[Live-demo] Retiring Geopublisher and AtalasStyler?

[Cameron Shorter]

On 27/11/12 06:17, Cameron Shorter wrote:
> On 26/11/2012 7:54 PM, Jorge Gaspar Sanz Salinas wrote:
>> On 24 November 2012 06:52, Cameron Shorter 
>> <cameron.shorter at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Stefan,
>>> I see from your blog  that "Geopublisher and AtlasSytler development 
>>> has
>>> ceased" [1].
>>>
>>> As I have previously retired an Open Source project that I started
>>> (mapbuilder) [2], I appreciate that it can be a difficult decision 
>>> to make,
>>> and I suspect you will be feeling a sense of loss. So my heart goes 
>>> out to
>>> you.
>>>
>>> However, I suggest that you will likely find with one door closing, 
>>> another
>>> door will open. For me, it opened up time for me to get involved the
>>> OSGeo-Live project.
>>>
>>> On a practical matter, I'd like to hear your thoughts on including
>>> Geopublisher and AtlasStyler on OSGeo-Live. My feeling is that 
>>> OSGeo-Live
>>> should only be promoting projects with an active community behind 
>>> it. As
>>> such, we probably should take the projects off OSGeo-Live in the next
>>> release.
>>> Comments?
>>>
>>> [1] http://en.geopublishing.org/GoodBye
>>> [2]
>>> http://cameronshorter.blogspot.com.au/2008/07/end-of-life-for-community-mapbuilder-we_29.html 
>>>
>>>
>> On the other hand, one can see those projects as "orphans" willing to
>> have new promoters.
>>
>> Having them at the Live DVD would help to spread the word about those
>> projects that still make sense and need new blood (and for me Atlas
>> Styler at least makes a lot of sense).
>>
>> My 2cts from a (sad) user of Atlas Styler.
>>
>>
>
> Jorge, I understand your point in that it would be nice to find new 
> communities and sponsors for Geopublisher and AtlasStyler through our 
> maketing pipeline. However, I don't think OSGeo-Live is the right forum.
>
> OSGeo-Live's target market is new users asking the question "What 
> robust and stable application would you recommend to do XXX?"
> We provide recommendations of the best projects, which have the 
> criteria of:
> * best of breed
> * stable
> * with an active community behind it. This community will answer 
> newbie questions and apply bug fixes as required. (This is one of our 
> criteria for joining OSGeo-Live in the first place)
>
> I note that having a project on OSGeo-Live which is lacking in one 
> area will tarnish a user's experience and reflect badly on all the 
> other OSGeo-Live applications. We are working very hard to debunk the 
> myth that "Open Source shouldn't be used for production systems 
> because it is unsupported".
>

We discussed whether we should retire Geopublisher and AtlasStyler at 
our weekly meeting yesterday, and agreed that the projects should be 
retired if they don't have an active community behind them anymore.

However, we would like to recognise the past contributions these 
projects have provided to OSGeo-Live in the past. We will probably do 
this by adding another heading to our Contents page listing retired 
projects.

I'd also like to personally thank Stefan for his dedication to his both 
his projects as well as the OSGeo-Live project. It has been a pleasure 
working with you and I do hope I have the opportunity to work with you 
again on a future endeavour you may be involved in.

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

Think Globally, Fix Locally
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