[geotk] Exploring the possibility to join Apache SIS project

[Martin Desruisseaux]

Hello again

There is one other initiative which I think must be mentioned. The 
Eclipse foundation is launching LocationTech 
(http://wiki.eclipse.org/LocationTech), which is expected to work 
closely with OSGeo. In my understanding, the LocationTech goals would be 
similar to the OSGeo goals, but inside a much bigger community with 
major players. Actually this is the launch of this initiative which 
trigged us to choose a community. So if Geotk is to join a community, 
there is 2 possibilities we are exploring at this time:

    * Eclipse LocationTech
    * Apache SIS

GeoTools and UDig among others are likely to join LocationTech, so the 
question of overlapping technologies would be raised. I have been told 
that this is not necessarily an issue since competing technologies exist 
inside the Eclipse foundation, and may be considered as incitations for 
innovations. Maybe it would also be incitations for a partial 
Geotk/GeoTools merging, but I don't know if such merging would be 
profitable given the slightly different (I think) goals, and the risk to 
makes more difficult the exploration of alternative implementations.

On the other side, I think that Apache doesn't have much links with OGC 
or OSGeo yet. This could be an opportunity to make Geotk more distinct 
from GeoTools (both in license and community), which - hopefully - may 
be profitable to the open source ecosystem by increasing the spectrum of 
alternative implementations. Closer OGC/ISO compliance could be a 
contribution brought by Geotk to Apache. Collaboration with OSGeo would 
hopefully continue through projects like GeoAPI (if we can convince 
GeoTools to consider it), or OSGeo MetaCRS project.

Any though?

     Martin