Request for Submissions: The Open Source Refererence

Tony Stanco writes "The Center of Open Source & Government announces that it will publish The Open Source Reference Book 2003 [What Local/National Governments, the Defense Establishment, and The Global 1000 Need To Know About Open Source Software] This is an Open Source resource book targeting the 20,000 IT power users around the world. The Reference Book will provide a Who's Who and Who's Doing What in Open Source. Read on for more information about what the book will include, and how you can contribute.

Stanco continues: "The Reference Book will provide IT power users with profiles and contact information on Open Source companies, Open Source vendors, Open Source integrators, Open Source consultants, Open Source resellers, Open Source government projects/policies, Open Source corporate projects/policies, Open Source community projects, and Open Source academic/national laboratory projects.

It will also: provide a Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) list of Open Source software to identify mature and useable Open Source projects; list what Open Source software is NIAP or Common Criteria evaluated; summarize important government and corporate Open Source policy statements made during the year; highlight important Open Source conferences; provide an Open Source Year in Review section, cataloging Open Source milestones, including a list of published whites papers, books and other important events; The Center of Open Source and Government invites you to provide relevant information to be included in the first annual edition of the Open Source Reference Book to be published in time for our 3rd Open Source in Government Conference in Paris, France on November 24-26, 2003.

To be considered for inclusion in the Reference Book, please answer the questions at http://www.egovos.org/ref_book.html
before May 31, 2003

For more information, please go to www.egovos.org or contact us at [e-mail]

Best regards,

Tony Stanco
Founding Director
The Center of Open Source & Government
http://www.eGovOS.org

Associate Director
Open Source and eGovernment
Cyber Security Policy and Research Institute
George Washington University
[NSA Center of Excellence in Information Assurance]"

Is Tony Stanco legitimate?

[Anonymous Coward]

I've come to the conclusion that Tony Stanco is mostly in the business of promoting himself using other people's work.

Anyone else have the same experience?

In this particular example, he is asking Slashdot readers to provide the content for a directory. He will then sell that directory and keep the profit.

Out of date by 2004

[jag164]

It'll be out date with in a year.... Just like most OSS docs (if they exisit) and a great share of in house docs (if we could see them). Why do MOST of we software engineers have a horrible time writing and updating documentation?

Re:Out of date by 2004

[Alan Shutko]

It'll be out date with in a year....

Not really. It's focusing on identifying "mature and useable" projects. While other projects may become useable and mature within a year, it's unlikely that projects would fall off the list. For instance, Emacs has been useable and mature for over a decade (in my direct experience only).

A "Generally Regarded As Safe" list just makes it easier to justify use of a project on the list.

A common scam

[Anonymous Coward]

A common scam is to put together a directory, solicit advertising, take the money for the advertising, but never distribute very many copies of the directory. Slashdot readers are being asked to write the directory, so that the advertising will be mostly profit. In the case of a web directory, the profit would be close to 100%.

The proposed directory would be owned by Tony Stanco, exclusively, it seems. It seems to be a profit-making enterprise, even though the work "open" is everywhere.

Re:A common scam

[Smidge204]

Indeed. It's a surprizingly common scam, too.

So that begs the question... does a legit directory of OSS/Developers exist? If not, why not? (Not being a software developer, I honestly don't follow these things...)

And I personally wouldn't consider plces like SourceForge to be a "directoy" of OSS developers as such. I'm talking about something along the lines of what Tony has outlined, only created and supported by the OSS community.
=Smidge=

Are you now or have you ever been a member of the

[DrSkwid]

open source / free software movement?

Refererence?

[Wonko42]

Next up: The Open Source Dictioionary