[Incubator] Fwd: GisClient OS Project Application

Fri Nov 16 16:40:59 PST 2012

Here are my responses to questions/comments from Jody on the GISClient
incubation application.

Landon

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Landon Blake <sunburned.surveyor at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 3:14 PM
Subject: Re: [Incubator] GisClient OS Project Application
To: Jody Garnett <jody.garnett at gmail.com>

Jody wrote: "Is the second company committing (or just using the project)?"

I believe the second company is committing, so they pass the bar in this regard.

What is the next step for GISClient?

Good to hear about GeoServer. I will check in with that project in a
separate thread.

Landon

On Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 2:33 PM, Jody Garnett <jody.garnett at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> --
> Jody Garnett
>
> On Saturday, 17 November 2012 at 4:12 AM, Landon Blake wrote:
>
> I completed my initial review of the GISClient incubation application
> today (a little behind schedule).
>
> I wanted to provide the rest of the Incubation Committee with my few
> review comments:
>
> 1) I'm not much of a web programmer, although I do tinker with
> OpenLayers. So I'm a little unclear as to the purpose of the project.
> Here is how the application describes it:
>
> GisClient3 is an open source software written in AJAX, Javascript,
> PHP/MapScript that allows to configure a range of tools and
> functionalities easily and quickly. It works as a web authoring tool
> configurator for MapServer and enables to both build up Mapfiles and
> provide OpenLayers maps.
>
> Does that make sense to any of you?
>
> So I would assume it is a "higher level turn-key" solution similar to
> MapFish, Geomajas and others.
> One of the advantages of MapGuide OpenSource is they offer this kind of "end
> to end" solution.
>
> We have a number of projects in this space - the more the merrier.
>
> 2) The project seems to have originated with one business in Italy,
> although it is now being used by a second Italian company. The
> application sttes there are no patent or copyright issues, so this
> shouldn't be a big concern. But it seems this is definitely a project
> being sponsored by companies more than by individial developers.
>
> So it may need to hang out in GeoLabs and work on community building. We do
> our best
> to only accept projects when they have a broader base of developers.
>
> We have done a minimum of two (for an established project).
>
> Is the second company committing (or just using the project)?
>
> 3) The user and developer base seems to be focused in Italy. It would
> seem reasonable that one goal of incubation would be to widen this
> user/developer base.
>
> May not actually be a concern, i3Geo is very large project that has thus far
> been limited
> to one region.
>
> So the concern is more about bus number, and less about Italy.
>
> 4) The project is currently unit testing/software testing. This is
> also something we should encourage during incubation.
>
> Cameron would like to encourage QA, and it does appear on our checklist.
> Right now we are only asking projects to document the QA procedures that
> they
> currently perform (as way of encouragement - and warning for any developers
> considering involvement).
>
> I think the next step will be point out that projects without testing/unit
> testing
> fail to attack trust, and fail to attract developers. Simply because they
> are more
> expensive to modify as community.
>
> Consider this an advocacy thing - that goes beyond our limited ("sanity
> check" mandate).
>
> If we decide to accept the application, do we have a mentor available?
> I can mentor the project (there isn't much happening with Geoserver
> right now), but it would be better to get a mentor with more web
> development experience.
>
> We have a one project per mentor limit - to avoid burning people out :-)
>
> And if you look, *everything* happened with GeoServer yesterday at a code
> sprint!
>
> Jody
>
>
> Let me know what you think.
>
> Landon
>
> On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 4:00 PM, Landon Blake
> <sunburned.surveyor at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I'll try to take a look at the application on my lunch break tomorrow,
> and will let you guys know if I see anything out of order.
>
> I'll send a short e-mail to the project to let them know that we
> received the application and are currently reviewing it.
>
> Landon
>
> On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 2:33 PM, Jody Garnett <jody.garnett at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> It would be nice to say hello, but yeah our email list here should look over
> the application.
>
> --
> Jody Garnett
>
> On Tuesday, 13 November 2012 at 2:55 AM, Landon Blake wrote:
>
> Any objections if I review the application and establish communication
> with the project?
>
> Landon
>
> On Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 8:29 AM, Jody Garnett <jody.garnett at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> This is in part why I want to revise our procedure; so we respond to
> projects when they apply.
>
> As it is the first move we make is when we have a mentor available.
>
> --
> Jody Garnett
>
> On Tuesday, 13 November 2012 at 2:25 AM, Landon Blake wrote:
>
> Jody,
>
> I'm just catching up on my e-mails. Do we need someone to review this
> application?
>
> Landon
>
> On Mon, Sep 24, 2012 at 1:38 AM, Jody Garnett <jody.garnett at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> The following application was mentioned in our last meeting, but not
> discussed.
>
> Application here: http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/ticket/910 GisClient OS
> Project submssion to the OsGeo Incubator Committee
>
> The actual application is supplied as an ODT file:
> -
> http://trac.osgeo.org/osgeo/raw-attachment/ticket/910/GisClient%20for%20OsGeo.odt
>
> In the interests of getting things moving I have copied the text after the
> break...
> --
> Jody Garnett
>
> GisClient Incubator Application Questionnaire
>
>
>
> 1. Please provide the name and email address of the principal Project Owner.
>
> Project name: GisClient
>
> website: www.gisclient.org
>
> Project Owner: Roberto Starnini
>
> Project Contact: roberto.starnini at gisweb.it
>
>
> 2. Please provide the names and emails of co-project owners (if any).
>
