[Osmf-talk] Some questions about candidates' statements

[Steve Coast]

The mail client I have here isn’t good at quoting so I’ll copy & paste:

1. What is wrong with the current petition regarding term limits?

It’s a larger issue than the semantics – it hasn’t been finished. I remember board members talking about how important this was ~5+ years ago and here we are, with members running for their 12th year or whatever it is. It’s not clear to me that it will ever be finished unless it’s made a key issue. Happy to be wrong.

2. How many board meetings did you attend within the last three
years? And what was the painful part in those?

I couldn’t tell you the exact number, I attend anonymously now and then. I was at the one-but-last, I think the last one I was on a plane. Anyway, they sound like a funeral.

3. To help me scope your concern: What percentage of OSM tiles
are served to third parties today?

I don’t have an exact figure, my memory when I asked this unofficially a month or two ago was >50% in North America. Whatever the figure was it jumped out at me as far beyond where we should be. Especially when osm.org becomes unusable for mappers, which it has been on-and-off in north America! If osm.org is unusable to mappers then the figure should be 0% outside OSM because just spending more money on tile servers will never fix the issue when you’re shipping tiles for free to the world, like building more roads doesn’t fix traffic congestion.

4. Do you know why OWG is kept short on budget and did you talk
with them if and how they could use that extra money?

As best I can tell, the relationship between the OWG and the board has broken down. I don’t know that they’ve ever been kept on a small budget on purpose, I think it just broke down. Maybe I’m wrong, but it’s what I see and hear.

There is a long list of very central things that need to be fixed or improved, and Andy Allen has apparently been quietly working on some if for a long time. How do we get more bandwidth and fix these issues? I think step one would be to give OWG the cash to figure it out because

a) it’s a gift from the board and would signal trust in the OWG to go figure out whatever it is (hiring people, bug bounties, hack weekends, paying Andy,… whatever it is I don’t care) to help rebuild the relationship and
b) it would be faster and more efficient to give the OWG money than to ask them to ask the board for funds for some long plan they’d have to write up and so on.
c) They’re good guys, they know what needs to be done, it’s not a lot of money, give them cash to go figure it out. Even if we just buy the OWG new laptops it would be a win, but I think they can achieve a lot more with some love, trust and cash. If for some reason it fails then the strategy can be changed, but the amount of cash isn’t really a lot.

Best

Steve

From: Peter Barth<mailto:osm at won2.de>
Sent: Friday, December 6, 2019 10:11 AM
To: osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org<mailto:osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org>
Subject: [Osmf-talk] Some questions about candidates' statements

Hello candidates,

I read through most of the questions and statements and I have a
few follow-up questions, especially in the topic of CoIs which
has a high significance for me.

My definition of a potential conflict of interest:
A potential conflict of interests arises, if there is a topic at
board level where the interests of the OSM project and your
employer *might* differ.

I pay tribute to anyone who's able to put the project up-front
other interests and I won't insinuate for any candidate that you
wouldn't be able to do so.

It is good if you can distinguish between OSM's view and your
employer's view. It is better if there is no possibility to
ask the question "is this your opinion or your employer's".

Imho, even a *potential* CoI should always lead to you stating
your CoI, making your input/comments public and abstaining from
voting.

Do you agree with my statement or description of CoI/potential
CoI? How would you cope with a CoI? How with a potential CoI?
Especially will you take part in discussions? Share
arguments,...? Public only? Private? Will you participate in
votes? Will you make your CoI public? Will you make a potential
CoI public?

I am specifically interested to hear an opinion of anyone
directly or indirectly working for or with OSM or GIS data.


Further, I have some more specific questions for Steve that I am
interested in:

1. What is wrong with the current petition regarding term limits?

2. How many board meetings did you attend within the last three
years? And what was the painful part in those?

3. To help me scope your concern: What percentage of OSM tiles
are served to third parties today?

4. Do you know why OWG is kept short on budget and did you talk
with them if and how they could use that extra money?

Thanks,
Peda


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