Congratulations to all the mapserver developers from me too! It is really a great news....
dejan > -----Original Message----- > From: UMN MapServer Users List > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Emil Zegers > Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 4:08 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [UMN_MAPSERVER-USERS] MapServer Foundation - Open Letter > > > Congratulations all with this remarkable step ahead. > > Looks like MapServer is getting even more mature very quick. > > Also looking forward to see proposals for the new logo :-) > > Regards, > > Emil Zegers > > > ----- Oorspronkelijk bericht ----- > Van: Steve Lime <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Datum: maandag, november 28, 2005 2:37 pm > Onderwerp: [UMN_MAPSERVER-USERS] MapServer Foundation - Open Letter > > > An Open Letter to the MapServer Open Source Web Mapping Community > > > > November 28, 2005 > > > > Greetings MapServer community, > > > > We are pleased to share with you some exciting news about the > > future of open source web mapping. > > > > Over the past few years MapServer adoption has grown ten-fold and > > has become the web mapping platform of choice for many businesses, > > government agencies, nonprofit groups and individuals. The > > MapServer developers have added powerful new features. The > > community has enjoyed three incredible conferences and continues > > to support each other and enhance the community. > > > > We want to ensure that this success and momentum continues for the > > MapServer product and community. MapServer continues to run well > > in diverse environments and its rich set of features play an > > indispensable role in many organizations. More than ever, we are > > committed to improving MapServer and providing exceptional value > > to the community. > > > > To this end, we take this opportunity to share two bits of news: > > the creation of the MapServer Foundation and welcoming the > > addition of Autodesk's next-generation web mapping platform > > (previously known as Tux) as open source into the foundation. > > > > MapServer Foundation > > > > We are delighted to announce the creation of the MapServer > > Foundation (mapserverfoundation.org). The foundation is a > > nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide a supportive > > framework for open, collaborative development of geospatial > > software. Several groups and individuals are collaborating to help > > launch and sponsor the new foundation. Financial support from > > Autodesk will allow us to get the foundation up and running. In > > this letter, we present some ideas of how we think the foundation > > can help the community, but these ideas need broader discussion > > and debate within the community. > > > > We looked to other successful open source movements, such as > > Apache, to see how our community could benefit from the creation > > of an independent foundation. It is clear that the time has come > > to create a formal infrastructure to help further support and > > promote the professional open source web mapping development > > environments and communities. While initially focused on web > > mapping projects, we hope the foundation will adopt other open > > source geospatial projects that need a home. > > > > Forming the foundation is only the beginning, as we now seek > > community involvement and participation. The foundation will have > > a governance model that allows it to be run by a Board of > > Directors that represents the community. How it is ultimately > > going to be run is up to the members of the community. The > > foundation will also have a set of bylaws that provide structure > > and can be amended through a community voting process. > > > > Role of the foundation > > > > The first priority for the foundation is to engage the broader > > MapServer community. Members of the community are encouraged to > > join and get involved. Consider this letter as your invitation to > > participate. The community web site is the place where you, as a > > user and participant in the community, can follow and contribute > > to the development of the MapServer Foundation family of projects. > > > > The primary responsibilities of the foundation may include: > > > > * Support code repository and other project infrastructure > > * Formalized process for decision-making (e.g. where to host > > the next conference) > > * Legal protection for the source code and developers of the > > software * Paying for development work on minor improvements of > > the platform > > * Acting as a central repository for marketing, branding and > > professional image development of the product > > * Providing process for mitigating disputes > > * Financial support for advocacy, sponsorship, community > > events and conferences > > > > Many of these community-related functions have been overseen in an > > ad-hoc manner or deferred to the University of Minnesota or other > > organizations in the past. The foundation will streamline the > > coordination of legal, administrative and governance efforts. > > > > As MapServer will now be officially managed by the foundation, it > > no longer makes sense to call it UMN MapServer. Product branding > > is also becoming more important and this is a good opportunity to > > introduce a more visual name for the product. We propose calling > > it MapServer Cheetah. This presents a fast and agile image that > > suits the product well and will help differentiate it from other > > MapServer products. > > > > MapServer Cheetah & MapServer Enterprise > > > > We are also very excited about Autodesk's decision to release > > their next generation web mapping platform into the open source > > community through the MapServer Foundation. This adds further > > legitimacy to our open source development platform. Their product > > will be named MapServer Enterprise and is the successor to > > Autodesk MapGuide but built on an entirely new architecture. > > > > MapServer Enterprise and MapServer Cheetah will be run as two > > separate but parallel projects. There are no plans to merge them > > into one but we aim to share technologies between the two projects > > wherever possible. We also hope to provide utilities that allow > > the community to easily use one or both platforms. > > > > MapServer Enterprise will be licensed using the OSI-approved GNU > > Lesser General Public License (LGPL). MapServer Cheetah will > > continue to be licensed under an MIT-style open source license. > > Autodesk is eager to participate in an open and transparent > > development process driven by independent guidance from the > > community. We encourage you to check out MapServer Enterprise, > > which is available today on the community web site. > > > > We are proud to be part of this community and we hope you will > > join us in establishing the MapServer Foundation. For more > > information on how to get involved, please visit the community > > site at: mapserverfoundation.org and join the mailing list > > discussions. > > Sincerely, > > > > Steve Lime, Chair, MapServer Technical Steering Committee (MTSC) > > Yewondwossen Assefa, MTSC Member Howard Butler, MTSC Member > > Daniel Morissette, MTSC Member > > Perry Nacionales, MTSC Member > > Frank Warmerdam, MTSC Member > > Tom Burk, University of Minnesota > > David McIlhagga, DM Solutions Group > > Tyler Mitchell > > Claude Philipona, Camptocamp SA and FOSS4G 2006 organizing committee > > Gary Lang, Autodesk > > >
