[OSGeo-Board] Service Provider Directory

[Jo Walsh]

dear Jason, all, I am just catching up on the week's worth of email
backlong and perhaps this discussion has gone long beyond here by now.

On Tue, Sep 26, 2006 at 02:40:23PM -0700, Jason Birch wrote:
> We would police reactively.  If the community notices a provider that
> does not actually offer the services stated, we'd take care of them
> (euphemism?).

Freenetworks.org maintains a local service directory pro-actively -
people submit their networks, details about what they do and then it
is the responsibility of a human to doublecheck they are on the level
- then sites can be retroactively weeded later. 

I am ambivalent about the Foundation Per Se offering such a directory
service. If it's something that is being often asked for: why not let
projects and local chapters run directories (which are likely to be
more relevant - who works with project X / who works nearby me) and
have the main OSGeo site just collect them? One level of indirection
= less accountability but same outcome = not always a bad thing? 

cheers, and now to read the rest of this thread and realise that i am
just talking into the ether,


jo