Code Sprint Guidelines

Disclaimer: This page is a working draft and does not reflect official OSGeo policy.

A codesprint is an in-person gathering of developers for doing some serious coding, writing documentation, and having face-to-face project collaboration. (It is not aimed at training, presentations, workshops, etc.)

The OSGeo community has two annual "big" sprints (annual, multiproject, multiday events of more than 20 people): the Bolsena Sprint and the North American Sprint. A number of project-oriented sprints also occur, such as the one-day sprint associated with the FOSS4G conference, single-project sprints such as have been held for GRASS, QGIS and uDig, and very regional (chapter-level) sprints.

Codesprints are clearly within the scope of OSGeo's mission, and so the Foundation should in general support them.  This page provides some guidelines for deciding whether a given sprint should be supported, and if so in what fashion.

Sprint Info Required

A proposal for supporting a sprint by OSGeo should include the following information about the event and the funding model for it:

Basic Information

• Audience: how many people are expected?
• Region: is the sprint localized to a specific region?
• Projects: is the sprint to work on just one specific project, or is it for multiple projects?
• Length: how many days will the sprint cover?
• Venue: where will the sprint be held? will food be provided? will overnight lodging be provided?

Expected Expenses

• what is the expected cost per attendee, for travel, lodging, and food?

• what is the expected cost for the venue (such as conference room, wifi support, snacks, etc)?

Expected Revenues

• what is the expected registration fee, if any, for each attendee?
• what is the expected amount of third-party sponsorships?
• what in-kind donations are expected (such as donated use of a conference room)?
• what is the desired amount of OSGeo sponsorship?

Profit / Loss / Risk

• What is the expected profit of the event, if any? where will any surplus money go?
• Under what circumstances might the event incur a loss? how will this risk be mitigated?

OSGeo Sponsorship Criteria

- Draft proposal -

When deciding to support a sprint, OSGeo should follow these guidelines:

• OSGeo should not be the sole source of funding for the event. OSGeo prefers sprints to be at least partially funded by third-party sponsors, and may choose to provide funding "matching" the amount of sponsorship money raised. OSGeo's contribution should go towards reducing the net cost for participants instead of for instance supporting a more expensive venue or setup.
• OSGeo understands that some events may require up-front costs, e.g. for deposits, and some events may present a financial risk, e.g. if the number of attendees is not met. Instead of direct funding, OSGeo may provide "back-stop" funding and assume the liability risk.
• OSGeo prefers code sprints that are aimed at the larger community. That is, sprints that are multiproject and not local to a (small) geographic region are more likely to be funded.