I have taken the liberty of cross posting this thread that originally
started on the AMIA Open Source Task Force list.  I hope this makes it
clear why, how and when that list fell into disuse and the AMIA OSWG was
established as it was.  As usual, please read
the emails from the bottom up for proper context.


On Mon, 2004-08-02 at 20:09, David Forslund wrote: 
> Somehow I never got a notice that a different discussion list had been set up 
> despite the fact that
> I was one of the AMIA panelists on open source last fall.  Perhaps it is because I'm 
> not an AMIA member?
> Somehow this doesn't seem that "open".

The AMIA OSWG list is a members only list.  

There are a number of reasons for it and I originally petitioned to make
it an open list available to the public.  

I now support the fact that it is a member's only list for the following
reasons:

(a) there is already a generic open source forum sponsored by Minoru
Development, Corp.  It would be counter-productive to attempt to
duplicate it's nature.

(b) the entire AMIA membership pays for the upkeep of the infrastructure
so there are issues surrounding the mailing lists being a benefit of
membership

(c) the OSWG members voted to keep it as a member's only list witht he
possibility of an additional "open" list

(d) the AMIA Board of Directors said it would not allow it be opened to
the public at that time (Jan 2004)

(e) the work done within the AMIA OSWG is and will be made available to
the public anyway in various formats

(f) It is hoped to become an incentive for others to join AMIA now that
open source has official visibility within the organization. Many of us
expect this to be a stepping stone to recognition of FOSS in other
health informatics organizations and government bodies. Some of this is
occurring in parallel and it is good to see.

(g) Many of the members of the AMIA OSWG are also participants in other
open source forums.  Keeping the AMIA OSWG list closed to members only
allows us to carryout membership based business on the list and not
expose that to non-members.  There is a VERY good chance that AMIA would
sponsor an open list in spite of (b), (c) & (d) above if the openhealth
list did not exist.  

The bottom line is that we welcome all AMIA members to the OSWG and we
welcome all interested in open source in health care to join AMIA and
help disseminate good information regarding FOSS to other health care
professionals that may not otherwise be so exposed.  Let's face it, most
physicians and office managers don't read the openhealth list and if
they did wouldn't hang around long.  It's a great place for those of us
desiring to be a bit more intense but a calmer, gentler environment is
needed to recruit new members to the open side. <g>  Though the working
group steering committee has said that the OSWG is "very
passionate"......so maybe we aren't as calm as we need to be yet. <g>
  
AMIA membership is very reasonable for students at $35 / yr.

Regular membership is $250/yr and is often reimbursed by employers (or
deductible as professional association fees)

If you just want to try it out.......you can join as an Associate Member
for one year at $30.  This allows you to join one working group whereas
regular and student members can join unlimited groups.

Regular and Student members get discounts and freebies that can easily
be worth more than your membership fees.

Also......when you do join please tell them that I referred you.....I
have a bare space on the wall for one of those recruiting certificates.
;-)

Cheers, 

-- 
Tim Cook, President, Open Paradigms, LLC
Organizing Chair, AMIA Open Source Working Group
Public Key at: http://www.openparadigms.com/timcook_publickey.asc
Key fingerprint = C7BB 675B BDCA B87D 83F0  A002 BBDC C7B8 9ACD B673
> Dave
> > --Original Message--
> > From: Tim Cook <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: "David Forslund" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Cc: "AMIA Open Source Task Force List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Date: Mon, Aug-2-2004 8:21 PM
> > Subject: Re: [open_source_task_force] Email list active
> > 
> > On Mon, 2004-08-02 at 18:59, David Forslund wrote:
> > > I haven't seen anything on this list for almost a year?  Is this list 
> > still active?
> > 
> > Yes it is still technically active.  This was the exploratory group
> > prior to the formal establishment of the AMIA open source working group
> > last January.
> >   
> > Many AMIA members interested in open source now participate in the AMIA
> > open source working group (OSWG) mailing list
> > http://www.amia.org/working/os/main.html when dealing with open source
> > issues with other members and on the open health list when dealing with
> > the open source community at large.
> >  
> > I would assume that this list will be deactivated at some point?
> > 
> > Regards,
> > -- 
> > Tim Cook, President, Open Paradigms, LLC
> > Organizing Chair, AMIA Open Source Working Group
> > Public Key at: http://www.openparadigms.com/timcook_publickey.asc
> > Key fingerprint = C7BB 675B BDCA B87D 83F0  A002 BBDC C7B8 9ACD B673
> > 
> > > David Forslund
> > > Laboratory Fellow
> > > CCS Division
> > > Los Alamos National Laboratory
> > > Los Alamos, NM 87545
> > > 505-663-5218
> > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > 
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > open_source_task_force mailing list
> > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > > http://mailman.amia.org/mailman/listinfo/open_source_task_force
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > open_source_task_force mailing list
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > http://mailman.amia.org/mailman/listinfo/open_source_task_force
> > 
> > 

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