Hi Bart,
Sort of off topic, the timing was good for me to get into my truck and
drive 5 hours by myself this morning at 5am, to a meeting in cute small
island province, Prince Edward Island
(http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/46.25739/-63.13748). In other
words, I had lots of time to think. I am happy to grab a wifi spot to
respond now.
I think my actions recently offended several leaders in our geo
community, including Andrew, Daniel, Arnulf, yourself Bart, and likely
others. I did not mean this to happen. I am sorry and embarrassed of
my actions and words.
I can see Bart and Daniel's points well now. My comments or feelings
were not helping OSGeo grow.
I love seeing the ideas and questions coming now from community members
such as BobB. And I think these questions and discussions will help the
Board see the best way forward. I am also pondering of suggesting to
the Board, later when we get to that point, of possibly querying the
Charter Members, in a "referendum" of sorts. Not sure, I'm just
speaking openly here.
I care deeply about the community, of OSGeo and FOSS4G. Sometimes my
passion gets in the way. I am getting better, but I need to improve. I
will improve.
I also would like Bart to come back onto the Board, and act as the
LocationTech liason, and help us work together and make Open Source
geospatial grow and thrive.
If some feel that I need to take more drastic steps, than just my
heartfelt apology, please say so here.
But I am dedicated to help OSGeo and FOSS4G, and to work with all
communities in our ecosystem.
Yours,
-jeff
On 2014-09-17 4:49 AM, Bart van den Eijnden wrote:
Hey Jeff,
can you please at least give the board a chance to form an opinion on this? If
it ever gets to the point that a motion is on the table and you have not been
persuaded, you can always vote -1.
I feel you’re prohibiting the discussions from happening at the board level at
all with this kind of e-mail.
It’s essentially a board decision IMHO, not the decision of the president only.
Thanks for listening.
Best regards,
Bart
On 16 Sep 2014, at 16:38, Jeff McKenna <jmcke...@gatewaygeomatics.com> wrote:
Hello everyone,
To clarify publicly, I have no problem with LocationTech, and in fact I feel
that its foundation plays an important role in our ecosystem.
The issue actually boils down to OSGeo's only event, FOSS4G. We, as OSGeo,
present this event each year and it is a large part of our annual revenue. It
is very important to the OSGeo foundation, as it is our flagship event.
It was made clear to me that LocationTech is not interested in having their own
global event, and that they are in fact interested in our event, FOSS4G.
So maybe to remove this stress, or "fear", I would prefer to pull back on the
throttle, start with an MoU between the two foundations, and then begin to share booths
at events, or donate booths at each other's events. In other words, take baby steps, and
build the relationship slowly, as we do with every other foundation.
I apologize for not bringing this issue to the community sooner. In fact this
all really came to a head in Portland, and you can see that now we must deal
with this all together.
I always try to represent the entire OSGeo community well, if you feel that I
have made mistakes please share this here with everyone. I am here to
represent you.
The last few days have been very hard on me.
-jeff
OSGeo President
On 2014-09-16 11:01 AM, Andrew Ross wrote:
Dear All,
Discussions started informally back in 2011. By 2012, there were more
formal discussions ongoing including a face to face meeting with Michael
Gerlek who was appointed by the OSGeo board to represent OSGeo. I wanted
to say publicly that Michael's work was extremely professional and I was
very impressed.
I believe it's fair to say reaction was similar back then. Many people
saw many positives in working closely together. Some asked if the two
organizations could be one. Like today, there were some who were very
fearful. Those that supported working closely together felt it was best
not to push too hard. Discussions have continued since then over the
past 3-4 years focusing on specific collaboration on a case by case basis.
During that time, LocationTech has sponsored and its projects
participated in 2 FOSS4Gs. It was asked by an OSGeo board member to
organize FOSS4G NA 2015. It has provided discrete feedback to OSGeo
projects regarding intellectual property related issues in OSGeo
projects so they could be fixed. OSGeo projects were well represented on
the 2013 LocationTech tour and again in 2014. I hope these things are
seen as a significant positive force.
I would like to draw attention to the fact that LocationTech's growth
has not taken anything away from OSGeo. In fairness, building upon what
Steven Feldman eloquently put, the problems OSGeo faces are problems
today were faced before LocationTech existed, and since.
It's fair to say there is tension to collaborate more closely since the
strengths of OSGeo & LocationTech complement each other despite some
overlap. LocationTech & the Eclipse Foundation are *offering* to help
solve some of the problems we've been talking about in OSGeo for many
years. It's been 4 years and the offer hasn't been withdrawn nor really
pushed despite fearful attempts to portray it as otherwise.
Andrew
On 15/09/14 20:28, Venkatesh Raghavan wrote:
On 9/16/2014 10:48 AM, Richard Greenwood wrote:
I don't get it, and my question is moot at this point in time, but why do
we need a new foundation? Why couldn't OSGeo have provided what
LocationTech purports to provide? Was there any discussion, or awareness,
in the OSGeo board prior to the formation of LocationTech?
Very pertinent questions form Rich. I hope we will receive some lucid
answers.
Best
Venka
Rich
On Mon, Sep 15, 2014 at 4:18 PM, Jeff McKenna <jmcke...@gatewaygeomatics.com
wrote:
Arnulf,
I definitely agree that both foundations fill a role and need to exist.
The point I am trying to make is that we have the power to change OSGeo,
if we feel some needs are not being met well.
I used too strong of words again, I am sorry.
-jeff
On 2014-09-15 2:59 PM, Arnulf Christl wrote:
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Hash: SHA1
Jeff,
I believe that Daniel is actually right in what he says - given that I
understand the point he is trying to make. There are differences
between OSGeo and LocationTech and trying to talk them away will not
get us anywhere. And its not "bad" or "goo" either way, we just
operate differently.
The point is that in OSGeo you cannot move anything at all as a
business, not directly. In LocationTech you become a corporate member,
pay money and in return have influence over certain things and get
support. Directly geared towards your specific needs. OSGeo does none
of those things.
As an individual (with or without business) you can become the
committee chair and an OSGeo officer with absolutely no preconditions,
no money needed, no organizational backing and no other hierarchy.
Just because othes think you are doing a cool job and have accumulated
enough merit to go ahead as a leader. This would not work in this way
in LocationTech.
Both ways have reasons to exist and are good. Right?
Cheers.
Arnulf
Am 2014-09-15 10:45, schrieb Jeff McKenna:
On 2014-09-15 1:22 PM, Daniel Morissette wrote:
the members in OSGeo are individuals and the members in
Eclipse/LocationTech are businesses
Daniel this statement is not true, regarding OSGeo. OSGeo members
are made up of all walks of life, and many are running private
businesses all around the world. I have visited their
organizations/offices myself in my FOSS4G travels throughout the
years.
However I cannot change how you feel.
This part is unfortunate, these strong statements made publicly,
which I feel are made to divide our community.
Let me reinforce: our OSGeo community and our FOSS4G events (of
all sizes) are geared for everyone and anyone, with no sole focus
on one type of community. And as the President of OSGeo, I am
happy to represent all of the members, of any kind :)
-jeff
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