[Incubator] Considering Portable GIS as an OSGeo community project

Mon Aug 28 10:02:03 PDT 2017

Hi All,

I've added a contributing guidelines page and moved the license and
changelog to the root of the portable gis repository at
https://gitlab.com/archaeogeek/portable-gis. Does it all look OK?

Thanks to everyone who has offered to assist with Portable GIS- it's really
appreciated.

All the best

Jo

On Sun, Aug 27, 2017 at 6:34 PM, Landon Blake <sunburned.surveyor at gmail.com>
wrote:

> If I can help Jo with set-up as a community project, let me know. I'm a
> Windows user...so I can help with the testing of releases. I'd also be
> interested in learning more about how this works. :]
>
> Landon
>
> On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 4:26 AM, Jo Cook <jocook at astuntechnology.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Jeff,
>>
>> There's no relationship as such between Portable GIS and OSGeo4W- they
>> are really complimentary projects with different objectives. The way I see
>> it, Portable GIS provides a portable (hence the name) set of open source
>> geospatial tools that don't require installation and can be taken from
>> windows computer to windows computer on a USB stick,compared to OSGeo4W,
>> which provides a streamlined way of installing the tools on a machine. They
>> have some packages in common, but not all (I include PostgreSQL/PostGIS and
>> GeoServer alongside QGIS, Mapserver etc, but otherwise a much more limited
>> set of tools than OSGeo4W due to space considerations).
>>
>> When OSGeo4W first came out (believe it or not, Portable GIS predates it)
>> there was some discussion about the possible relationship between the two
>> packages at that point, but like I say, they have different objectives and
>> exist in harmony together.
>>
>> Hope that clears things up- I'll add some disambiguation to the readme
>> and website next time I do an update!
>>
>> Jo
>>
>> On Wed, Aug 23, 2017 at 9:16 PM, Jeffrey Johnson <ortelius at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Just curious about the relationship to osgeo4w
>>>
>>> On Wed, Aug 23, 2017 at 1:06 PM, Cameron Shorter
>>> <cameron.shorter at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > Hi Jo,
>>> >
>>> > I'm really excited to see you pushing Portable GIS forward. I think
>>> that
>>> > having a windows based OSGeo distribution is a great complement to
>>> > OSGeo-Live, as OSGeo-Live is tied into (and limited to) being a linux
>>> > distribution.
>>> >
>>> > I also see potential for collaboration between OSGeo-Live and Portable
>>> GIS.
>>> > Eg, the OSGeo-Live Project Overviews could note whether the project is
>>> > available on Portable GIS.
>>> >
>>> > We could also potentially align OSGeo-Live and Portable GIS release
>>> > schedules (which would help with aligning documentation).
>>> >
>>> > Re packaging, have you considered building with cygwin (which is Open
>>> > Source)?
>>> >
>>> > I'm happy to answer questions about license. While I'm not a lawyer, I
>>> have
>>> > been involved in plenty of licensing selection discussions, including
>>> for
>>> > OSGeo-Live.
>>> >
>>> > Re Portable GIS licensing, I assume your build tools are not embedded
>>> in the
>>> > final Portable GIS software distribution? That would mean that the
>>> final
>>> > software distribution does not inherit to the license of the build
>>> tools. So
>>> > I suspect you should be ok to select what ever license you choose for
>>> the
>>> > build tools. That is how we have approached the OSGeo-Live build
>>> scripts,
>>> > which are LGPL. (Documentation is licensed under CC-By for Project
>>> Overviews
>>> > and CC-By-SA for Quickstarts).
>>> >
>>> > Warm regards, Cameron
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On 24/8/17 1:22 am, Jo Cook wrote:
>>> >
>>> > Hi Jody and list,
>>> >
>>> > Having had a bit of a think about licensing, I had previously chosen
>>> GPLv3
>>> > *for my components alone* and I think I'm happy with that. As far as I
>>> can
>>> > tell, I can license my modifications alone with GPLv3 regardless of
>>> what the
>>> > software projects themselves are. I've had a look at how OSGeo Live
>>> works,
>>> > but that doesn't help much (https://live.osgeo.org/en/copyright.html).
>>> Is
>>> > there anyone on the list who could help me out with this- basically to
>>> > confirm or deny?
>>> >
>>> > Thanks
>>> >
>>> > Jo
>>> >
>>> > On Wed, Aug 23, 2017 at 8:55 AM, Jo Cook <jocook at astuntechnology.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> Hi Jody,
>>> >>
>>> >> That all sounds really encouraging and yes I'd be happy to go through
>>> the
>>> >> process with you and the team. We (Astun) potentially have another
>>> project
>>> >> that we'd like to submit for consideration too, and I'll be in touch
>>> >> separately about that one.
>>> >>
>>> >> Regarding autoit, no you don't need to purchase anything to use it.
>>> Having
>>> >> thought about this in some more detail, I think I will try to move
>>> away from
>>> >> that dependency and try to find an open source alternative but that
