discuss: Open Source Writers Group (OSWG) dead?
Subject:
Re: Open Source Writers Group (OSWG) dead?
From:
Paul Jones ####@####.####
Date:
27 Aug 2001 15:58:31 -0000
Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.4.33.0108271149100.24290-100000@tribal.metalab.unc.edu>
for what it's worth, we, ibiblio or metalab or sunsite, offered to mirror
or co-host or otherwise cooperate with the OSWG from the beginning and
there was not much effort (read one complete mirror only) on their part
(actually her part as Deb Richardson did everything but write the docs) to
make this happen. Donnie Barnes was also trying to mirror or co-host but i
don't know if that went anywhere either. i don't want to spend too much
time commenting on OSWG but the lesson in both cases seems to be that you
need several folks involved on an ongoing basis.
about sourceforge, they are a fine group and we, ibiblio again, work with
them very well (we even host a complete sourceforge ftp mirror). but
frankly i think we offer the LDP much more than sourceforge can provide.
if you even want to run the public sourceforge code on our machines we can
handle that too.
about ibiblio's future, we are funded by the center for the public domain
for at least 4 to 5 more years and we have a continuous commitment from
UNC (which as been in business of higher education for over 200 years).
the ibiblio-metalab-sunsite operation predates the WWW and has been the
LDP home from the beginning. We hope you'll stay around, but you own the
domain name (which i see as a good thing) and you can live where you
wish--altho we like having you here.
and we don't allow advertising ;->
On Fri, 24 Aug 2001, David Lawyer wrote:
+Their website www.oswg.org/oswg/ seems to be dead. It seemed to be
+unmaintained for many months. I can't find any obituary for it.
+About a couple of years ago, it was suggested that the LDP was dying
+and that OSWG was taking over. A few HOWTOs were removed from the LDP
+and went there instead. One reasons for this was that the LDP's Howto
+Coordinator had gone AWOL for about 2 months, but others took over
+later on.
+
+Well, what's happened now is the opposite of what was suggested. OSWG
+seems to be dead and we are doing OK. OSWG had some docs on their
+site and a CVS server. One doc was written by the founder of OSWG
+(Deb Richardson) on DocBook. I thought it was well written.
+
+OSWG was originally sponsored by the Puffin Group which Deb R. worked
+for. Then it was taken over by LinuxCare which was absorbed into
+TurboLinux this year. So there are some lessons to be learned here:
+1. Always have at least two people able and willing to run a project.
+2. Have plans of what to do if a sponsor merges, fails, or has a change
+ of heart.
+
+One reason for avoiding putting LDP stuff on SourceForge is that VA
+Linux (SourceForge's sponsor) might not be around a couple of years
+from now. Their stock is now in the 1's (down from 300+). They are
+saying they plan to make money from SourceForge. I don't see how they
+can do this without degrading it with advertising, etc.
+
+ David Lawyer
+
+_________________________
+http://list.linuxdoc.org/
+
==========================================================================
Paul Jones
"Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!"
http://www.ibiblio.org/pjones/ at the Site Formerly Known As MetaLab.unc.edu
####@####.#### voice: (919) 962-7600 fax: (919) 962-8071
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