[OSM-dev] Fwd: [OpenStreetMap] ODbL

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

John Smith wrote:
>> public static void main(String[] args) {
>>     System.out.println("OSM is a community. Perhaps some of the community
>> wants to be proactive about the license change.");
>> }
> 
> What about the proactive community against the license change, or
> don't they/their views count?

They did two years ago. Now that the license change is agreed on, they 
are of course free to think whatever they want, but the most likely 
effect of anti-ODbL-campaigning is that more data is lost. You can mince 
words all you like, but in practice, keeping someone from agreeing to 
the contributor terms is like logging on to OSM and deleting their data. 
  Naturally this is not an activity that most of us like to see.

If, for example, you were to use the user-to-user messaging system to 
try and talk other people *out* of agreeing to ODbL, I would very much 
hope that your account was banned ASAP.

That's not because one view counts and one doesn't; it's because one 
view is detrimental to the project and the other isn't.

Even if ODbL was a bad or unsuitable license, being anti-ODbL would 
still be detrimental to the project because the choice of adopting ODbL 
has been made.

The most sensible thing for someone who is firmly against ODbL but who 
wants OSM to survive, would be to campaign for election to the board and 
then take it from there. But that would entail a lot of work, and people 
skills, and giving one's real name, so it's not for everybody.

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"