Forum OpenACS Q&A: Response to Open Source and business thoughts

These really are critical issues that the community is just starting to look at. I've spoken with Janine and Michael Feldstein privately about how the community should work together, and Malte and Rafael have done a very good job of talking about it on the bboards.

Part of the reason we are holding the OpenACS socials (and we're planning on two more in the near future, one in July and one in September) is to get people more involved, meeting one another and talking about this stuff in particular.

Not many people chimed in about the last one, but I think everybody that showed had a great time. At the very least, people got a chance to chat a little about the progress they're making in porting the system, how it compares to other systems and so on. I expect that as the socials gain more momentum, more people will start showing up and the community will grow stronger.

However, these clearly are not enough since some of the key people are spread around the world. Rafael in Austrailia, Malte in Germany, Don in Oregon, etc. So we do need to figure out ways to collaborate better.

Also, though, I think we need to figure out ways to advertise the system. Perhaps in the future we should consider setting up something like an OpenACS foundation so that we can do things like advertise in trade journals and magazines. I think it would be nice if we could have an add in Linux Magazine or something asking people to just come and check out the website to learn more.

Perhaps more importantly we need to work out a way to explain what the system is. Many times I want to tell newbies that post to the bboards to RTFM, but then I realize there's no good FM to direct them to. This is more than just tech docs, and less than P&A, but somewhere in between.

So I think my basic point is that there are a number of things that the community should clearly do. Since there is an increasing number of companies dedicating their business to the OpenACS, it makes sense that they would start the process of generating these materials. But there are also many independent consultants out there interested in using this stuff too.

So maybe we should talk not just about a business bboard, but perhaps a steering committee or working groups dedicated to building an infrastructure for these kinds of things. It might be nice to have a group whose purpose is to focus on OpenACES, another working on improving ecommerce, another on non-profits, another for system integration, etc. while being overseen by a core board.

I know that this idea is introducing a great deal of beuracracy, but that may be required in order to push OpenACS farther. We have a very good, very large system here that is competing with many other packages. If there are enough people dedicated to seeing it succeed, this may be a way of ensuring continued improvement and innovation.

talli