[OSM-talk] [OSM-talk-fr] Continued aggression against French contributors (cadastre integration)

Eric Marsden eric.marsden at free.fr
Thu Oct 18 21:30:20 BST 2012


>>>>> "fr" == Frederik Ramm <frederik at remote.org> writes:

  fr> If I do that, would that change the attitude towards the "separate
  fr> account" question, or would it be a a waste of time?

  Frederik, you are focussing on the technical ramifications of this
  rather narrow "separate account" issue, but in fact, as many of us
  have tried to explain multiple times, the real issues are more
  fundamental:
  
  - the legitimacy of the OSMF DWG concerning monitoring of imports (and
    blocking accounts on this basis) is unclear. The DWG mandate, as per
    its web page on OSMF's web site, does not include monitoring
    imports. I have seen no deliberation of the OSMF board giving DWG
    the right to block contributors (who are clearly neither sabotaging
    the data nor making foolish beginners' mistakes) on the basis of its
    interpretations of import guidelines (please look up the meaning of
    the word "guidelines"). 

  - the process which led the DWG to decide that a separate account
    shall be necessary is absolutely opaque. A normal process for such
    as change would be to explain your motivations, request feedback
    from contributors (for instance via the talk mailing list), then
    document the motivations and consequences on the wiki. You have only
    documented this "requirement", which seems pulled out of your hat.

  - the way in which DWG is undertaking its monitoring+blocking, by
    sending aggressive messages to contributors in a language which they
    can be presumed not to understand, seemed pretty autistic at first,
    and now seems arrogant and bigoted. Indeed, DWG members have continued
    in the same way despite repeated attempts to explain the negative
    impact that this is having on well-meaning contributors.

  - the way in which DWG has ignored proposals from French contributors
    to help act as intermediaries in this respect makes it look like you
    wish to avoid the constitution of well-structured local/national
    communities, when (in my opinion) this is a major challenge for the
    next years of Openstreetmap's growth. 

  Note that none of these issues are specific to the "French community",
  but concern OSMF governance, its values, its processes and its degree
  of respect for local communities and for contributors. I have seen no
  effort to address these issues, but rather significant avoidance of
  our numerous messages asking for answers. Please consider changing
  that.
  
-- 
Eric Marsden




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