Hello, I would like to give you a brief status on the following topics: 1. Bacula version 1.40 2. The copyright transfer and assignment 3. The Bacula book project 4. The Bacula services project
1. Bacula version 1.40 The current development version 1.39.31 is now essentially ready for release. However, there have been a few recent bug reports both against new features and old pre-1.39 code, so until the activity dies down, I don't feel comfortable releasing a base that is changing. It also appears that only a couple of people have been testing the new code :-( Many thanks to those few testers though! While waiting for it to "feel" ready, I am working on bugs that I didn't expect to be able to get to before the release. At this point, it isn't clear whether or not it will be released before Christmas, but it will be soon ... 2 The copyright transfer and assignment As you all know, the Bacula source copyright has been transferred to the Free Software Foundation Europe. The license is unchanged, but FSFE is now the legal gardian of the source code concerning enforcement of the license. Part of the transfer includes having all the present and past contributors fill out the FSFE fiduciary license agreement (FLA). I sent out an email requesting the current developers to complete the FLA and inform me. To date, only myself, Eric Bollingier, Jeremy Reed, Scott Barninger (in process) have done so, and there are currently 30 other developers with CVS access not to mention the many additional contributors that have submitted patches. This lack of response is really disappointing, especially since it is something that benefits and protects everyone's contribution in the project. I had originally planned to complete the process by mid-2007, but at the current rate, it will never been completed, so I've decided to remove developer CVS access to anyone who has not at least discussed the subject with me by the first of January 2007 -- their Source Forge developer status will not be changed. 3. The Bacula book project For regular readers of these lists, you will know that we have recently discussed publishing a Bacula book, based on the current manual. It looks like this is going to come to fruition because Jeremy Reed has offered to take on and complete this project. The major problem for the project is that the manual is currently something like 900+ pages when formated in an appropriate book style, and that needs to be reduced to about 500 pages. I'm going to let Jeremy introduce himself in a separate email, in which he will also be soliciting your participation and feedback in this important project. I would really like to see this project completed, because a published Bacula book will be an enormous boost to increase Bacula's use, and it could also provide a small financial return to the project. 4. The Bacula Services project As has been previously discussed on this list, Bacula is now starting to penetrate the enterprise market. It is being used by some very large institutions in the government, education, financial, and private sectors. However, the lack of professional (commercial) support and services for Bacula is slowing this trend. As a consequence, I am in the process of discussing a Bacula support organization with two people I know who could be key players in such an endeavor. This concept has also been discussed with at least one potential client. To ensure that it is compatible with the Free Source movement, I have also discussed it with the Free Software Foundation Europe. The reaction on all sides has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Although it is not possible to supply all the details on a public email list such as this, here are a few key points: What is envisioned: - A corporate (for-profit) structure probably Swiss based. - Initially operating directly in Europe only, probably later on other continents. - A socially responsible company where the interests of the employees (i.e. the people who do the work) participate in the gains. - The basic objective is to provide professional quality installation and maintenance services for a fee to Bacula users. - Provide Bacula training. - Promote the use of Bacula. - Work closely with the Bacula developers and help bridge the gap between users and the developers. - Self-funding (i.e. no Venture Capital). - Coexist with other Bacula service providers especially small independent providers (cooperate with them, train them, encourage them). - Perhaps in the long term develop specific Bacula functionality requested by clients not being addressed by the Bacula developers. - The company could begin operation in mid-2007 if all goes well. - Participants would phase in their commitment to the new company over a 1 or 2 year period. Note, this endeavor has nothing to do with the Bacula Association that I am planning, which will govern the Bacula Open Source development, nor would this company have direct control or say over the Bacula source code or the development of that code. Its main purposes are: to provide a way of satisfying the support requirements particularly of commercial clients that cannot be directly addressed by an not-for-profit Open Source project like Bacula; to promote the use of Bacula; to help train competent Bacula users. It would be nice if everyone who wishes to participate in this could, and this will very likely be possible long term. In the short term, it appears that we already have sufficient capital to start the company, but what is lacking are additional highly motivated and qualified Bacula users in Europe who would like to and are able to invest and participate in such a company. If you are interested, please let me know off-list, and I'll ensure that you are copied on more of the details as they develop. My personal motivations and views on this: while projects such as RedHat, MySQL, and Qt are necessary and have certainly benefited the deployment of Open Source, these are not models that I would like to see for Bacula. I am primarily motivated to promote the use of Bacula and at the same time to keep it Open Source and developed by contributions rather than by commercial companies and paid employees. If Bacula is going to enter the enterprise market, some organization like this is necessary, and I would rather provide a way for Bacula participants to fill this need and benefit from their work than wait for the large commercial interests to monopolize the Bacula support market. If you have any comments about any of the above subjects, please don't hesitate to share them. Best regards, Kern ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys - and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ Bacula-users mailing list Bacula-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/bacula-users
