[Foundation-l] Software Policy Draft

[Erik Moeller]

On 9/3/07, Tim Starling <tstarling at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Seems like instruction creep to me. Why do we need such a policy? Have
> there been any challenges to these principles lately? Are there likely to be?

The word "principles" in your question struck me as important -- we
are really talking about broad principles, rather than the need for a
specific operational policy. I've reworded and renamed the statement
accordingly:

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Draft_Statement_of_Principles_Regarding_Software_Use

This wording would allow a reasonable amount of flexibility when
practically following these principles, and reduce the risk of "rules
lawyering" as we've seen with regard to the licensing policy. (Which
also addresses Gerard's question regarding fonts: By subscribing to a
more flexible set of principles, we can negotiate those details on the
operational level.)

Why is it important to write down one's principles? There are a few reasons:

- Non-technical people will often be involved in decisions with
technical implications. If we end up hiring more people for things
like program / grants development, then these individuals will have to
be aware of the key principles they have to follow when coming up with
new projects.

- Key people may leave the organization, or be hit by trucks (a well
known menace to software developers). Can we ensure that these
principles will still be known to apply 5, 10, 20 years from now?
We've seen quite substantial changes in the organization's staff in
the last few _months__, so this is a very real risk for a small
organization. Aside from preserving knowledge, writing down principles
reduces the need to re-negotiate them on every turn.

- We benefit from sharing our practices with other organizations that
have mission overlap. For example, the Encyclopedia of Life is working
on a very similar statement of principles regarding both the licensing
of their content and the technology they use for the website.

- In negotiations with companies that propose certain deals, it's been
very helpful for me to be able to point to our licensing policy and
say: "These are the rules which we generally follow." Even if broadly
phrased, a statement of principles like this would be similarly useful
-- it makes it easier to not waste your time.

I'd appreciate comments on the new revised statement.
-- 
Toward Peace, Love & Progress:
Erik

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