[Qgis-psc] Thoughts

[DelazJ]

Hi,

Thanks Paolo for raising this topic, that somehow was underlying in some
other discussions. And thanks to make me discover the Debian Contract;
while the rules seem self-evident to me today, i guess it was good for them
to have expressed it (though I don't think we have the same "issue") .

Régis, maybe did I misread you (though I read your message more than once)
but am I wrong that the "community" you envision is all about people or
companies that can pay or get paid for a feature/fix?

I always (maybe naively) thought that QGIS was part of a bigger picture, a
way to contribute to a better and more equitable world. Coming from
"South", I know what this kind of tools can change. And Yes, this is what I
use to reply to friends and family that wonder why I was spending nights
and week-ends on things I'm not paid for nor are at the core of my daily
work. Now, if I'm wrong and this is not (or no longer) the case, and that
we no longer have users but customers indeed it'd be good to know (*Errare
humanum est, perseverare diabolicum*). I could then look for a company that
cares about QGIS-Documentation (to mention an area I know) and then I'd be
able to invoice (partially, I swear!) my contributions to payers. That
said, not many of the companies involved in QGIS development have been
writing docs these last years afaics.
Don't get me wrong, I'm OK with the idea that QGIS is (part of) livelihood
for some and I appreciate many of the features that arose thanks to these
contracts but... if it should be all about that, If we don't have a bigger
picture of what QGIS is, what our community is or needs to be...

my (dreamer) 2cts,
Harrissou

Le jeu. 28 mars 2019 à 17:02, Jeff McKenna <jmckenna at gatewaygeomatics.com>
a écrit :

> Thank you for these open thoughts Paolo.  I have personally just printed
> out your words here, and will review them thoroughly.  Thank you for
> taking the time to share your thoughts here.  -jeff
>
>
>
> On 2019-03-27 3:44 AM, Paolo Cavallini wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > I'm approaching my first year as Chair, I feel it's the time for me to
> > raise the head from everyday tasks, and try to draw a more general
> > picture of where the project is heading.
> > One of the greatest strengths of our project is, in my view, the
> > diversity of interests and approaches among us. Choices and trends come
> > from the composition of all different priorities, without anyone taking
> > the lead at thee disadvantage of others, and this give us much strength.
> > As such, it is often difficult to understand where are we heading to,
> > because of the lack of strong central decisions. As PSC member, I see we
> > are usually busy dealing with day to day activities, and seldom we talk
> > and thing in a bigger perspective.
> > Nevertheless, changes do occur, and trends emerge. To me it is very
> > interesting to put these into perspective, and I hope the same will be
> > for you.
> > Among these, I see two lines that are to me particularly evident:
> > * the increasing number and importance of proprietary tools and
> > services; in the good old days I think we used 100% free software; today
> > this would be very difficult
> > * the shift from a volunteer-only association, in which who is
> > interested in something just does it, to a company-style group, where
> > people are paid for providing services.
> > To be very clear, as Chair I do not judge these as problems, and I'm
> > happy whatever direction the community will take for the good of our
> > project (of course, as everybody knows, I have my personal preferences
> > and priorities).
> > We are steadily growing stronger and bigger, and some of these changes
> > might genuinely be unavoidable in the process, or it is just a shift in
> > overall mentality and expectations. Whichever way, this may be good for
> > the project, and I certainly do not oppose it a priori.
> > What makes me uncomfortable though, and prompted me to write this note,
> > is seeing these changes to creep in, probably unnoticed by many in the
> > community, through a myriad of small, apparently minor, day to day
> > decisions. I can't tell how many of us are really happy of these trends,
> > how many are unhappy, and whether some important contributor is put away
> > by the changes, or rather by the too slow pace of it.
> > We have to be especially careful because companies, smaller and larger,
> > are a powerful engine driving us towards a better code, a faster
> > development rate, and better overall quality. On the other hand, we are
> > dependent on the volunteer work by countless individuals and
> > organizations; our budget does not allow us, and will not allow us in
> > the foreseeable future, to replace all the volunteer work with paid
> > personnel, so it is in our best interest to balance the needs of these
> > two components.
> > I have two aims writing this:
> > * raise an open discussion on these points, to better cooperatively
> > understand what are the priorities, the feelings and the aspirations of
> > the community
> > * reach a consensus on our mission, drawing guidelines or a social
> > contract à la Debian, or some other tool that could make everybody more
> > happy at least in average.
> > I'm fully aware this is a potentially disruptive topic, but a thoughtful
> > discussion could lead us towards a stronger, more united community.
> > Sorry for being long.
> > All best wishes.
> >
>
>
> --
> Jeff McKenna
> MapServer Consulting and Training Services
> https://gatewaygeomatics.com/
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