Mapserverers:
You may have noticed that things have been relatively quiet since the
initial Mapserver Foundation open letter, and associated flurry of
response. One of the reasons is that the folks behind the open
letter are a little shell shocked and trying to figure out how to
move forward in a way that is both inclusive and not hopelessly
inefficient.
The big question they are wrestling with is: Who can make decisions
on matters regarding the future of Mapserver?
It is not an easy problem, because among the questions that have to
be answered are:
- Should Mapserver join a 'Foundation' at all?
- If so, under what terms of membership?
- If so, under what name?
I would put to you, the 'community at large' the proposition that
Mapserver already has a good decision making body that has the
interests of Mapserver at heart: the Mapserver Technical Steering
Committee. The MTSC can make the final decisions on all of the above
questions quite capably providing they:
- Take the temperature of the overall community before making big
decisions.
- Hold their discussions in an open forum so all viewpoints get a
hearing.
The MTSC might want to add some advisory members, so they feel that
their voting numbers reflect a broader community, and I think that is
reasonable too, again, as long as they first put the names out for a
public hearing and make sure there are no substantive objections to
their choices.
So, I put the question to you, do you feel comfortable with the MTSC
making some 'big decisions' for Mapserver over the next few months,
providing that they make their decisions within an open framework of
discussion?
For the record, the current members of the MTSC are: Steve Lime
(Chair), Daniel Morissette, Frank Warmerdam, Sean Gilles, Assefa
Yewondwossen, Howard Butler and Perry Nacionales.
Paul
