Hi List, I must say that P Kishor's response is very reasonable. I do think we, the Mapserver Community, will indeed be recieving the shaft here if Autodesk is permitted to name their product Mapserver Enterprise.
"the bosses-in-pointy-hats will ask for the enterprise class product, even if they don't know their arse from an enterprise." ... Exactly. I will say up front that Im relatively new to the GIS world, and even newer to the Open source movement. For me, and obviously for others, Mapserver grants the opportunity to learn and (hopefully) master a highly useful bit of software completely free of charge, and with the support of others who are working towards similar goals. I understand that Mapserver has been gaining popularity and is now being deployed in numerous high-visibility situations. Given Mapserver's impressive track record I think that news of it is obviously trickling down to "the bosses-in-pointy-hats". This is great news for individual GIS folks like myself. Why? Because now when the pointy hat boss hires me to get his organization's GIS data online he knows that he'll pay for nothing more than my salary, no yearly licensing, no dual processor extra fees etc. This is great for me and the pointy hat. I derive a satisfying sense of freedom from working on Mapserver projects and also on other OS based software because the value of my work, and it's utility in years to come will not depend on the precondition that my employing organization is dumping vast amounts of money into a particular software company's pocket. I prefer to think of myself, and other in similar situations, as being akin to mechanics who build/repair machinery rather than indentured servants who are tethered to a license. I cant help but feel that if AutoDesk sticks it's finger into the pie, this freedom will be jeopardized, I will again have to don a tether and the capabilities that I can offer an organization will be determined not so much by my skill but by the size of their bank accounts. By the sounds of it, AutoDesk is pushing ahead with 'Mapserver Enterprise' I am left here with Mapserver child's edition. What are the chances of keeping the name of the software I work with as "Mapserver"? Has this decision been written in stone? What can I do, besides posting to this list, to prevent Autocad from horning in on Mapserver's name? Best Regards Jeremy
