gvSIG Desktop wiki¶

Welcome to the gvSIG Desktop wiki, this place is aimed to be used by developers and users of gvSIG that need somewhere to publish their information. Use the links at the sidebar to browse the pages by title or date.

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About gvSIG organization¶

gvSIG is a project that is supported by the gvSIG Association currently. Regulations of the Association can be found in (1).
The gvSIG Association works in the field of free geomatics and use of standards in order to benefit an environment where companies, especially SME, can develop their business model around open source software and knowledge sharing.

We strongly believe in building a space where we succeed in transform expenses (purchase of proprietary software licenses) in investment (purchase of services) guaranteeing Technological Sovereignty (open source software). A space that will help us to find synergies between the public administration, universities and the business world; synergies that allow us to find better scenarios in relation to the management of existing resources and the development of new ethics of business where Sovereignty and Solidarity are reference values.

In this context we understand the software as a tool, as a means, and never as an purpose in itself. An essential tool, a transformation tool, but anyway a tool. It explains why the gvSIG events (2) have a strong focus on users of these technologies. Of course without forgetting the implementation of different development workshops.

We make this introduction because I think some aspects about how we organize ourselves can be understood better, also taking advantage to introduce ourselves to those who do not know us.

In order to guarantee the sustainability of the gvSIG model, based on the previously mentioned purposes, it was decided to create a professional structure. The purpose is to maintain the continuity of this structure from the benefits generated in the development of the business model that the Association promotes.

One of the main tasks of the technical part of the mentioned Structure was the migration of gvSIG to the new development branch, gvSIG 2.x, to allow us to:

1. Get a small and stable core.
2. Have well-defined API
3. Make easy the development of plugins by the Community
4. Reduce the learning curve in gvSIG
5. Help to train new developers

In this context it is where this structure is who makes the day-to-day decisions and it is who meet the other developers to set the objectives to be addressed between different versions, although these objectives are tackled or not depending on the available resources.

We also want to describe that in most cases the requests from clients who hire gvSIG developments are who fix the product evolution. Our intention is to convince these customers that they authorize us to release these developments, being able to reverse new sets of features for the common good, and invest part of the benefits to the evolution of structural improvements of the product.

We are glad to receive the more contributors the better. Of course, when they ensure that these adhere to the procedures to ensure the quality of the project. That is, contributors who know that we talk about a collective project.

Maybe we have some differences in the nature of our project respecting other ones, and this is derived from the DNA of our organization and our values.

About Major (technical) decisions¶

As we explain the day-to-day decisions can be made by people of the professional structure (there's an architecture and development manager, and a product manager). And the TSC, that is composed of the main developers that are working on gvSIG, has a meeting after every final version in order to make decisions for the next version. Currently it is planned to release 2 versions per year (one version in May and another one in December). There are meetings every six months in order to define the next version.

At that meeting it is decided what to work on for the next version. This important decisions are published where it is more visible, at the gvSIG blog (3).
Of course it doesn't mean that gvSIG includes only these changes. We have to include all the possible functionalities developed by the community that are integrated with that version.

And there's also some decisions about some objectives at these meetings that are not carried out at the next version. It is listed at the gvSIG redmine, at the “whislist” option -the access to this list is also public (4)

In any case, about the participation, we go beyond a technical management, and companies participate at the economical decision making of the project, and at the responsibility of supporting the professional structure.

(1) http://www.gvsig.com/en/gvsig-association
(2) http://www.gvsig.com/en/conferences
(3) http://blog.gvsig.org/
(4) https://redmine.gvsig.net/redmine/projects/gvsig-desktop/issues?utf8=%E2%9C%93&set_filter=1&f[]=status_id&op[status_id]=o&f[]=tracker_id&op[tracker_id]=%3D&v[tracker_id][]=11&f[]=&c[]=tracker&c[]=status&c[]=priority&c[]=subject&c[]=assigned_to&c[]=updated