[Viscom-dev] RE: [OSGeo-Conf] FOSS4G.org domain

If FOSS4G is to be treated as a generic term and not a brand for our
conference, then I have to ask why we are using it. It would make far
more sense to me to call the conference something like the "OSGeo
Annual". Our use of "OSGeo" is free from encumbrances, and creates a
visibility feedback loop between the conference and the organisation.

This has come up several times in the past, but the discussion has not
gone anywhere. Personally, I would like to see this important
visibility/branding issue revisited by a vote of the membership rather
than settled internal to a committee.

Jason

-----Original Message-----
From: conference_dev-bounces@lists.osgeo.org
[mailto:conference_dev-bounces@lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Tyler
Mitchell (OSGeo)
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 08:49
To: conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org
Cc: Toru Mori
Subject: [OSGeo-Conf] FOSS4G.org domain

Hi all,
FYI - As a follow up to recent questions on the discuss list, and on
this old thread from last year:
http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/conference_dev/2006-October/
000128.html I asked about OSGeo securing the foss4g.org domain.

In the message below, Venka describes the background behind the
foss4g.org web site and what it would take to secure the domain name.
I'll leave it to this committee to discuss the provisos.

Thanks for the clarification Venka,
Tyler

Begin forwarded message:

From: "venka.osgeo" <venka.osgeo@gmail.com>
Date: August 31, 2007 12:31:34 AM PDT (CA)
To: "Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo)" <tmitchell@osgeo.org>
Cc: Toru Mori <moritoru@orkney.co.jp>, Shinji Masumoto
<masumoto@sci.osaka-cu.ac.jp>
Subject: Re: FOSS4G.org question..

Hi Tyler,

About the foss4g.org domain usage, we had a discussion on 27 August
2007 here in Osaka with the people concerned.

Some of the things about ownership of the domain etc. are a little
more complicated that what Mori-san mentioned so I would like to set
things right first.

The foss4g.org (and grass-japan.org) domain was registered to make
available to the public the outcome of the project on
Internationalization of GRASS5.0 and Mapserver. The project was funded

by IPA (Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan). The project
was carried in cooperation between Orkney (Mori's company) and Osaka
City University(OCU). Apart form software internationalization, OCU
was also responsible for testing, preparation of test data, sample
applications and implementation and management of the portal site. The

main portal site is presently available at www.foss4g.org/FOSS4G/ (and

also www.grass-japan.org/FOSS4G/

The domains were registered in 2003 and the actual portal site started

functioning in March 2004. Incidently, the acronym FOSS4G, was coined
(and popularized atleast around this part of the
world) by me (Venka). The foss4g.org is now registered with Prof.
Shinji Masumoto and Venkatesh Raghavan.

We are glad that the acronym FOSS4G has become popular the worldover
and feel that the OSGeo conference should continue under the same
name.

With regards to transfer of FOSS4G domain to OSGeo, Prof. Shinji
Masumoto and myself will be willing agree for OSGeo to use and run the

domain provided;

a) The provinance of the FOSS4G acronym is properly mentioned and the
credit of coining the acronym is duly acknowledge on future foss4g.org

site that would be managed by OSGeo.

b) No restriction is made on the free usage of the FOSS4G acronym for
the legitimate purpose of promoting Free and Open Source Software for
Geoinformatics.

c) OSGeo offer two complimentary registration passes future FOSS4G
Conferences (including
workshop) to OSGeo-Japan. Usage of the complimentary pass would be
decided by OSGeo-Japan.

Modalities to enable OSGeo to run this domain can be workedout in due
course, I think.

