[Incubator] Project Incubation Mentor

[Paul Spencer]

Thanks Sean.

Cheers

Paul

On 5-Apr-06, at 10:40 PM, Sean Gillies wrote:

> Forwarding my reply. Take two.
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>> From: Sean Gillies <sgillies at frii.com>
>> Date: April 5, 2006 11:23:24 AM MDT
>> To: Arnulf Christl <arnulf.christl at ccgis.de>
>> Cc: Frank Warmerdam <warmerdam at pobox.com>, Jody Garnett  
>> <jgarnett at refractions.net>, Chris Holmes <cholmes at openplans.org>
>> Subject: Re: [Incubator] Project Incubation Mentor
>>
>> On Apr 5, 2006, at 9:33 AM, Arnulf Christl wrote:
>>
>>> Jody Garnett wrote:
>>>> Sean Gillies wrote:
>>>>> Frank,
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm not going to be able to do it. Most of it is time, but it's  
>>>>> partly that my ideas about incubation are clearly outside the  
>>>>> foundation main stream.
>>>> Perhaps you could help me then Sean? I am not sure my ideas on  
>>>> main stream either - and we do want to have a range of inputs so  
>>>> we have a useful (rather then narrow) incubation process.  Going  
>>>> through the previous posts to this list I do not get an  
>>>> indication of where your ideas are, would you like to talk about  
>>>> it more?
>>>> Jody
>>>
>>> Hi Sean,
>>> yes - I would also be interested to hear about your ideas and if  
>>> only to find out what the "foundation main stream" might be  
>>> (which to me still seems to be very much under development).
>>>
>>> One hope would be to learn from reverse engineering your offbeat  
>>> ideas and then possibly enhance OSGeo's incubation procedure. I  
>>> have heard several comments on what you blogged regarding  
>>> MapServer Foundation and follow up OSGeo but couldn't find a link  
>>> to read it myself. So if you would point me to one or two of your  
>>> more controversial ideas I might learn what makes you tick.
>>>
>>> I also just might humbly request whether you would mentor us. We  
>>> are a small and simple project, not much work to do. Just to get  
>>> you back in. :-)
>>>
>>
>> My perception is that the committee wants to fast track the  
>> initial projects. That's what I mean by mainstream. IMO, the  
>> process should be slower, more conservative, and have a real  
>> effect on the projects. I'll try to use the projects most familiar  
>> to me as examples.
>>
>> Conservative to me means that only projects with a bright and  
>> shiny future should be released from the incubator. To be  
>> specific, I think MapServer's best days are behind it. I'm not  
>> talking code, here. I'm talking about developers and business.  
>> Much of MapServer's development is mercenary. We've usually seen  
>> this as a sign of vigor: people are making money as MapServer  
>> developers. On the other hand, mercenary developers can always be  
>> employed away to other projects. I expect to see Autodesk  
>> undermine MapServer like this. It's not evil, it's just business.  
>> Additionally, the MapServer Enterprise/Cheetah fiasco showed me  
>> how ready some businesses are to swap MapServer out for the next  
>> big thing. IMO, MapServer should demonstrate that its mojo is  
>> healthy and increasing before it's out of the incubator.
>>
>> GDAL, on the other hand, clearly has a bright future. What I'd  
>> like to see there is a real indicator that the project is  
>> achieving its goal of transition from benevolent tyranny to  
>> community and meritocracy. What would the indicator be? I don't  
>> know for sure. Independent mercenary developers or consultants  
>> might be a good sign. We always thought they were for MapServer.  
>> (Note that it is very possible that I am just unaware of existing  
>> independent GDAL developers and consultants.) I think the same  
>> measure could be usefully applied to single-shop projects like  
>> MapGuide OS.
>>
>> I don't intend that going slow be punitive, but that it give  
>> adequate time for projects to make progress on the transformations  
>> that they've begun.
>>
>> Hopefully that clarifies my opinion.
>>
>> Sean
>>
>> ---
>> Sean Gillies
>> http://zcologia.com
>>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: incubator-unsubscribe at incubator.osgeo.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: incubator-help at incubator.osgeo.org
>

+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|Paul Spencer                           pspencer at dmsolutions.ca   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|Applications & Software Development                              |
|DM Solutions Group Inc                 http://www.dmsolutions.ca/|
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+