[Gvsig_english] Query on why gvSIG CE came about

[Simon Cropper]

On 28/06/11 21:01, Jorge Gaspar Sanz Salinas wrote:
> El 27/06/11 10:47, Simon Cropper escribió:
>> Hi Everyone,
>>
>> I have recently joined the CE Maillist and posted the following
>> question. As it pertains to both this list and that list I am also
>> posting it here...
>>
>> *** POST ***
>>
>> Why is gvSIG CE here? To me the reason for its creation is unclear.If
>> you intend to encourage adoption then the distinction between these
>> gvSIG and gvSIG CE needs to be clarified.
>>
>> The OADE version and the original code was finally remerged creating a
>> single code base in 2010 and next thing I see is that the code is split
>> into two projects again.
>>
>> Personally I find it hard to decide where to place my attention /
>> allegiances. I have spent over a year getting data and building my
>> website to house my tutorials (most of which will be on gvSIG) and now I
>> have two separate projects, GUI and communities. Do I stick with the
>> original program/community or the new CE one? The same dilemma I had
>> when considering creating tutorials for the OADE versus the original
>> program.
>>
>> The same indecision will, no doubt, be in the minds of any new comer
>> looking at adopting the software.
>>
>> As a general observation -- the gvSIG community appears to be
>> splintering as various groups try and drag the project in different
>> directions.
>>
>> This is in contrast to say the QGIS community that over the last year
>> appears to be growing in strength and pooling resources.
>>
>
> Hi Simon,
>
> gvSIG is a place where everyone can contribute as you can state by your
> own history. Not just patches but also documentation, translations, case
> studies, artwork and so on. That's happening everyday, no matter what
> others say.
>
> On the development side where are continuously improving our workflows,
> the balance between being agile or quick and being very conscious about
> stability, GUI consistency and so on is not easy. Our Technical Steering
> Committee (which mailing list is open to everyone) are finishing a
> document about code contributions workflows and roles.
>
> So my first point is about to confirm that the whole gvSIG team is
> focused on the community, all the time, since the beginning of the
> project. Of course everything can be improved, but stating elsewhere
> that gvSIG team doesn't collaborate is a non-sense.
>
> If a group of users or developers want to follow another path we cannot
> do anything against that, apart to try to understand the real reasons of
> their fork. I personally did that on the CE list asking openly what the
> gvSIG team can do to reorient the CE group to other kind of activity
> instead a fork and I didn't get any answer. On the same way that group
> didn't discussed here about their intentions or concerns before starting
> their initiative. They just decided by themselves that the idea was ok
> and now they say they are more open oriented than the gvSIG team. Cool.
>
> Even the name, in my opinion is perverse. They are the Community Edition
> and we are... what?? They insist on the "CIT gvSIG" name that is also
> wrong. gvSIG is a project born at CIT, and everyone should be proud of
> CIT encouraging gvSIG but gvSIG is a community project, supported by the
> gvSIG Association and thousands of users, developers, companies,
> universities and public administrations all around the world.
>
> Best
>
Hi Jorge,

Thanks for the reply. I have a better idea of what has transpired.

It is obvious for whatever reasons that the OADE group and a few other 
collaborators have forked from the main project.

For me, the confusion stemmed from the similar names. The new groups 
name is so similar to the main project that it implies some sort of 
association or close collaboration. In fact, as I stated on that list 
the Community Edition sounds like the feature poor free version of the 
main project. Personally I think the two projects side by side will only 
confuse new comers. As I suggested on the CE list I think it would be 
better to rename their project to distance itself from the main project.

As Giovanni states it is not worth pursuing a heated debate, again. My 
initial enquiry was aimed as ensuring the primary focus of my current 
project does not change. gvSIG remains.

-- 
Cheers Simon

    Simon Cropper
    Principal Consultant
    Botanicus Australia Pty Ltd
    PO Box 160, Sunshine, VIC
    W: www.botanicusaustralia.com.au