[Osmf-talk] New license change proposal status

[Mike Collinson]

Hi Frederik,

In addition to an update I've just sent to this list, I also want to respond to your issue of the vote wording so that the issue is adequately discussed.

At 09:36 PM 16/10/2009, Frederik Ramm wrote:
>Hi,
>
>Mike Collinson wrote:
>>The formal license change proposal will be sent to you very shortly, so the License Working Group has been working on the exact text of the vote itself and covering letter.  If interested, you can see it here:
>
>[...]
>
>>In order to give members with differing views on what makes the ideal license, the maximum chance to make their views felt, there will also be a short optional survey included with the vote.
>
>This is the letter you are sending out to OSMF members, not the question that will be put to all contributors, right? Looks ok so far with me, and a plus for the planned survey.

Now the letter has gone out I hope the general context is clearer. (http://www.osmfoundation.org/images/3/3c/License_Proposal.pdf)

>However, for the question that will ultimately be put to all contributors, I sincerely wish that contributors will have three options, like
>
>( ) I release my data under ODbL
>( ) I do not release my data under ODbL
>( ) I consider all my data PD anyway and don't claim database protection so do whatever you want
>
>I had talked to a number of LWG members at SOTM and found them at least not rejecting this idea altogether; the plan being to allow those who don't care for viral licensing to at least be heard. That would be more than a "short optional survey". I would expect these responses in the user data we keep on the server, thus formalising the current "all my contributions are PD" scheme we have on the Wiki.

We had a very, very long discussion about this and looked at many options. We finally concluded that unless the basic OSMF member vote itself was a simple yes/no, there are simply too many shades of opinion to get a question/answer wording that is not loaded (i.e. potentially biased) and that everyone could be happy with.  

Having a simple neutral question/answer and creating a rather longer survey seems a better option for getting a clear result on whether to go ahead with the new license AND for allowing us all to make our personal opinions quantitatively recorded. Full results of the survey (except for personal identification) will be published as public record, so available for analysis by all parties of whatever school of thought and can be used as an informed basis for future direction..    


Mike
License Working Group