[General] [Proposal] Revamp OSAF Website

[Mimi Yin]

Katie delegated her bug to update the OSAF Website to me. https:// 
bugzilla.osafoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=8408 After taking a look  
at the content currently at www.osafoundation.org, I've come up with  
the following proposal.

Proposal
    * Since we no longer post announcements to the OSAF website, fill  
the 'body' of the OSAF homepage with 'About OSAF' copy.
    * Move sub-pages that need to be updated to the wiki for ease of  
maintenance.
    * Bring visual look and feel more in-line with other Chandler  
Project / OSAF web properties.

See http://chandlerproject.org/Notes/OsafHomepage#MockUp - I'm  
currently working on an HTML layout.

Objective of the OSAF website / About OSAF Area?
1. Prove our existence and legitimize Chandler Project's open  
source / non-profit credentials. This includes:
    * Contact information
    * People
    * Corporate FAQ
    * OSAF Mission
    * OSAF History
    * How to give donations. Who's given donations.
    * Add link to OSAF Community?

2. For many people, osafoundation.org is just a pit stop in their  
search for Chandler Project.
    * Funnel people to chandlerproject.org
    * Make it easy to download Chandler Desktop, sign up for a  
Chandler Hub account and download Chandler Server
    * Make it easy to get involved and subscribe to our blog and  
mailing lists
    * Funnel people who want to find documentation to the project wiki

OSAF Mission  + Corporate History = About OSAF
I think we should combine OSAF Mission and Corporate History into a  
single About OSAF page. Much of OSAF Mission is out of date and  
overlaps in spirit with the Vision Document.
    * Move everything  up to 'Build the product' on http:// 
www.osafoundation.org/mission_statement.htm to 'About OSAF'
    * Move everything on http://www.osafoundation.org/ 
OSAF_history.htm to 'About OSAF'

Proposed tweaks to copy below:

ABOUT OSAF
Original 'Our Mission'

Create and gain wide adoption of open source application software of  
uncompromising quality.

Build an innovative, sustainable alternative application despite  
market inertia.
    * I think we should remove this. This was written before the  
flood of web-based PIM apps.

Carry forward the vision of Vannevar Bush, Doug Engelbart, and Ted  
Nelson of the computer as a medium for communication, collaboration,  
and coordination.

Design a new application to manage personal information including  
email, appointments, contacts and tasks.
    * Change to: Design a new application to manage personal  
information including notes, mail, tasks, appointments and events,  
contacts, documents and other personal resources.

Enable information to be shared easily with colleagues, friends, and  
family
    * Change to: Enable sharing with colleagues, friends and family.  
In particular, meet the unique and under-served needs of small group  
collaboration.

Serve a broad base of users, from casual to technologically advanced
    * Change to: Demonstrate that open source software *can* serve a  
general audience in the consumer market.

Eliminate the requirement for a dedicated server or complex  
administration
    * Remove

Offer a choice of platforms and full interoperability amongst  
Windows, Macintosh, and Linux versions.

Leverage our resources by using an open source model of development.

Pay fanatical attention to the quality of the user experience.
    * Remove. I wonder if this is necessary after all the changes above.

Proposed 'Our Mission'
Create and gain wide adoption of open source application software of  
uncompromising quality.

Carry forward the vision of Vannevar Bush, Doug Engelbart, and Ted  
Nelson of the computer as a medium for communication, collaboration,  
and coordination.

Design a new application to manage personal information including  
notes, mail, tasks, appointments and events, contacts, documents and  
other personal resources.

Enable sharing with colleagues, friends and family. In particular,  
meet the unique and under-served needs of small group collaboration.

Demonstrate that open source software *can* serve a general audience  
in the consumer market.

Offer a choice of platforms and full interoperability amongst  
Windows, Macintosh, and Linux versions.

Leverage our resources by using an open source model of development.

How we started

OSAF started in 2001 when Mitchell Kapor began to investigate the  
possibility of developing a modern Personal Information Manager using  
open source tools and methods.

Decades of design

One of Mitch’s passions has been designing software applications that  
people can use in everyday life - tools that enhance the organization  
and retrieval of important information. Beginning almost two decades  
ago, he was instrumental in the design of a variety of landmark  
personal and business productivity tools including the first  
programmable spreadsheet (Lotus 1-2-3), a new kind of database  
optimized for entering small items of information in a free-form  
manner and adding organizational categories on-the-fly (Lotus  
Agenda), and a blindingly fast retrieval tool that indexed everything  
on the hard drive (On Location).

Through his several decades of work as entrepreneur, CEO, angel  
investor, and venture capitalist, Mitch retained his passion for  
making useful software, and accumulated a major backlog of innovative  
ideas for new software products.

But the development and adoption of innovative solutions in important  
areas of software has become quite difficult. One such area is that  
of desktop productivity applications, an area which encompasses a  
number of Mitch's most interesting ideas. Development costs are high,  
distribution channels are limited, and barriers to entry are  
significant. The chance is small that the traditional venture-capital- 
backed model of software development will fill this need.

The right time for an alternative software development model

The Linux operating system has demonstrated that freely shared,  
collaboratively developed system software can gain critical mass and  
become a viable, even preferred, alternative to traditional  
proprietary software. The opportunity exists for the same thing to  
happen in the applications space, and OSAF was created to pursue this  
vision. Mitch found the idea of making something which would be  
freely shared and improved upon extremely compelling. The right  
product, developed in this way could have a chance to make a  
significant impact in the world.

In the spring of 2001, Mitch initiated a limited experiment by hiring  
a consulting group to prototype a couple of the key ideas. The  
results were both exciting and encouraging, and so, in the summer of  
2001, he took the plunge. He committed to open source and hired the  
first employee of a fledgling non-profit, the Open Source  
Applications Foundation, with the mission to create and gain wide  
adoption of open source application software of uncompromising  
quality. In February 2002, OSAF obtained Federal 501(c)3 nonprofit  
status.

Why a non-profit?

Mitch, the successful entrepreneur and venture capitalist, had not  
all of a sudden ceased to believe in the virtues of capitalism.  
Rather, he wanted to make a clear statement: the intent of this  
effort was not to use this as a vehicle to make more money for  
himself. However, he would be very happy for others to make money and  
intended to find a licensing scheme which would permit both non- 
commercial and commercial development on the code base.

Updated 'Today'

As of 2007, OSAF has a staff of 25 contributors and is working  
furiously towards the Preview Release.
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