Open Source Geospatial Foundation
The
Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo), is a
non-governmental organization whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open
geospatial technologies and data. The
foundation was formed to provide financial, organizational and legal support to the broader
Free and
open source geospatial community. It will also serve as an independent legal entity to which community members can contribute code, funding and other resources, secure in the knowledge that their contributions will be maintained for public benefit.
The foundation was formed in February
2006 to provide financial, organizational and legal support to the broader
open source geospatial community. It also serves as an independent legal entity to which community members can contribute code, funding and other resources, secure in the knowledge that their contributions will be maintained for public benefit.
OSGeo draws governance inspiration from several aspects of the
Apache Foundation, including a membership composed of individuals drawn from foundation projects who are selected for membership status based on their active contribution to foundation projects and governance.
Initial OSGeo projects are
*
Community MapBuilder [
1]
*
GeoTools [
2]
*
Mapbender [
3]
*
MapGuide Open Source [
4]
*
MapServer [
5]
*
GDAL/OGR [
6]
*
GRASS GIS [
7]
*
OSSIM [
8]
The foundation is pursuing goals beyond
software development, such as promoting more
open access to
government produced
geospatial data, which is a major problem outside of North America. Also
education and training are addressed. Various committees within the foundation work on implementing the strategy.
The OSGeo is throughly community driven and has a lightweight organizational overhead consisting of 45 initial members and 9 directors. It is organized in more than 20 projects. Eight of these focus on software development projects (see above) or organizational matters like board issues, web site, visibility and promotion. Another main focus lies on furthering freedom and openness of access to
Public Geodata and
Education. All content is developed with the help of a
Wiki,
Mailing Lists and
IRC.
* [https://www.osgeo.org/ Open Source Geospatial Foundation Site]
*
OSGeo Wiki* [https://open-source-projects.osgeo.org/ OSGeo Software Projects]
* [https://geodata.osgeo.org/ Public Geodata Committee]
* [https://edu.osgeo.org/ Education Committee]
