[od-discuss] comments on License Approval Process

Tue Dec 4 16:51:10 UTC 2012

On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 12:33 PM, Mike Linksvayer <ml at gondwanaland.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 8:01 AM, Luis Villa <luis at tieguy.org> wrote:
>> Hi, all-
>>
>> Was pointed this morning at:
>>
>> http://opendefinition.org/licenses/process/
>>
>> I'd like to propose a couple of comments/expansions, mostly based on
>> OSI's (much more involved) process document:
>> http://opensource.org/approval
>
> These look great to me. One amendment below.
>
>> 1) This should explicitly state that the AC will decide based on the
>> definition; i.e., change
>>
>> "Note that it is the Advisory Council who take the final decision on
>> license conformance though usually consensus is reached via discussion
>> on the mailing list."
>>
>> to something like:
>>
>> "The Advisory Council will make the final decision on whether or not a
>> license conforms to the Open Definition, based on the OSD. This
>> decision will typically follow the consensus reached via discussion on
>> the mailing list."
>>
>> [OSI doesn't do this! Oops. I'm going to fix this :)
>>
>> 2) Slightly flesh out the submission process:
>>
>> "Submitting The License
>> Submit the license to the Open Definition for discussion. To do this:
>>
>> 1) Sign up to the mailing list, so that you can participate in the discussion.
>> 2) Send a link to the online version of the license to the mailing list.
>> 3) State the rationale for the new license.
>> 4) Compare and contrast to any existing similar OD-approved licenses.
>>
>> Ideally, this should occur before the license is finalized, so that
>> you can revise based on the group's feedback."
>>
>> 3) Explain what will happen:
>>
>> "What Will Happen
>> After submission, the OD community will discuss on the mailing list
>> and reach consensus. The OD AC chair will summarize the consensus to
>> the AC, which will make the final decision or request additional
>> information at their next meeting. The AC chair will report back to
>> the list, and the website will be updated as appropriate."
>
> I don't think AC meetings (telecons) are the best place for final
> decisions due to infeasibility of representative attendance, and worse
> transparency than public mailing list. I suggest
>
> What Will Happen
> After submission, the OD community will discuss on the mailing list
> and reach consensus. The OD AC chair will summarize the consensus to
> the AC on the mailing list. If after two weeks at least two AC members
> approve the consensus summary on-list, and at least 75% of AC members
> expressing an opinion on the summary if any dissent,  the website will
> be updated as appropriate.
>
>
> "two weeks", "at least two" and "75%" are kind of annoying, but I
> don't have a good alternative; better welcome.

I'm fine with this.

Luis