kristbaumAug 20, 2023

Some changes in the new @openstreetmap OSMF Strategic Plan Revision 2023v2 to be found here: https://hackmd.io/A1cjUoK-RWmDsx_y14k2Pw

Especially since sentences like this from v1 form 2021 are gone:

"A limit on growth of expenditures on administration of the project is also core to OSM’s philosophy: we often hear the refrain that OSM should not become another opaque and inaccessible bureaucracy-heavy NGO, with large paid staff."

Which always was a confusing perspective, for a project of this relevance

#osm

OSMF Strategic Plan Revision 2023v2 - HackMD

Show threadkristbaumAug 20, 2023

@openstreetmap Now they are even considering hiring a paid CEO, and maybe even a long term position for the site reliability engineer
https://hackmd.io/A1cjUoK-RWmDsx_y14k2Pw#13-Increase-paid-system-administration-staff

The pride to not be a "wasteful" organization like #wikimedia seems hard to understand at some point. They of course get more donations, and do not need to fear to grab into their emergency savings if their yearly donations (200,000 £) are smaller then the needed 700,000£, see Roland: https://blog.openstreetmap.org/2023/05/12/the-osmf-board-reflects-on-the-first-third-of-the-2023/

OSMF Strategic Plan Revision 2023v2 - HackMD

Show threadkristbaum
Even if @wikimediafoundation burnt 90% of their donations in a ritual fire, at least the site had more than 2 staff to keep it up. Considering all the waste of good money in the world, why start a worrying if some NGO gets to much of it, the point is growing and establishing the project by all means necessary.
And in today's world, that means a ton of employees, community support, ambassadors, affiliate programs, conferences etc, to get access to e.g academic circles.
Aug 20, 2023 at 11:52pmWeb
Show threadkristbaumAug 21, 2023

Sometimes even the promotions are confusing citing (volunteer run): https://switch2osm.org/:
Wired: “Much like Wikipedia challenged Encyclopedia Britannica and Linux took on Microsoft Windows, OpenStreetMap is battling Google Maps, and at least in some cases, it’s winning.
Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the web, explains OSM at TED 2009:
OpenStreetMap is all about people doing their bit, creating an incredible resource for everybody else.”

This is what most people think of OSM, cloud be assumed

Switch to OpenStreetMap - Switch2OSM

Show threadkristbaumAug 21, 2023
But OSM does not provide an end user product like #Wikipedia, and openstreetmap.org is in an eternal limbo regarding average map users needs (not contributing ones, so not "everybody else" like TBL stated.)
Changing that policy or at least remembering that users are "only" contributing to map data, not a specific reusable map, could dampen the loss of new volunteer contributors.
*End-users are future volunteers*, they need a well-staffed organization that develops end-user software.