I would like to bring to discuss a question that we are struggling with for the website/rebranding - do we present "open source software" or "open source projects"?
This is not an easy answer, as the earlier discussion on this list did not know how to recognize projects doing a rewrite (example OL2 --> OL3, or project teams expanding and developing additional software components like QGIS Server. Here is the email from the marketing list: The choose-a-project wizard is now working, we had to cut down some of the > tags last week and change how the pages were done to make it happen. > This touches on a conversation with Steve Feldman from the code sprint. As > part of the focus exercise the home page <http://osgeo.getinteractive.nl/> was > changed to says "Choose your software" which then links to > "choose-a-project". > It does bring up two interesting cases: > 1) http://osgeo.getinteractive.nl/projects/qgis/ > QGIS - has several software projects now under one banner: QGIS > Desktop, QGIS Server, more? > This is kind of messing with the system (and resulting in oddities like > QGIS being listed as a cloud processing service, I assume QGIS server could > run in the cloud and qgis desktop offers processing). > 2) http://osgeo.getinteractive.nl/projects/gvsig/ > Same thing, there are now multiple gvSig software projects: gvSIG > Desktop, gvNIX, gvSIG Mobile, i3Geo Recommendation for the beta website: > - Making the QGIS Association page under Partners, linking to individual > pages for QGIS and QGIS Server project pages. > - Makin the gvSIG Association link to the individual software project > pages for gvSIG Desktop, gvNIX, gvSIG Mobile, i3Geo. > And Steven Feldman's reply: My 1st thoughts on ‘projects’ and ‘software' are to look at definitions: > *Project*: > > > *"In contemporary business > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_sector> and science > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science>, a project is an individual or > collaborative enterprise, possibly involving research or design, that is > carefully planned <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan>, usually by a > project team, to achieve a particular aim.[1] > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project#cite_note-1>A project may also be a > set of interrelated tasks to be executed over a fixed period and within > certain cost and other limitations.[2] > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project#cite_note-2>It may be a temporary > (rather than permanent) social systems > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_system> as work systems > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_systems> that is constituted by teams > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team> within or across organizations to > accomplish particular tasks > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_(project_management)> under time > constraints.[3] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project#cite_note-3> A > project may be a part of a wider programme management > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_management>” **https://en.* > wikipedia.org/wiki/Project <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project> > *Software*: > *"Computer software, or simply software, is a part of a computer system > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_system> that consists of data > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_(computing)> or computer instructions, > in contrast to the physical hardware > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_hardware> from which the system is > built. In computer science > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science> and software engineering > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineering>, computer software is > all information <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information> processed > by computer systems > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_system>, programs > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_program> and data. Computer > software includes computer programs > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_program>, libraries > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_(computing)> and related > non-executable data <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_(computing)>, such > as online documentation > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_documentation> or digital media > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_media>.” > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software> * > My interpretation: > Each different application e.g. QGIS Desktop, QGIS server is ‘software’ > (or we could alternatively use ‘application’ or 'program') > The QGIS Project is the umbrella organisation/collaboration/social > construct/enterprise that encompasses and coordinates the individual > software/applications/programs > I think the important thing for us as a marketing group is to consider > what these terms mean to potential users rather than how we use them > internally (for our community ‘project' can be interchangeable > with ‘software’). I am personally having a hard time thinking in terms of software since I like the fact that open source project encompasses both the technology and the people. -- Jody Garnett
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