[Incubator] Motion: Accept SFCGAL as an OSGeo community project

Tue Jan 27 12:20:18 PST 2026

+1
Angelos

On 1/27/26 20:46, Angelos Tzotsos wrote:
> Given that the project has replied to all comment of the review, I 
> would like to make the following motion:
>
> > Motion to accept SFCGAL project as OSGeo Community Project
>
> The project page is here: https://www.osgeo.org/projects/sfcgal/ and 
> meets our OSGeo community initiative checklist.
>
> The motion is held open for two weeks until February 10th., requiring 
> 50% quorum, from the following incubation committee members:
>
>    - Angelos Tzotsos
>    - Arnulf Christl
>    - Bob (CI-StPaul) Basques
>    - Brian M Hamlin
>    - Daniel Morissette
>    - Dimitris Kotzinos
>    - Frank Warmerdam
>    - Jo Cook
>    - Jody Garnett
>    - Michael Smith
>    - Nick Bearman
>    - Regina Obe
>    - Steve Lime
>    - Tom Kralidis
>
>
> Best regards,
> Angelos
>
>
> On 9/25/24 10:26, Loic Bartoletti via Incubator wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I am writing on behalf of the team behind the SFCGAL (Simple Features 
>> for Computational Geometry and Algorithms Library) project to apply 
>> for OSGeo Community Project status.
>>
>> SFCGAL provides advanced 2D and 3D operations, computations, and 
>> analysis functions for geospatial data. It enhances the capabilities 
>> of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) by providing complex 
>> geometric computations, which are essential for 3D modeling and 
>> spatial analysis tasks. Our goal is to facilitate the use of advanced 
>> computational geometry algorithms within the geospatial community 
>> through a standardized and open platform.
>>
>> Since its inception, SFCGAL has grown significantly, reaching several 
>> releases, with the latest version being 1.5.2 and a 2.0.0 will be 
>> released very soon. The project has been in continuous development 
>> thanks to the efforts of a dedicated team of contributors and is 
>> currently used in various applications requiring high-precision 2D 
>> and 3D spatial analysis. The integration with GIS tools like PostGIS 
>> and GDAL further demonstrates the utility and robustness of SFCGAL. 
>> Additionally, a QGIS plugin 
>> ([QSFCGAL](https://gitlab.com/oslandia/qgis/qsfcgal)) is currently in 
>> development to extend QGIS 3D and advanced 2D, thanks to 
>> [(Py)SFCGAL](https://sfcgal.gitlab.io/pysfcgal/).
>>
>> Historically, SFCGAL was a project initiated by [IGN 
>> France](https://www.ign.fr/) (National Institute of Geographic and 
>> Forest Information) and [Oslandia](https://oslandia.com/). It has 
>> always been an open-source project, and it now has its own 
>> independent entity but mainly funded by Oslandia.
>>
>> With the support of OSGeo, SFCGAL aims to expand its community, 
>> enhance its governance, and promote its features to a wider audience.
>>
>> Community Project Application Checklist:
>>
>> - 1. Geospatial:
>>      - 1.1. README or project description:
>>          - SFCGAL README: [SFCGAL 
>> README](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/sfcgal/blob/master/README.md)
>>          - Project website: [SFCGAL 
>> Website](https://sfcgal.gitlab.io/SFCGAL/)
>>      - 1.2. User guide or quickstart:
>>          - SFCGAL Documentation available:
>>              - [SFCGAL 
>> Documentation](https://sfcgal.gitlab.io/SFCGAL/documentation.html)
>>              - [Development 
>> Documentation](https://sfcgal.gitlab.io/SFCGAL/dev.html)
>>              - [C API 
>> Documentation](https://sfcgal.gitlab.io/SFCGAL/doxygen/group__capi.html)
>>              - [C++ API 
>> Documentation](https://sfcgal.gitlab.io/SFCGAL/doxygen/group__public__api.html)
>>          - PostGIS SFCGAL:
>>              - [SFCGAL 
>> Reference](https://postgis.net/docs/manual-dev/en/reference_sfcgal.html)
>>
>> - 2. Free or Open Source License:
>>      - 2.1. License file:
>>          - SFCGAL is provided under the following license: LGPL 
>> version 2 or later. You can find the license here: [SFCGAL 
>> License](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/-/blob/master/LICENSE).
>>          - As mentioned in the [SFCGAL 
>> README](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/sfcgal/blob/master/README.md): Note 
>> that the main dependency for SFCGAL is the CGAL library, and SFCGAL 
>> uses CGAL modules which are licensed as GPLv3+. Whenever you compile 
>> and distribute SFCGAL with the GPL-licensed CGAL, the full packaged 
>> result is automatically considered as GPL version 3 or later, due to 
>> GPL's "viral" property. If you link and distribute SFCGAL with 
>> another software package, be sure to fully understand the 
>> implications and check any legal and technical requirements implied 
>> by the license.
>>      - 2.2. Check headers:
>>          - All files have a [SPDX 
>> Identifier](https://spdx.dev/learn/handling-license-info/), [for 
>> example](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/-/blob/master/src/Coordinate.cpp?ref_type=heads#L3) 
>>
>>
>> - 3. Participatory:
>>      - 3.1 All required and relevant files are located in the SFCGAL 
>> repository:
>>          - [Contribution 
>> Policy](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md)
>>          - [Code of 
>> Conduct](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/blob/master/CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md)
>>          - [History of 
>> Contributions](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/-/graphs/master)
>>          - [Closed Merge 
>> Requests](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/-/merge_requests?scope=all&state=merged)
>>
>> - 4. Open Community:
>>      - 4.1 communication channel:
>>          - [GitLab Issues](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/-/issues)
>>          - IRC channel libera.chat: #sfcgal. When applicable, we 
>> would like to create a new one on [osgeo.org 
>> IRC](https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/IRC) with a matrix bridge
>>          - No mailing list, maybe we'll ask an entry into the osgeo's 
>> dicourse
>>
>> - 5. Development Process
>>      - version control: We use git. Code is located at 
>> [GitLab](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/)
>>      - issue tracker: [GitLab 
>> Issues](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/-/issues)
>>      - leadership open to new members: We have a [Contribution 
>> Policy](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md) 
>> and no problem to accept new members as mentioned in [Becoming a PSC 
>> Member](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/blob/master/PSC.md)
>>      - transparent decision-making: Discussions are open on [GitLab 
>> Issues](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/-/issues) or [GitLab Merge 
>> Requests](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/-/merge_requests?scope=all&state=all)
>>
>> - 6. Documentation
>>      - see 1.2. User guide or quickstart
>>
>> - 7. Release Procedure
>>      - Release procedure is explained in 
>> [RELEASES.md](https://gitlab.com/sfcgal/SFCGAL/blob/master/RELEASES.md)
>>
>> If you have any questions about the project or our application, 
>> please let me know and I'll be more than happy to help.
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> Loïc Bartoletti
>> [OSGeo Profile](https://www.osgeo.org/member/bartoletti/)
>> [GitLab Profile](https://gitlab.com/lbartoletti)
>> [GitHub Profile](https://github.com/lbartoletti)
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Incubator mailing list
>> Incubator at lists.osgeo.org
>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/incubator
>
>

-- 
Angelos Tzotsos, PhD
President, Board of Directors
Open Source Geospatial Foundation
https://www.osgeo.org/member/angelos-tzotsos/