[Incubator] Fwd: GisClient OS Project Application

Sun Nov 18 23:04:32 PST 2012

My feeling so far is that GISClient isn't ready yet to become an OSGeo 
project due to the current immaturity of the community behind this project.

One of the issues that the web portal projects are facing is that there 
is a number of projects all competing for the same sponsors and developers.

I'd encourage the GISClient project to follow the steps involved in 
going through incubation (which is good software management practices 
anyway), and work on building community. One way to build community is 
to consider consolidating with other GIS Portal projects.

On 17/11/2012 11:40 AM, Landon Blake wrote:
> 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
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Incubator mailing list
> Incubator at lists.osgeo.org
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator

-- 
Cameron Shorter
Geospatial Solutions Manager
Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254

Think Globally, Fix Locally
Geospatial Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Source
http://www.lisasoft.com