<FONT face="Default Sans Serif,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" size=2><div>Danese suggested posting to this group rather than membership.<br><br>Thanks...<br><div><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid #000000; padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px;">Patrick,
<div><br></div><div>You are asking this question on the Membership-Discuss list. You might get a broader answer from License-Discuss, which is our general discussion mail list and is much more widely subscribed.</div><div><br></div><div>Danese
</div><div><br><div><div>On Jun 1, 2008, at 8:51 AM,
<a href="mailto:massonpj@delhi.edu">massonpj@delhi.edu
</a> wrote:
</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><font face="Default Sans Serif,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><div>All,<br><br>I have received some terrific and positive responses to my initial inquiry regarding organizing a regional group to further the purpose of the OSI ("OSI Chapters" thread). I am looking to contribute to the OSI's efforts around:<br><ol><li>educate the public about the advantages of open source software [software that users are free to modify and redistribute];
</li><li>encourage the software community to participate in open source software development;
</li><li>identify how software users' objectives are best served through open source software;
</li><li>persuade organizations and software authors to distribute source software freely they otherwise would not distribute;
</li><li>provide resources for sharing information about open source software and licenses; <br></li><li>assist attorneys to craft open source licenses; <br></li><li>manage a certification program to allow use of one or more certification marks in association with open source software; and
</li><li>advocate for open source principles
</li></ol>I guess I am just wondering what I can do that would be most beneficial to the above efforts, how to engage, and how to start? I have been working within the State University of New York (SUNY) system for four years and although actively discussing OSS, have yet to find many among the 64 campuses with much interest despite the steady adoption of and even contribution to many OSS projects. This leads to several questions regarding the need for any formal organization: perhaps adoption is organic and pervasive, an evolution and does not need formal organization?<br><br>However, I continue to find barriers to adoption that lead me to believe some action is needed. I have presented at various professional and SUNY conferences on OSS, attended and invited others to attend meetings discussions, distributed information etc. This summer, on June 19th and 20th I am even hosting a conference on OSS in education (see
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.delhi.edu/2-3-98/">www.delhi.edu/2-3-98/
</a>).<br><br>Despite all of this I still feel as though I am working alone and just feel there are existing groups that I could join, or at least other individuals who could be organized, to further the OSI's efforts.<br><br>So, if there is anyone on this list who could pass along information about existing groups either in New York, the Northeast, Higher Education or education in general I would be very grateful. Or if there are others looking for more structure please let me know and perhaps we can form a group (and to those who have responded, I would appreciate forwarding on any contact information for existing organizations).<br><br>At a minimum, if these groups exist and if individuals exist I could at least build out a directory for future folks like me looking to get involved (and then again maybe that already exists too).<br><br>Thanks,<br>Patrick<br><br><div><font size="1">| ||| || |||| | | | ||| | || |||| || ||| || || || |||| ||| || | |<br>Patrick Masson<br>Chief Information Officer<br>331B Bush Hall<br>State University of New York<br>College of Technology at Delhi<br>Delhi, New York 13753<br>607-746-4670<br><a href="mailto:massonpj@delhi.edu">massonpj@delhi.edu
</a></font><br></div></div></font></blockquote></div><br></div></blockquote><br></div></div></FONT>