>>> will
>>> >> obviously take some time to work through, so it would be good if we
>>> could
>>> >> start working through the process of becoming a community project
>>> while that
>>> >> is ongoing.
>>> >>
>>> >> I'll make some tweaks to the repository to make sure that the various
>>> docs
>>> >> are easy to find, and then maybe come back to you when that's ready.
>>> I want
>>> >> to think a little about whether I'm using the most appropriate
>>> license too.
>>> >>
>>> >> Regards
>>> >>
>>> >> Jo
>>> >>
>>> >> On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 6:12 PM, Jody Garnett <jody.garnett at gmail.com
>>> >
>>> >> wrote:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Glad to hear from you Jo!
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Although the "OSGeo community" initiative was started last year, we
>>> have
>>> >>> not had a chance to try it out yet (perhaps due to lack of
>>> publicity). If
>>> >>> you are patient with us we would enjoy going through this process
>>> with you,
>>> >>> and revising our notes as we go.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> The wiki OSGeo Community Projects page has the following recipe:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> If your project would like to join OSGeo the technology initiative
>>> asks:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> That your project is geospatial (or directly supports geospatial
>>> >>> applications);
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Data & doc projects would of course need an appropriate data or
>>> >>> documentation license
>>> >>>
>>> >>> That your project is open source
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Uses an OSI approved open source license
>>> >>> That you know where your source code came from, and that care is
>>> taken
>>> >>> when accepting external contributions
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Participatory (accepts pull-requests)
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Along with a few notes on how we can quickly check the LICENSE,
>>> >>> CONTRIBUTING, README files.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> autoit
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Your question about autoit is tricky, it is freely distributable -
>>> so not
>>> >>> a barrier to use. We are actually in a similar spot for the GeoTools
>>> and
>>> >>> GeoServer projects. When they were first created Java was not open
>>> source so
>>> >>> there were some very heated discussions with the gvSig team on if
>>> you could
>>> >>> ever make a free software solution using Java.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> But we are an open source software foundation (not at a free software
>>> >>> foundation) allowing GeoTools, GeoServer .. and by extension autoit.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> This question of Java still troubles us, while Java is now open
>>> source,
>>> >>> the image processing library that was included in Java is still only
>>> free to
>>> >>> distribute. This causes problems for the OSGeo Live and uDig
>>> projects.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> I would be concerned though if people need to purchase autoit in
>>> order to
>>> >>> work on your project? There is a slight difference between being
>>> required to
>>> >>> purchase a tool, and optionally using a tool. For GeoTools we can
>>> "work
>>> >>> with" the Oracle Database (if user installs the right jars they have
>>> >>> downloaded from Oracle) or ArcSDE (if the user installs the right
>>> jars they
>>> >>> have purchased from ESRI). However if a contributor is not in
>>> possession of
>>> >>> these artifacts they can still work on the project as a whole.
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> --
>>> >>> Jody Garnett
>>> >>>
>>> >>> On 22 August 2017 at 06:25, Jo Cook <jocook at astuntechnology.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> Hi Incubator List,
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> As you may or may not know, I have been running a small project
>>> called
>>> >>>> Portable GIS (GIS on a USB stick for Windows) for a number of
>>> years. The
>>> >>>> basic premise is to provide a no-install, no-config version of many
>>> of the
>>> >>>> common open source GIS projects on a USB stick.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> Recently I built a website for the project (portablegis.xyz) and
>>> I'm
>>> >>>> working through the process of documenting and publishing all the
>>> >>>> configuration changes that need to be made to make projects
>>> portable (mainly
>>> >>>> batch files to be honest). This also includes the source code for
>>> building
>>> >>>> the menu and installer files.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> This is on Gitlab at https://gitlab.com/archaeogeek/portable-gis
>>> so that
>>> >>>> I can now start accepting contributions. Note that this repository
>>> does not
>>> >>>> contain the actual source code for the projects such as QGIS, it
>>> just
