Open Source Initiative broadens discussion about all things OSS - Open Source Software Up the Stack

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December 17, 2007
Open Source Initiative broadens discussion about all things OSS

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) last week broadened widely the role it wishes to play in supporting the open source software (OSS) developer and user communities. These changes will also increase the OSI role in speaking for the OSS movement in general.

On its web site, the OSI board said that as part of its ongoing effort to improve transparency and encourage participation, it will concentrate on three major mailing lists in 2008: one for license review, one for license discussions and one for general OSS issues. This is somewhat in reaction to the August-October 2007 review process for the Microsoft public licenses, which branched off into much more substantive philosophical discussion than whether the Microsoft licenses simply met the letter of the OSI definition of OSS. Another driver of the OSI decision is what some OSI board members and discussion participants think of as a dangerous proliferation of OSS license types.

The three discussion groups are as follows:

1. License-Review: This new, tightly-focused list is specifically for evaluating licenses with respect to both whether they conform to the OSD and how they impact proliferation (relative to the pre-defined categories), in accordance with the revised License Approval Process. It will be managed by Russ Nelson, Chair of the Licensing Committee.
2. License-Discuss. With the creation of license-review, this list is being repurposed as a general forum to deepen the community's understanding of licensing issues. As such, it will be responsible for the new Open Source License FAQ, which is designed to capture the community's "best understanding" of common issues. The list will be moderated (as needed) by Ernest Prabhakar, OSI Board Observer.
3. Issues. In addition, the OSI is creating a brand new list for the community to provide feedback and input on the OSI's operations as a whole. In particular, this list is a place where anyone can request (and volunteer for!) activities they feel the OSI should pursue. As such, the Issues List acts as the "parent list" for Membership, the Open Standards Requirement, Women in Open Source, and other initiatives that are currently on hold pending new leadership and clarified charters. This list will be managed by Michael Tiemann, OSI Board President.

In keeping with OSI's belief in the power of open communities, the board said all of these lists are open to the public. However, the contents of the License Discus FAQ will be moderated and only a tight group of editors will actually post to the License-Review community.