Matthew,
On May 15, 2013, at 3:29 PM, Matthew Flaschen mflaschen@wikimedia.org wrote:
In the case of Mingle/Trello specifically these are closed source
(possibly externally-hosted) software infrastructure pieces that we, as a Foundation, do not want to have an ongoing dependence on. During project creation and early development, the deadline-formation and other management tasks these afford are sometimes necessary in commercial space but do not really exist in all-volunteer open-source efforts, so some degree of dependence when there aren't open-source solutions becomes a necessary evil for that time in our project development. However, an ongoing dependence on these tools would become a wall prohibiting certain members of our community from being able to fully participate in, and that would be contrary to our commitment.
I agree these tools are problematic for this reason. I understand why some people currently choose to use them, but the Foundation should investigate free alternatives that can meet our projects' needs.
I don't want to vary from Mingle or Trello until it's proven for current projects, but you and Mark Holmquist have some incentive to try out alternative tools. We could probably start a labs instance and come up with a project that is defunct or not under active development yet that we can try out using a tool of your choosing. :-)
You guys have my okay to do that for something. :-)
Take care,
terry