13 Jan 2021 at 21:24, David Strip <gdal at stripfamily.net> wrote:
>>
>> Kudos to Howard for his succinct summary of the situation and the call to action. While I have nowhere near his experience with open source, my experience with other volunteer organizations reveals a similar pattern.  One person, or maybe a small number of people, carry the burden of keeping the organization running. This goes on for years until someone burns out. Sometimes new people step before chaos sets in, but too often the organization begins a death spiral.
>>
>> Open source broadly is facing something of a turning point as commercial organizations have learned how to profit from open source, but have not yet learned they have to contribute to the commons. A particularly relevant example is the case of MongoDB where cloud services were offering paid hosting while paying nothing to support the project. Gdal's situation strikes me as similar. Large commercial vendors are embedding gdal in their offerings, either directly in software delivered to users or as part of the infrastructure behind the services they provide. Some of these companies are very profitable and could well afford to pay their way. Unfortunately, it is often the case that the developer who is aware of this reliance on gdal may not be in a position to convince his/her management to ante up for the "free" software.
>>
>> What is the path forward?  One path Howard suggests is establishing a foundation similar to that behind Qgis. Another alternative, probably far more controversial, is a license change. MongoDB created a license class directed at the cloud suppliers who were (morally) abusing the free license terms. gdal could adopt a license that requires those bundling gdal into a commercial product or service to pay their way. As I said, this would no doubt be quite controversial. Then there's the case of "second-order" free-riders. Gdal is critical technology underlying Qgis, another free, open-source project. Should firms that contribute to the qgis foundation also contribute to gdal, or can they rely on the appropriate portion of their "dues"  to be forwarded to gdal?
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> gdal-dev mailing list
>> gdal-dev at lists.osgeo.org
>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/gdal-dev
>
> _______________________________________________
> gdal-dev mailing list
> gdal-dev at lists.osgeo.org
> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/gdal-dev