[OHM] OHM organization

[Jeff Meyer]

+100

My quick take is that an organizing / governance structure would:
a) create greater credibility as an org / better explanation of who we are
b) attract more users
c) possibly serve as grounds for funding
d) give greater transparency into its operations

I'm sure there are many other reasons, as well, but those are the first at
the top of my mind.

Noel's interesting comparison was to Mapzen, which is another OSM ecosystem
organization that ended its commercial run and became a Linux Foundation
project
<https://www.mapzen.com/blog/mapzen-is-now-a-linux-foundation-project/>.

Thanks, Jeff


On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 12:19 PM Richard Welty <rwelty at averillpark.net>
wrote:

> over on slack, a new OHM user, Noel MacLochlainn (who is not on this
> mailing list) brought up a couple of issues relating to transparency
> and status that got me thinking. it's appropriate for me to bring those
> thoughts over here for discussion.
>
>   i’ve been pondering @Noel MacLochlainn’s suggestions and comments; i
>   think the real issue right now is that OHM lacks any sort of
>   governance structure. it’s a smallish, informal project and on the one
>   hand you could argue we don’t need one; on the other hand, if we wish
>   to grow and be in a position to obtain and deploy greater resources,
>   we likely need to do something more formal. we would need such a
>   governance structure in any case if we wanted to become a non-profit
>   in whatever jurisdiction, and becoming a non profit is probably
>   necessary if we want to be in a position to take meaningful donations
>   of resources.
>
> the last time non profit status came up was a few years ago and the
> discussion fizzled out; i personally think we should try to find a way
> to formalize the organization and its processes. it doesn't require
> instant progress or decision making, but we ought to start a serious
> discussion with an aim of moving it forward.
>
> richard
> --
> rwelty at averillpark.net
>  Averill Park Networking - GIS & IT Consulting
>  OpenStreetMap - PostgreSQL - Linux
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>
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-- 
Jeff Meyer
206-676-2347
osm: Open Historical Map (OHM)
<http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Open_Historical_Map> / my OSM user page
<http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/jeffmeyer>
t: @OpenHistMap
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