[Incubator] Definition of a Project

[Arnulf Christl]

All,
working on GRASS incubation documents has brought up an interesting
question. What is the definition of a project or how should it be defined.
(I guess most projects have never really bothered to do this). The
following definition of 'The GRASS Project' is being discussed.

>> "The GRASS Project" is defined as the GPL-licenced GIS software known as
>> the Geographic Resources Analysis Support System, together with the
>> surrounding development, distribution and promotion infrastructure
>> currently headquarted at ITC-irst, Trento, Italy.

It has been suggested to not specify the location of the headquarter to
not necessarily have to revisit the document in case HQ or the
organisation behind it changes. Otoh the definition should obviously be as
precise as possible to avoid confusion with other works of the same name.

This might also be of interest with respect to Copyright issues when it
comes to documentation, tutorials, demo and real data, logo, layout,
merchandise, etc. How far does the project definition reach. What about
registered or trademarked names and last and most what about the community
around it. Is it part of the definition, can it be copyrighted and
licensed? Obviously not but where is the demarcation line. Any forked
projects will have first hand experiences and opinions on this.

I definitely don't see this as a blocker to graduation but it is intriguing.

Best regards,
Arnulf.

-- 
Arnulf Christl
http://www.osgeo.org