> Co-project owner: Francesco D'Alesio
>
> Co-project owner contact: francesco at r3-gis.com
>
>
> 3. Please provide the names, emails and entity affiliation of all official
> committers
>
> Roberto Starnini
>
> Gis&Web srl
>
> Via Gramsci 27/9
>
> 16126 Genova
>
> www.gisweb.it
>
> tel. +39.010.247.44.91
>
> fax. +39.010.941.21.32
>
> roberto.starnini at gisweb.it
>
>
> Francesco D'Alesio
>
> R3-GIS s.r.l.
>
>
> Merano (BZ), Italy
>
> www. r3-gis.com
>
> Via Johann Kravogl, 2
>
> 39012 Merano (BZ)
>
> Tel. +39 0473 494949
>
> Fax +39 0473 069902
>
> francesco at r3-gis.com
>
>
> 4. Please describe your Project.
>
> GisClient is a web authoring tool configurator for GIS projects.
>
> GisClient3 is an open source software written in AJAX, Javascript,
> PHP/MapScript that allows to configure a range of tools and functionalities
> easily and quickly. It works as a web authoring tool configurator for
> MapServer and enables to both build up Mapfiles and provide OpenLayers maps.
> Designed for interoperability, GisClient3 publishes data from any major
> spatial data source using open standards.
>
> Improving interoperability among the open source GIS softwares is one of the
> GisClient aims, that's why at the moment we are working on making GisClient3
> able to create config files for a wider stack of components and, in
> addition, we are developing standard interfaces (such as MapContex and
> OWSContext).
>
>
> 5. Why is hosting at OSGeo good for your project?
>
> Being hosted at OSGeo would be good for us, cause we think that would help
> in spreading out the project on a global scale. Our aim is to involve as
> many users as possible to try and test GisClient, and possibly find more
> developers, interested in taking part in the project and collaborate.
>
> 6. Type of application does this project represent(client, server,
> standalone, library, etc.):
>
> Server
>
>
> 7. Please describe any relationships to other open source projects.
>
> a. GisClient is based on MapServer as map server
>
> b. It uses Postgre/PostGis as aDB
>
> c. It uses OpenLayers libraries
>
>
>
> 8. Please describe any relationships with commercial companies or products.
>
> Gis&Web s.r.l. is a small Italian company in Genova, Italy. In the last
> years, most of the GIS products, applications and services offered by Gis
> &Web have been based on GisClient.
>
> Actually GisClient hasn't started as a proper open source project, but as a
> solution to respond the users needs and expectations. In most cases Gis&Web
> customers are Municipalities and Local Authorities. They use GisClient as a
> tool to manage the spatial data they are in charge of collect.
>
>
> In terms of field of applications Local Authorities have been using
> GisClient in urban planning, land use, tourism and heritage management,
> mobility management.
>
> GisClient has also been applied by the University of Genova to reaserch
> activities in the environmental monitoring sector, both in marine protected
> and portual areas.
>
>
> As a commercial product, GisClient it has been used as a tool to manage
> utilities networs by Iren, an Italian society operating in the sector
> pertaining to the water cycle and to gas distribution.
>
> Not only Gis&Web but also, R3-GIS, an Italian company in Merano, has based
> most of its commercial offer on GisClient. They developed different web gis
> products for management of green areas, playgrounds, traffic signs,
> pipelines and technological networks, environmental monitoring systems, CO2
> Emission Monitoring Systems, Tourism Portals, etc.
>
>
> 9. Which open source license(s) will the source code be released under?
>
> GPL3
>
>
> 10. Is there already a beta or official release?
>
> It is. It can be downloaded on www.gisclient.org/download
>
> At the moment we are working on user documentation.
>
>
> 11. What is the origin of your project (commercial, experimental, thesis or
> other higher education, government, or some other source)?
>
> Commercial
>
>
> 12. Does the project support open standards?
>
> YES
>
>
> 13. Which ones and to what extent? (OGC, w3c, ect.)
>
> OGC, W3C and INSPIRE for Metadata
>
>
> 14. Has the software been certified to any standard (CITE for example)?
>
> NO
>
>
> 15. If not, is it the intention of the project owners to seek certification
> at some point?
>
> We haven't thought about that yet.
>
>
> 16. Is the code free of patents, trademarks, and do you control the
> copyright?
>
> Yes it is
>
>
> 17. How many people actively contribute (code, documentation, other?) to the
> project at this time?
>
> 5
>
>
> 18. How many people have commit access to the source code respository?
>
> 5
>
> 19. Approximately how many users are currently using this project?
>
> Being a web application, it is not easy to “count” them, but including the
> ones who use GisClient base web application developed by Gis&Web, Iren and
> R3-Gis the total amount of users will be more than 500.
>
>
> 20. What type of users does your project attract (government, commercial,
> hobby, academic research, etc. )?
>
> all of them
>
>
> 21. If you do not intend to host any portion of this project using the OSGeo
> infrastructure, why should you be considered a member project of the OSGeo
> Foundation?
>
> In our vision on how to develop GisClient we share most of the OSGeo
> Foundation objectives.
>
> In facts:
>
> We aim to promote the use of open source software in the geospatial industry
> and by the Goverments.
>
> We aim to support the implementation of open standards and standards-based
> interoperability through our project.
>
> Taking part in the OsGeo Conferences (e.g. Barcelona 2009, Prague 2012), we
> give our contribution to improve the internationalization of software and of
> the community. We presented GisClient on occasion of the last Foss4G
> Conference in Prague.
>
>
> 22. Does the project include an automated build and test?
>
> No
>
>
> 23. What language(s) are used in this project? (C/Java/perl/etc)
>
> Php/Javascript
>
>
> 24. What is the dominant written language (i.e. English, French, Spanish,
> German, etc) of the core developers?
>
> English
>
>
> 25. What is the (estimated) size of a full release of this project?
>
> 50 Mb
>
>
> 26. How many users do you expect to download the project when it is
> released?
>
> 2000
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Incubator mailing list
> Incubator at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator
>
>