[Incubator] Suggest QGIS For Graduation

Robert Bray rbray at robertbray.net
Tue Mar 11 00:07:43 EDT 2008


Satisfies me as well. If there are no other comments I'll make a motion to 
recommend QGIS for Graduation EOD tomorrow.

Thanks,
Bob

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cameron Shorter" <cameron.shorter at gmail.com>
To: "Gary Sherman" <sherman at mrcc.com>
Cc: "Robert Bray" <rbray at robertbray.net>; "OSGeo-incubator" 
<Incubator at lists.osgeo.org>
Sent: Monday, March 10, 2008 8:31 PM
Subject: Re: [Incubator] Suggest QGIS For Graduation


> Thanks Gary, that satisfies me.
>
> On Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 1:26 PM, Gary Sherman <sherman at mrcc.com> wrote:
>> On Mar 10, 2008, at 2:58 PM, Cameron Shorter wrote:
>>
>>  > The QGIS Social Contract captures the right "vibe", but I'm hesitant
>>  > to vote for QGIS graduation without a process which ensures all
>>  > contributors accept their responsiblities. The acceptance can be an
>>  > email to an archived list (as is the case with Mapbuilder) or more
>>  > legally binding signed paper contract as is the case with many other
>>  > projects.
>>  >
>>  We've added a Contributors Agreement which lays out the expectations
>>  and implements a requirement to publicly agree on the developer
>>  mailing list. You can view it at:
>>
>>  http://wiki.qgis.org/qgiswiki/ContributorGuidelines
>>
>>  This paged is linked from a number of other pages to ensure that it is
>>  plainly evident to newcomers.
>>
>>  -gary
>>
>>
>>
>>  > Robert Bray wrote:
>>  >> Time for Bob the absentee mentor to chime in. I've been monitoring
>>  >> the QGIS mailing lists for quite a long time (since I signed on as
>>  >> mentor) and I can say from watching interactions on those lists
>>  >> that the QGIS project is healthy, active, and it has a great
>>  >> community. I've also reviewed portions of the code and examined
>>  >> everything called out in the provinence review. Everything looks
>>  >> pretty clean to me. The software itself is stable and the user
>>  >> documentation is quite good.
>>  >>
>>  >> All the necessary governance processes are in place and working,
>>  >> but they are not really documented. It would be good to see these
>>  >> documented especially the process for adding/removing developers,
>>  >> but I would not hold up graduation due to lack of documentation.
>>  >>
>>  >> Cameron's issue below is a valid one, the current QGIS Social
>>  >> Contract is not really a binding agreement. I guess the question I
>>  >> have is how binding does this have to be? I know some of the
>>  >> projects have a more or less legal agreement, e.g. MapGuide, FDO,
>>  >> GeoTools, etc. What's the incubation comitties take on this?
>>  >>
>>  >> If the incubation committee is ok with a non-binding agreement then
>>  >> I am happy to recommend QGIS for graduation.
>>  >>
>>  >> Regards,
>>  >> Bob
>>  >>
>>  >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary Sherman" <sherman at mrcc.com>
>>  >> To: "Cameron Shorter" <cameron.shorter at gmail.com>
>>  >> Cc: "OSGeo-incubator" <Incubator at lists.osgeo.org>
>>  >> Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 9:28 PM
>>  >> Subject: Re: [Incubator] Suggest QGIS For Graduation
>>  >>
>>  >>
>>  >>> On Mar 5, 2008, at 5:47 PM, Cameron Shorter wrote:
>>  >>>
>>  >>>> Frank or Bob, can you please ensure this email is forwarded
>>  >>>> appropriate members of QGIS team.
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>> Congratulations to the QGIS folks, this project looks to be very
>>  >>>> healthy and will be an excellent addition to the stable of OSGeo
>>  >>>> software.
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>> I've only picked up on one issue.
>>  >>>> I don't think the existing processes are strong enough to ensure
>>  >>>> that proprietary code is kept out of the codebase in future.
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>> I'd like to see either:
>>  >>>> 1. All developers sign a Contributors Agreement noting they agree
>>  >>>> to developer guidelines, or
>>  >>>> 2. Email a public list with the same type of information as the CA.
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>
>>  >>> We vet all new devlopers very closely and the Social Contract
