Hi,
I'm sort of sick of allegations that what I say and do in the
community is somehow tainted by myself doing business in OSM. Here's a
quote from talk a while ago:
Chris Browet wrote:
The fact that many key players (SteveC, Frederik, Richard(?)) in the
project also have commercial interests in the OSM data also make me
nervous and doubtful.
I assure you it does not have to make you nervous. Just because someone
earns money doesn't automatically make him an asshole with no morals.
Basically, everyone who writes what you wrote above somehow seems to
want to say: "We must always consider that he might be lying to us
because he wants to make more money."
This makes me sad; I spend a lot of time with OSM stuff, and I could
certainly be making a lot more money if I'd take a job in some IT
consultancy. But I chose to work in OSM because that way I get to do
what I like. Hear? WHAT I LIKE. I have found a way to earn a living from
doing what I like, and helping to move the project forward while I'm
doing that.
Until now, I have had exactly one prospective client who, after I had
explained the CC-BY-SA to him, want away with a "no thank you", and I
have had exactly one prospective client for whom the CC-BY-SA would have
been fine but his project wouldn't work with the ODbL (forcing him to
release a database he would not have wanted to release), so he went away
too.
So the ODbL isn't really better or worse for business - it depends, or
at least that's my view.
In a way, of course, I have a "business interest" in OSM growing and
becoming better, but can you hold that against me?
You could also say that I have a "business interest" in the license
matter being resolved one way or the other becaus that saves me from
having to explain *two* licenses to every prospective customer which is
a bit painful sometimes.
And as for me being a "key player" - I am writing a lot on the lists, I
am mapping a bit, I have written some software, and I am on the data
working group. I am not essential to anything OSM does, don't hold an
OSMF post (nor have I ever sought one)...
Bye
Frederik
--
Frederik Ramm ## eMail frede...@remote.org ## N49°00'09" E008°23'33"
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