[Osmf-talk] Awareness on Membership software (CiviCRM) issues under Membership WG and Board review

[Christoph Hormann]

On Friday 09 August 2024, Frederik Ramm wrote:
>
> While this sounds like a reasonable request, I fear that it will lead
> to calls of replacing the free, open, and self-hosted CiviCRM with a
> closed-source, siloed, software-as-a-service thingie operated by a
> third party for money.

I am aware this is how some people try to spin it now - that has nothing
to do with what i actually suggested though.  My suggestion has nothing
to do with the choice of software, it is about whatever software is
used being operated in a robust and scalable way and decisions about
its configuation and how it operates being made in a reliable, self
determined and transparent fashion.

The OSMF has substantial experience and a good track record in operating
software in this manner in its core operations.  That the tools used
are open source is necceessary, but in no way sufficient to ensure
this.

And since the question will inevitably come up:  The OSM community also
has the expertise, capacity and enthusiasm necessary to cover the human
ressources side of this.  That capacity is just - at least at the
moment - largely inaccessible to the OSMF because of its organizational
culture being so different from that of the larger OSM community.

--
Christoph Hormann
https://www.imagico.de/