[OSM-talk] OSM license change: A license to kill? -> How to make a nightmare come true!

[SteveC]

On 4 Mar 2009, at 12:28, Nop wrote:

>
> Hi!
>
> Russ Nelson schrieb:
>>> Hopefully you know and trust the lawyers, foundation, whoever, ...
>>> involved. WE PROBABLY DON'T KNOW THEM SO WHY SHOULD WE MAGICALLY  
>>> TRUST
>>> THEM?!?
>>
>> You can't.  There is no magic wand to create trust.  Only through  
>> time
>> and repeated interaction can you learn to trust somebody.  And if  
>> you've
>> been around for more than a year, you've had that time and those
>> interactions -- if you've chosen to pay attention.  If you expect to
>> participate in the process afterwards, then I think your expectations
>> are off.
>
> Pay attention to what? There was no attempt to inform a wider number  
> of
> people. That is exactly the point. I have been around for 6 months,  
> I am
> subscribed to talk and talk-de and until two weeks ago I was  
> completely
> unaware that there was a planned change of licence at all. And then it
> was not some official information but mentioned in a private  
> discussion.

We've not always done a great job of communicating for a variety of  
reasons but it was never with malice.

> I recon there was no way to find out about this short of subscribing  
> to
> legal talk - and why on earth would any mapper do that if he has no  
> idea
> that anything concerning him is going on?
>
> This is the first time an ordinary OSM member had a chance to get  
> notice
> of the licence change and I bet you that there are 80000 account  
> holders
> who still have no idea that anything is going on - so the process is
> just starting now. And we still have failed to give notice and
> understandable (translated) information to the majority of  
> participants.

I want to correct something here, there is this view of 100,000 users  
needing consent. The number is in fact far smaller for people who ever  
made an edit (about 30% of the users). It's vastly smaller still for  
anyone who has edited anything significant. It's an easier problem  
than you might think, is what I'm saying. Far easier than convincing  
you I don't have a satanic portal in my basement.

Best

Steve