[Incubator] Considering Portable GIS as an OSGeo community project

Thu Sep 7 03:04:35 PDT 2017

Hi Jody,

Thanks for these suggestions. I'm in the middle of implementing the changes
you've suggested- I've updated the license and included a section in the
contributors document about GPLv3. I think the other thing I need to do is
add the license header to all my batch files, which I will start working on
asap.

Jo

On Tue, Aug 29, 2017 at 12:15 AM, Jody Garnett <jody.garnett at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Looks good Jo, I will be happy to make the motion in a bit.
>
> I like the friendly tone for CONTRIBUTING.md file, can I recommend making
> a note somewhere in there that people should contribute their changes to
> the project using a GPL3 license.
>
> Sometimes groups like Apache like to have a seperate license for
> contributions that is different from the license used for distribution.
> GPL3 tends to serve both these needs - but your contributors should be
> really clear they are providing the project the code / fix / change with a
> GPL license so there are no tears later. One trick I use to double check
> consent is to ask these pull requests to include adding their name to the a
> CONTRIBUTORS list in the documentation - both so I can credit them in
> release notes and have a list of participants.
>
> It also looks like your LICENSE file is just the header, rather than a
> full GPL license.  For complete text see:
> - https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt
> - https://github.com/IQAndreas/markdown-licenses
>
>
>
>
> --
> Jody Garnett
>
> On 28 August 2017 at 10:02, Jo Cook <jocook at astuntechnology.com> wrote:
>
>> 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/site/ and
>>>>> >>>> specifically https://www.autoitscript.com/a
>>>>> utoit3/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,
>>>>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=17+West+Street,+Epsom,+Surrey,+%0D+%3E%3E%3E%3E+KT18+7RL,+UK&entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>> >>>> KT18 7RL, UK
>>>>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=17+West+Street,+Epsom,+Surrey,+%0D+%3E%3E%3E%3E+KT18+7RL,+UK&entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>> >>>> 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
>>>>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=120+Manor+Green+Road,+Epsom,+Surrey,+KT19+8LN&entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>> 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
>>>>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=17+West+Street,+Epsom,+Surrey,+KT18+%0D+%3E+7RL,+UK&entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>> > 7RL, UK
>>>>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=17+West+Street,+Epsom,+Surrey,+KT18+%0D+%3E+7RL,+UK&entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>> > 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
>>>>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=120+Manor+Green+Road,+Epsom,+Surrey,+KT19+8LN&entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>> 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
>>>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=17+West+Street,+Epsom,+Surrey,+KT18+7RL,+UK&entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>>
>>>> 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
>>>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=120+Manor+Green+Road,+Epsom,+Surrey,+KT19+8LN&entry=gmail&source=g>
>>>> VAT no. 864201149.
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Incubator mailing list
>>>> Incubator at lists.osgeo.org
>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Landon
>>> "Homemade cookies. Hmmmmmmmmmm!"
>>>
>>> Web: www.landonblake.com
>>>
>>> LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/landonblake
>>>
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>>>
>>> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scott.l.blake.3
>>>
>>> Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/landon_blake/
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> *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
>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=17+West+Street,+Epsom,+Surrey,+KT18+7RL,+UK&entry=gmail&source=g>
>>
>> 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
>> <https://maps.google.com/?q=120+Manor+Green+Road,+Epsom,+Surrey,+KT19+8LN&entry=gmail&source=g>
>> 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

-- 
--
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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