Freerunner's Future

[Jeremy McNaughton]

On Wed, Jun 10, 2009 at 10:31 AM, Werner Almesberger<werner at openmoko.org> wrote:
> Jeremy McNaughton wrote:
>> Scope:   What will our mission statement be?  Is the foundation just
>> to support the gta02-core project,
>
> Just a quick remark: please don't concentrate too much on
> gta02-core when planning organizational structures for the
> future.
>
> The focus of gta02-core is not on making the next big phone but
> on opening the process. The few pieces of hardware gta02-core
> is planned to produce would be a proof of concept that we've
> succeeded to meet that specific goal but they will likely be of
> little practical interest to anyone who is looking for a
> substantial improvement on the GTA02 as a day to day phone.
>
> Once gta02-core is complete, there are several paths that could
> lead to a mass-produced phone. Some could be very quick, others
> quite slow. Mass-producing a phone requires a lot of money, so
> at that stage, the direction would also depend on the goals of
> investors or sponsors and on an assessment of the target
> markets.
>
> An organisational structure should allow us to keep assets
> across projects. This will also encourage keeping technical
> projects small and focused.
>
> I use gta02-core as a reference when discussion specific needs,
> because of the project's narrow scope. If a plan doesn't work
> for gta02-core, it probably doesn't work at all. But a plan
> that only works for gta02-core wouldn't be much better either.
>
> - Werner
>
> _______________________________________________
> Openmoko community mailing list
> community at lists.openmoko.org
> http://lists.openmoko.org/mailman/listinfo/community
>

I guess what I'm hoping for in regards to gta02-core and the community
organization  would be some combination of these two things:

1.  That the open source hardware development processes pioneered by
gta02-core get formalized as part of the structure of the new
organization
2.  That the people who are working on the gta02-core will continue to
work together as part of the new community organization.

This would mean incorporating the lessons learned by the gta02-core
team into the new organization.  It would also mean creating an
organization that can effectively facilitate this type of open
hardware development.

Of course, the community organization (heh... we need a name!) should
encompass more than just hardware.  The open hardware part will likely
just be a part of what the organization does.  There's also a need to
support and connect developers, themers, writers of documentation.
And of course there's end-users like me who could benefit from a
organization we can be a part of and connect with others through.

This might be a tall order to fill.  If the organization is too
broadly focused it could end up going nowhere at all.


Jeremy