>>  >>> contains  a statement about the appropriate license for code. We
>>  >>> can certainly require a response to a "requirements/
>>  >>> responsibilities" email on the  QGIS developer list to make sure
>>  >>> there is a public record.
>>  >>>
>>  >>>> The key element of the developer guidelines is "Thou shall only
>>  >>>> commit clean code to the codebase".
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>> I'd like to see a documented process for adding new coders which
>>  >>>> includes asking the new coder to sign up to their responsibilities.
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>> I believe all OSGeo projects have such processes. You can see an
>>  >>>> example from Mapbuilder's processes under the title of
>>  >>>> "Committer"  and "Committer Responsiblities" at 
>> http://docs.codehaus.org/display/MAP/Contributers+Guide
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>> Frank Warmerdam wrote:
>>  >>>>> Folks,
>>  >>>>>
>>  >>>>> Ideally Bob Bray as QGIS mentor ought to be doing this, but
>>  >>>>> Gary  and I have
>>  >>>>> been having trouble getting a response from him about QGIS
>>  >>>>> incubation, so...
>>  >>>>>
>>  >>>>> I think QGIS is pretty much ready for graduation.  The
>>  >>>>> documents  are at:
>>  >>>>>
>>  >>>>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/QGIS_Incubation_Status
>>  >>>>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/QGIS_Provenance_Review
>>  >>>>>
>>  >>>>> As a QGIS developer now, I'm not exactly disinterested, but I
>>  >>>>> think QGIS
>>  >>>>> is an open community with a governance structure in place.  The
>>  >>>>> code
>>  >>>>> provenance review found no problems, and in a variety of spot
>>  >>>>> checks myself
>>  >>>>> I don't see any issues.
>>  >>>>>
>>  >>>>> So, consider this a "call for questions and concerns" which will
>>  >>>>> hopefully
>>  >>>>> lead to a motion to graduate within a week or two from either
>>  >>>>> myself or Bob.
>>  >>>>>
>>  >>>>> Best regards,
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>> --
>>  >>>> Cameron Shorter
>>  >>>> Geospatial Systems Architect
>>  >>>> Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
>>  >>>> Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>> Think Globally, Fix Locally
>>  >>>> Commercial Support for Geospatial Open Source Solutions
>>  >>>> http://www.lisasoft.com/LISAsoft/SupportedProducts.html
>>  >>>>
>>  >>>> _______________________________________________
>>  >>>> Incubator mailing list
>>  >>>> Incubator at lists.osgeo.org
>>  >>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator
>>  >>>
>>  >>> -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
>>  >>> Gary Sherman
>>  >>> Chair, QGIS Project Steering Committee
>>  >>> -Micro Resources: http://mrcc.com
>>  >>>  *Geospatial Hosting
>>  >>>  *Web Site Hosting
>>  >>> -Desktop GIS Book:
>>  >>>  *http://desktopgisbook.com
>>  >>> "We work virtually everywhere"
>>  >>> -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
>>  >>>
>>  >>> _______________________________________________
>>  >>> Incubator mailing list
>>  >>> Incubator at lists.osgeo.org
>>  >>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator
>>  >>>
>>  >>
>>  >>
>>  >>
>>  >
>>  >
>>  > --
>>  > Cameron Shorter
>>  > Geospatial Systems Architect
>>  > Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
>>  > Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
>>  >
>>  > Think Globally, Fix Locally
>>  > Commercial Support for Geospatial Open Source Solutions
>>  > http://www.lisasoft.com/LISAsoft/SupportedProducts.html
>>  >
>>
>>  -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
>>  Gary Sherman
>>  Chair, QGIS Project Steering Committee
>>  -Micro Resources: http://mrcc.com
>>    *Geospatial Hosting
>>    *Web Site Hosting
>>  -Desktop GIS Book:
>>    *http://desktopgisbook.com
>>  "We work virtually everywhere"
>>  -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Cameron Shorter
> Geospatial Systems Architect
> Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
> Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
>
> Think Globally, Fix Locally
> Commercial Support for Geospatial Open Source Solutions
> http://www.lisasoft.com/LISAsoft/SupportedProducts.html
> 




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