[Osmf-talk] Funding of iD Development and Maintenance

[Michal Migurski]

> On Aug 5, 2020, at 7:01 AM, michael spreng <osmf at m.spreng.ch> wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> 
> On 05.08.20 14:14, Frederik Ramm wrote:
>> Or the other way round, possibly you meant that by "arms-length
>> organisations", that the OSMF becomes the nondescript charity that only
>> has a couple of trademarks and rights, and all the operative business is
>> run by the "OpenStreetMap Services Ltd." or whatever, which would be the
>> organisation that can fail without tearing down the project.
> 
> I was just thinking the same thing. It would feel a lot better if we
> could spin employing editor developers out into another organization.

I think you’re describing the prior status quo here, Frederik. iD editor development was owned by a collection of loosely-aligned organizations who recently decided to halt their support, leaving OSMF in a situation that resulted in this conversation. This is no longer a hypothetical risk of inaction as Joost wrote. The bad outcome has already happened and OSMF is scrambling to respond. It is a profoundly weak position, compounded by prior boards’ refusal to consider these questions ahead of time.

I think we’ll find that there’s no way to have it both ways here. Spinning responsibility for employment to another organization shifts the need for fundraising but does not erase it. If we spin it too far as we did in the past, we lose any influence over that organization’s decision-making priorities. To have influence we have to accept the issues that come with setting goals and ensuring that they can be met.

-mike.