I just got off the phone with a client that is interested in migrating
to open source tools. They problem is they don't know where to start.
They know what proprietary tools they are using, they know what features
they are using, they know about OSGeo, but rapidly get lost in all the
projects and what they do and how they might be used to replace what
they have.
They need :
* a simple mapping from proprietary to FOSS tools, so they can start
learn more about which tools to investigate.
* simple recipes and direction to get them started, ie: lower the cost
of entrance.
* list of resources, like mailing lists, where to download, what
tutorials and/books are available or experts in the various tools they
are interested.
We need to make this easy for people that are not familiar with FOSS to
easily find their way into our community. They want to educate
themselves a little before engaging the community.
I often act as a compass and help guide them to get started, but I only
know part of the pie.
So migration guides would be good. Some form of mapping products to
projects would be very useful.
I like the format of Choose Open Source and I think it covers a lot of
these needs.
-Steve
On 9/21/2017 3:00 PM, Jody Garnett wrote:
Thanks that is a great example - this is the roll I hope that
http://osgeo.getinteractive.nl/choose-a-project/
<http://osgeo.getinteractive.nl/choose-a-project/> will play (now that
is actually working correctly).
I am happy to try an experiment and see if this is sufficient, I just do
not want to lose track of the vision that we are helping non-community
members connect with open source.
I am sorry this discussion started over links, which look to of been
added to the beta website by mistake. I do not mind naming competitor
products, in case studies, migration guides, or "even" on project pages.
In the case of project pages it is up to each project steering committee
what they want to do.
--
Jody Garnett
On 21 September 2017 at 08:45, Daniel Kastl <dan...@georepublic.de
<mailto:dan...@georepublic.de>> wrote:
I think "Switch2osm" is a very good example how to help migrating to
non-proprietary tools: https://switch2osm.org/
I quickly went through their site and as far as I could see,
competitor names only appear in case studies.
Maybe we could have "switch2foss" in a similar way.
It's a very good idea to help new users to find open alternatives to
the proprietary software they're using right now.
I agree with many here, that this doesn't require to provide links
to them.
Best regards,
Daniel
On Thu, Sep 21, 2017 at 4:53 PM, Gert-Jan van der Weijden (OSGeo.nl)
<gert-...@osgeo.nl <mailto:gert-...@osgeo.nl>> wrote:
As a regular user of proprietary GIS software (ArcGIS, FME,
Oracle Spatial etcetera) I can assure that it is very valuable
to have some sort of guidance in the diversity of the FOSS
landscape.
I agree that "similar proprietary products" isn't the right
label. However, instead of the proposed "migratte from" (which
sound like a complete migration plan) I'd suggest the label
"comparable proprietary software".
Kind regards,
Gert-Jan
María Arias de Reyna schreef op 21-09-2017 8:30:
On 20 September 2017 at 02:41, Helmut Kudrnovsky
<hel...@web.de <mailto:hel...@web.de>> wrote:
Dear OSGeo community
I want to bring you a discussion on a github
ticket about linking to
"similar proprietary products" [1] to your
attention.
My comment there:
"I support and concur with Venka that the item
"Similar Proprietary
Products" should be removed. There isn't only
one proprietary GIS software
out there, there are several others. IMHO such
comparisons may be part of
e.g. a reviewed scientific paper/elaboration,
where our OSGeo projects - if
they want to - may link to. I see no added value
for OSGeo to serve such
links. As already elsewhere mentioned by me,
reciprocity is the key if such
items are listed, but I can't see this happen. "
I'm pretty much convinced that more effort to
help our OSGeo projects
improving on every level (e.g. documentation,
reach out, testing, etc) is
the key rather than linking to proprietary
software. One of such
opportunities may be the upcoming Google Code In
(GCI) 2017 e.g. to produce
nice screenshots for documentation, produce some
fancy videos etc. based on
tiny little tasks for students aged 13 to 17. A
good invest in the young who
will be our OSGeo's future.
Kind regards
Helmut
OSGeo charter member
[1] https://github.com/OSGeo/osgeo/issues/100
<https://github.com/OSGeo/osgeo/issues/100>
[2]
https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2017-September/036217.html
<https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/discuss/2017-September/036217.html>
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Hi,
On my opinion, it makes sense to show relation between
propietary and
free and open software. Just because we want to people to
migrate to
free and open source software, so it is good if they can
search for
the software they are currently using to know what software
will they
use. It makes sense, it makes life easier on migrations.
Said this, I prefer the "Migrate from" label much better.
And sure, no
link to the product, just the name. Why would we need a
link? If they
don't know what that software is, the information is useless
to them.
If they already know what that software is, the information is
redundant. So having a name is fine, having a link is nonsense.
Is "Migrate from" label aggresive? Not at all. We are OsGeo,
we are
promoting FLOSS. Promoting FLOSS means we are encouraging
people to
move from propietary to open. That is our philosophy, that
is our
motto. If propietary software feels bad because we follow
our goals...
well, then maybe they should stop promoting their own
software too
because that makes me feel bad.
Regards,
María.
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eMail: daniel.ka...@georepublic.de <mailto:daniel.ka...@georepublic.de>
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