>>> >>>> contains the files that need to be adjusted to make it work
>>> portably.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> One of my colleagues has suggested that Portable GIS could be an
>>> OSGeo
>>> >>>> Community Project, so here I am, asking about it :-)
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> My main concern is that autoit, which I used for building the menu,
>>> is
>>> >>>> freeware rather than opensource (see https://www.autoitscript.com/s
>>> ite/ and
>>> >>>> specifically https://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/docs/license.htm).
>>> My gut
>>> >>>> feeling is that this bars Portable GIS from being truly open
>>> source, and
>>> >>>> hence not suitable for being an OSGeo Community Project. Would that
>>> be
>>> >>>> correct?
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> If this was the only bar to entry, I could certainly look at
>>> alternative
>>> >>>> options for building the menu.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> Regards
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> Jo
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> --
>>> >>>> Jo Cook
>>> >>>> t:+44 7930 524 155/twitter:@archaeogeek
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> --
>>> >>>> Astun Technology Ltd, The Coach House, 17 West Street, Epsom,
>>> Surrey,
>>> >>>> KT18 7RL, UK
>>> >>>> t:+44 1372 744 009 w: astuntechnology.com twitter:@astuntech
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> iShare - enterprise geographic intelligence platform
>>> >>>> GeoServer, PostGIS and QGIS training
>>> >>>> Helpdesk and customer portal
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> Company registration no. 5410695. Registered in England and Wales.
>>> >>>> Registered office: 120 Manor Green Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8LN
>>> VAT no.
>>> >>>> 864201149.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> _______________________________________________
>>> >>>> Incubator mailing list
>>> >>>> Incubator at lists.osgeo.org
>>> >>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> --
>>> >> Jo Cook
>>> >> t:+44 7930 524 155/twitter:@archaeogeek
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Jo Cook
>>> > t:+44 7930 524 155/twitter:@archaeogeek
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Astun Technology Ltd, The Coach House, 17 West Street, Epsom, Surrey,
>>> KT18
>>> > 7RL, UK
>>> > t:+44 1372 744 009 w: astuntechnology.com twitter:@astuntech
>>> >
>>> > iShare - enterprise geographic intelligence platform
>>> > GeoServer, PostGIS and QGIS training
>>> > Helpdesk and customer portal
>>> >
>>> > Company registration no. 5410695. Registered in England and Wales.
>>> > Registered office: 120 Manor Green Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8LN VAT
>>> no.
>>> > 864201149.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > Incubator mailing list
>>> > Incubator at lists.osgeo.org
>>> > https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > Cameron Shorter
>>> > M +61 419 142 254
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > Incubator mailing list
>>> > Incubator at lists.osgeo.org
>>> > https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *Jo Cook*
>> t:+44 7930 524 155 <+44%207930%20524155>/twitter:@archaeogeek
>>
>>
>> --
>> Astun Technology Ltd, The Coach House, 17 West Street, Epsom, Surrey,
>> KT18 7RL, UK
>> t:+44 1372 744 009 <+44%201372%20744009> w: astuntechnology.com twitter:
>> @astuntech <https://twitter.com/astuntech>
>>
>> iShare - enterprise geographic intelligence platform
>> <https://astuntechnology.com/ishare/>
>> GeoServer, PostGIS and QGIS training
>> <https://astuntechnology.com/services/#training>
>> Helpdesk and customer portal
>> <http://support.astuntechnology.com/support/login>
>>
>> Company registration no. 5410695. Registered in England and Wales.
>> Registered office: 120 Manor Green Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8LN VAT no.
>> 864201149.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Incubator mailing list
>> Incubator at lists.osgeo.org
>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Landon
> "Homemade cookies. Hmmmmmmmmmm!"
>
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>
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>
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>

-- 
*Jo Cook*
t:+44 7930 524 155/twitter:@archaeogeek

-- 
--
Astun Technology Ltd, The Coach House, 17 West Street, Epsom, Surrey, KT18 
7RL, UK 
t:+44 1372 744 009 w: astuntechnology.com twitter:@astuntech 
<https://twitter.com/astuntech>

iShare - enterprise geographic intelligence platform 
<https://astuntechnology.com/ishare/>
GeoServer, PostGIS and QGIS training 
<https://astuntechnology.com/services/#training>
Helpdesk and customer portal 
<http://support.astuntechnology.com/support/login>

Company registration no. 5410695. Registered in England and Wales. 
Registered office: 120 Manor Green Road, Epsom, Surrey, KT19 8LN VAT no. 
864201149.
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