Kind regards

Venka

Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo) wrote:

Is this topic, below, something that you could discuss at your
meeting on Monday? Does OSGeo Japan "own" foss4g.org? If the
conference continues to be named FOSS4G, would it be possible for
OSGeo to buy/own/run this domain?
Sincerely,
Tyler
Begin forwarded message:

From: "P Kishor" <punk.kish@gmail.com>
Date: August 23, 2007 3:03:45 AM PDT (CA)
To: "Bart van den Eijnden (OSGIS)" <bartvde@osgis.nl>, "OSGeo
Discussions" <discuss@lists.osgeo.org>
Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] domains
Reply-To: punkish@eidesis.org, OSGeo Discussions
<discuss@lists.osgeo.org>

wouldn't it be wiser to just have www.foss4g.org/2007 or /2008 and
so on? Right now the foss4g.org domain goes to a GRASS-Japan portal
site.
Perhaps a little bit of negotiation...?

On 8/23/07, Bart van den Eijnden (OSGIS) <bartvde@osgis.nl> wrote:

Is it not wise to already claim domains like foss4g2008.org and
maybe even further down the line?

Best regards,
Bart

--
Bart van den Eijnden
OSGIS, Open Source GIS
http://www.osgis.nl

_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

--
Puneet Kishor http://punkish.eidesis.org/ Nelson Inst. for Env.
Studies http://www.nelson.wisc.edu/ Open Source Geospatial
Foundation http://www.osgeo.org/
2007 Summer S&T Policy Fellow, The National Academies http://
www.nas.edu/

collaborate, communicate, compete

_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

Tyler Mitchell
Executive Director
Open Source Geospatial Foundation
tmitchell@osgeo.org
P: +1-250-277-1621
M: +1-250-303-1831

Tyler Mitchell
Executive Director
Open Source Geospatial Foundation
tmitchell@osgeo.org
P: +1-250-277-1621
M: +1-250-303-1831

_______________________________________________
Conference_dev mailing list
Conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev

Agreed Jason that this is an important enough issue that decision by full membership would seem appropriate.

Dave

On 31-Aug-07, at 12:10 PM, Jason Birch wrote:

If FOSS4G is to be treated as a generic term and not a brand for our
conference, then I have to ask why we are using it. It would make far
more sense to me to call the conference something like the "OSGeo
Annual". Our use of "OSGeo" is free from encumbrances, and creates a
visibility feedback loop between the conference and the organisation.

This has come up several times in the past, but the discussion has not
gone anywhere. Personally, I would like to see this important
visibility/branding issue revisited by a vote of the membership rather
than settled internal to a committee.

Jason

-----Original Message-----
From: conference_dev-bounces@lists.osgeo.org
[mailto:conference_dev-bounces@lists.osgeo.org] On Behalf Of Tyler
Mitchell (OSGeo)
Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 08:49
To: conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org
Cc: Toru Mori
Subject: [OSGeo-Conf] FOSS4G.org domain

Hi all,
FYI - As a follow up to recent questions on the discuss list, and on
this old thread from last year:
http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/conference_dev/2006-October/
000128.html I asked about OSGeo securing the foss4g.org domain.

In the message below, Venka describes the background behind the
foss4g.org web site and what it would take to secure the domain name.
I'll leave it to this committee to discuss the provisos.

Thanks for the clarification Venka,
Tyler

Begin forwarded message:

From: "venka.osgeo" <venka.osgeo@gmail.com>
Date: August 31, 2007 12:31:34 AM PDT (CA)
To: "Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo)" <tmitchell@osgeo.org>
Cc: Toru Mori <moritoru@orkney.co.jp>, Shinji Masumoto
<masumoto@sci.osaka-cu.ac.jp>
Subject: Re: FOSS4G.org question..

Hi Tyler,

About the foss4g.org domain usage, we had a discussion on 27 August
2007 here in Osaka with the people concerned.

Some of the things about ownership of the domain etc. are a little
more complicated that what Mori-san mentioned so I would like to set
things right first.

