[Geotools-devel] Response from GeoTools OSGEO questions

[Jody Garnett]

Hi Frank,

Currently GeoTools is running out of blocking issues for the incubator 
process, as our mentor perhaps you can offer guidance :-)

We have set our own goals of:
- user documentation (going to be a topic of the day at FOSS4G I am sure)
- ensuring the (c) situation is clear - the best solution is to ask 
OSGEO to hold (c)

So code ownership *is* a blocking issue (would not ask OSGEO foundation 
to represent a codebase who's ownership is held by a non legal entity), 
but it is not the only one. Our user documentation is being held up by 
volunteer effort (and answering the doc license questions would help 
there - although we have a workaround of asking ACuster to hold the docs 
until OSGEO can give us feedback).

I tried to outline a process by which we could assign ownership (in 
terms of packaging a same build), but never got any feedback. So we are 
happy, and we are kicking the OSGEO into defining process (perfect for 
an incubation project).
Jody

> Martin Desruisseaux wrote:
>> Jody Garnett a écrit :
>>> Not really encouraging but we did make their board meeting.
>>> - 
>>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/index.php/Seventeenth_Board_Meeting#Status_report_on_legal_issue 
>>>
>>
>> What are the blocker issues? Any chance we get a talk about that at 
>> Lausane?
>
> Jody / Martin,
>
> I have an action item from the last Incubator meeting which is to prepare
> something for the board to approve making it clear that project PSCs 
> will be
> in charge of code assigned to the foundation on their behalf.
>
> At this stage, this will likely be a "statement of position" by the 
> board,
> but when we revise the foundation bylaws, it hopefully be included in the
> bylaws as part of a section describing PSC powers, and independence.
>
> I explained this at the board meeting, and the board members present 
> seemed
> to be agreeable with the idea.  This had been the intent of the board 
> since
> the early on.
>
> So the blocker is that I haven't yet written something up.  Partly 
> because
> I'm busy but also partly because I'm trying to percolate in the back 
> of my
> head whether the statement out to be more broad, trying to cover the 
> whole
> topic of PSC independence, and what the boundaries of that are.
>
> Is having this statement a blocking issue for GeoTools?
>
> The other topic that I think is more of a blocker understanding the steps
> we need to go through for copyright assignment.  I'll take that up on the
> incubator list with Jennifer (an Autodesk lawyer) and Rich.  Basically we
> need to get a prototype assignment letter so we know how to do this 
> legally.
>
> Best regards,