Hey- I strongly agree with the principles Dave discusses below.
Tim Dave McIlhagga wrote: > Cameron, > > One of the founding principles of OSGeo was the concept of individual > meritocracy -- not corporate merit. This was done intentionally, > following the Apache model to ensure that the best people were > represented in the organization and their projects, irrespective of > their corporate affiliation. This is also why Sponsorship is kept very > much at an arm's length from having any direct influence benefits into > the organization. > > One very real issue with corporate representation -- what if an > individual developer on the PSC leaves the organization? Is his > position on the PSC therefore lost? This is the separation between > individual contribution and influence vs. direct corporate influence > that I believe is critical for the integrity of these projects. > > I think this is a critical principle to uphold in order to preserve > the "arm's length" objective of OSGeo and it's projects from the > institutional contributors (be it financial or in-kind) > > > One goal of a particular PSC may be (and probably should be) to find > balance in terms of individuals who represent various sources of > contributions -- but I think this can be handled by recognizing the > appropriate individuals rather than having a direct seat at the table > for any one particular organization. > > My 2 cents. > > Dave > > Dave McIlhagga > www.dmsolutions.ca > > > On 20-Nov-08, at 5:15 PM, Cameron Shorter wrote: > >> Following on from a PSC discussion, ... >> >> I think it is right to discuss company/individual composition of the >> PSC. >> >> As projects like Openlayers grow, there is are changing dynamics >> regarding how decisions are made, because developer composition moves >> from volunteers (who are answerable to themselves) to paid employees >> (who are answerable to their employers). >> >> Initially it makes sense that PSC membership is made up of >> individuals. >> However, as developer mix increases to include more paid employees, I >> think we need to consider company representation on the PSC. I don't >> think others would disagree that the PSC is stronger when it has >> representation from a diverse group of developers and organisations. >> >> So I think that when we propose someone for PSC membership we should >> consider where they work, and the proportional representation of >> companies on the PSC. In other PSCs, I have noticed developers from >> the >> same company have a tendency to vote the same way. This is natural and >> understandable. The developers are usually working on the same project >> and have the same driving priorities and needs. >> >> I'd also like to bring out into open discussion the question of who we >> have on the committee, what are the expectations of them. Whether we >> only want technical people on the committee or whether non-coders >> should >> be included too. I'd like to question the value of my involvement. I >> haven't written Openlayers code for a year or two now, but do manage >> developers who use Openlayers and occasionally contribute patches. I'm >> comfortable with my role, providing rants like these to the email >> list, >> but won't be offended if people suggest it would be time for me to >> retire. >> >> >> >> -- >> Cameron Shorter >> Geospatial Systems Architect >> Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050 >> Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254 >> >> Think Globally, Fix Locally >> Geospatial Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Source >> http://www.lisasoft.com >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Dev mailing list >> Dev@openlayers.org >> http://openlayers.org/mailman/listinfo/dev > > _______________________________________________ > Dev mailing list > Dev@openlayers.org > http://openlayers.org/mailman/listinfo/dev -- Tim Schaub OpenGeo - http://opengeo.org Expert service straight from the developers. _______________________________________________ Dev mailing list Dev@openlayers.org http://openlayers.org/mailman/listinfo/dev