The foss4g.org (and grass-japan.org) domain was registered to make
available to the public the outcome of the project on
Internationalization of GRASS5.0 and Mapserver. The project was funded

by IPA (Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan). The project
was carried in cooperation between Orkney (Mori's company) and Osaka
City University(OCU). Apart form software internationalization, OCU
was also responsible for testing, preparation of test data, sample
applications and implementation and management of the portal site. The

main portal site is presently available at www.foss4g.org/FOSS4G/ (and

also www.grass-japan.org/FOSS4G/

The domains were registered in 2003 and the actual portal site started

functioning in March 2004. Incidently, the acronym FOSS4G, was coined
(and popularized atleast around this part of the
world) by me (Venka). The foss4g.org is now registered with Prof.
Shinji Masumoto and Venkatesh Raghavan.

We are glad that the acronym FOSS4G has become popular the worldover
and feel that the OSGeo conference should continue under the same
name.

With regards to transfer of FOSS4G domain to OSGeo, Prof. Shinji
Masumoto and myself will be willing agree for OSGeo to use and run the

domain provided;

a) The provinance of the FOSS4G acronym is properly mentioned and the
credit of coining the acronym is duly acknowledge on future foss4g.org

site that would be managed by OSGeo.

b) No restriction is made on the free usage of the FOSS4G acronym for
the legitimate purpose of promoting Free and Open Source Software for
Geoinformatics.

c) OSGeo offer two complimentary registration passes future FOSS4G
Conferences (including
workshop) to OSGeo-Japan. Usage of the complimentary pass would be
decided by OSGeo-Japan.

Modalities to enable OSGeo to run this domain can be workedout in due
course, I think.

Kind regards

Venka

Tyler Mitchell (OSGeo) wrote:

Is this topic, below, something that you could discuss at your
meeting on Monday? Does OSGeo Japan "own" foss4g.org? If the
conference continues to be named FOSS4G, would it be possible for
OSGeo to buy/own/run this domain?
Sincerely,
Tyler
Begin forwarded message:

From: "P Kishor" <punk.kish@gmail.com>
Date: August 23, 2007 3:03:45 AM PDT (CA)
To: "Bart van den Eijnden (OSGIS)" <bartvde@osgis.nl>, "OSGeo
Discussions" <discuss@lists.osgeo.org>
Subject: Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] domains
Reply-To: punkish@eidesis.org, OSGeo Discussions
<discuss@lists.osgeo.org>

wouldn't it be wiser to just have www.foss4g.org/2007 or /2008 and
so on? Right now the foss4g.org domain goes to a GRASS-Japan portal
site.
Perhaps a little bit of negotiation...?

On 8/23/07, Bart van den Eijnden (OSGIS) <bartvde@osgis.nl> wrote:

Is it not wise to already claim domains like foss4g2008.org and
maybe even further down the line?

Best regards,
Bart

--
Bart van den Eijnden
OSGIS, Open Source GIS
http://www.osgis.nl

_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

--
Puneet Kishor http://punkish.eidesis.org/ Nelson Inst. for Env.
Studies http://www.nelson.wisc.edu/ Open Source Geospatial
Foundation http://www.osgeo.org/
2007 Summer S&T Policy Fellow, The National Academies http://
www.nas.edu/

collaborate, communicate, compete

_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
Discuss@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

Tyler Mitchell
Executive Director
Open Source Geospatial Foundation
tmitchell@osgeo.org
P: +1-250-277-1621
M: +1-250-303-1831

Tyler Mitchell
Executive Director
Open Source Geospatial Foundation
tmitchell@osgeo.org
P: +1-250-277-1621
M: +1-250-303-1831

_______________________________________________
Conference_dev mailing list
Conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev
_______________________________________________
Conference_dev mailing list
Conference_dev@lists.osgeo.org
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/conference_dev

The title “OSGeo Conference” would be more understandable to the higher-ups with whom many of us need to contend to get funds to attend. Certainly this also raises the brand awareness of “OSGeo”. In short, when I tell my boss that we got a paper published in “OSGeo Journal” and that we are working on OSGeo related projects, then he’s more likely to allow to go to “OSGeo Conference”… Just a thought to add to the discussion. - Dan