[General] [Proposal] Revamp OSAF Website
Katie Capps Parlante
capps at osafoundation.org
Wed Jul 18 17:42:27 PDT 2007
Yay! The mockup is so much better.
+1 overall
+1 to the changes to the mission statement, though I'd want to be sure
that Mitch is ok with this (I'll follow up)
+1 to moving what we can to the wiki, a handful of pages likely need to
remain static, in particular:
- jobs
- donors
- people (list of osaf staff)
- osaf contact info
(less sure that the last two should be static)
Cheers,
Katie
Mimi Yin wrote:
> 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
> <http://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 Much of OSAF Mission is out of date and overlaps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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