[Incubator] Info on the Old OSGeo Labs

Cameron Shorter cameron.shorter at gmail.com
Tue Mar 8 02:35:18 PST 2016


Hey Jody,
I'm actually agreeing with all you are suggesting doing with the 
rebranded "OSGeo Labs", except the name "OSGeo Technology". This name 
misrepresents the "Self Serve", non-validated concept of "OSGeo Labs". 
The name implies "built out of OSGeo Projects".  This is a dis-service 
to people who come to our site for the first time, a dis-service to 
"OSGeo Projects" who now become associated with immature projects.

Pick a more accurate name than "OSGeo Technology" and I'd back the rest 
of what you are suggesting.

Warm regards, Cameron

On 7/03/2016 9:55 am, Jody Garnett wrote:
> This is going to be a tough one Cameron ... our brand currently has a 
> reputation for turning projects away ... not quality.
>
> The long story short is how to respond to the direction to be 
> inclusive. We have two strong characters on this mailing list with an 
> axe to grind making it difficult for projects to be part of OSGeo. I 
> am very keen on projects *being* open source, and you are very keen on 
> making projects safe for users to adopt (project viability, quality, 
> open standards).
>
> I am proposing repurposing "OSGeo Labs" (which did not promise 
> anything as a brand and got adopted by GeoForAll) as "OSGeo 
> Technology" to focus on the open source angle; in order to preserve 
> "OSGeo Projects" (and incubation) to focus on the second.
>
> We have a tension here between being inclusive (read easy) and 
> transparent (which takes effort).
>
> How would you like to add "transparency" to this mix? We could provide 
> a table with website, download, documentation, test results - not sure 
> if that would help with transparency?
>
> I know we keep coming back to a rating system on this mailing list - I 
> recognize your work in this area for OSGeo Live with the introduction 
> of black duck metrics. I imagine you would also be happy to phrase 
> things as positive "badges" (for projects that have documentation, or 
> quality assurance, or standards testing).  For quality, documentation 
> and so forth I think we are stuck leading by example (and perhaps 
> working with the OGC on standards compliance).
>
> On 3 March 2016 at 23:57, Cameron Shorter <cameron.shorter at gmail.com 
> <mailto:cameron.shorter at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     Hi Jody,
>     I agree with your suggestion that "Old OSGeo Labs" need not have
>     an aim of entering OSGeo incubation.
>     However, I object to any project becoming associated with OSGeo
>     without it being obvious about the level of quality control the
>     project has gone through.
>
>     As suggested below, I could knock together 100 lines of
>     uncommented, non-working code, give it an open source license, and
>     then add a "OSGeo Technology" logo to the home page. And most
>     average punters wouldn't know the difference between term "OSGeo
>     Project" and "OSGeo Technology". This would result in diminishing
>     the current association between OSGeo applications and quality,
>     which would be a bad thing.
>
>     I feel "OSGeo Labs", "OSGeo Community Builder Projects", or
>     shortened to "OSGeo Builder Projects" are less likely to be
>     confused with "OSGeo Incubated" projects.
>
>     Warm regards, Cameron
>
>
>     On 4/03/2016 2:13 am, Stephen Woodbridge wrote:
>
>         +1, I think these changes make a lot of sense and as part of
>         an OSGeo Technology project this feels very inclusive.
>
>         -Steve W
>
>         On 3/3/2016 9:46 AM, Jody Garnett wrote:
>
>             I would like to change the tone of the page a bit, since
>             it "assumes"
>             incubation ..
>
>                 /OSGeo Labs is an umbrella for open source geospatial
>             software
>                 projects that would like to become OSGeo projects in
>             the future, but
>                 that aren't ready for incubation quite yet. It is
>             appropriate to
>                 submit your new or experimental project as an OSGeo
>             labs project./
>                 /
>                 /
>                 /The volunteers that work as part of OSGeo Labs have
>             the goal of
>                 helping OSGeo Labs Projects qualify for incubation. To
>             reach this
>                 goal, OSGeo Labs volunteers help OSGeo Labs Projects
>             with the
>                 following tasks:
>                 /
>
>
>             Would become:
>
>                 /Welcome to OSGeo Technology. The projects listed here
>             are part of
>                 the Open Source Geospatial Foundation and range from new
>                 experimental projects to established pillars of our
>             open source
>                 ecosystem./
>                 /
>                 /
>                 /All projects here meet our goals as an organization -
>             they are open
>                 source (no really we checked) and are inclusive and
>             welcoming to new
>                 contributors./
>                 /
>                 /
>
>                 /Projects that go on to establish excellence in
>             community building,
>                 documentation, and governance can enter our
>             "incubation" program. /
>
>
>             I would also lose the "status" conditions
>             seed/seedling/sapling/adult
>             and keep OSGeo Technology focused on the basics (open source &
>             inclusive). The status becomes having the "OSGeo
>             Technology" badge nice
>             and simple.
>
>             Thinking this through a bit more we have one clear reason
>             for projects
>             to go through with incubation - being recognized by the
>             board and having
>             an OSGeo Officer listed directly for the project, while
>             OSGeo Technology
>             projects "share" an officer (as part of "incubation
>             committee").
>             -- 
>             Jody Garnett
>
>             On 11 February 2016 at 11:04, Landon Blake
>             <sunburned.surveyor at gmail.com
>             <mailto:sunburned.surveyor at gmail.com>
>             <mailto:sunburned.surveyor at gmail.com
>             <mailto:sunburned.surveyor at gmail.com>>> wrote:
>
>                 There is some good information on what we were trying
>             to achieve
>                 with the old OSGeo Labs on the wiki:
>
>             https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Labs
>
>                 I think most of that information on the wiki still
>             applies. This
>                 includes the purpose of labs, how projects get started
>             in labs, what
>                 labs is trying to accomplish, and the criteria to
>             determine if your
>                 project is a good fit for labs.
>
>                 Does anyone have major heartburn with what is laid out
>             on that wiki
>                 page? (I'll rename the wiki page as soon as we get a
>             new name for labs.)
>
>                 Landon
>
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>     -- 
>     Cameron Shorter,
>     Software and Data Solutions Manager
>     LISAsoft
>     Suite 112, Jones Bay Wharf,
>     26 - 32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009
>
>     P +61 2 9009 5000 <tel:%2B61%202%209009%205000>,  W
>     www.lisasoft.com <http://www.lisasoft.com>, F +61 2 9009 5099
>     <tel:%2B61%202%209009%205099>
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-- 
Cameron Shorter,
Software and Data Solutions Manager
LISAsoft
Suite 112, Jones Bay Wharf,
26 - 32 Pirrama Rd, Pyrmont NSW 2009

P +61 2 9009 5000,  W www.lisasoft.com,  F +61 2 9009 5099

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