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We are proposing an entirely new model for delivery of Internet services. This is an ambitious initiative, and will require the participation of many others to turn into a reality.
So far what we have described has been largely theoretical. We have described a new concept, and outlined the major technical requirements to implement it. But to make all this real, a lot more than this is required. An explicit strategy is needed to bootstrap Libre Services into existence.
The goal of our bootstrapping strategy is to create deployed, usable, first-generation Libre Services. This means that all the requirements of Figure 1.3 must be fully addressed.
The FPF is taking primary responsibility for the first two requirements in Figure 1.3: the conceptual definition, and creation of the collaborative framework. We are creating the Libre Services Manifesto to articulate and promote the concept, and we are building the required development framework at LibreServices.org.
But the scope of the next two requirements--the necessary engineering and deployment work--is far too large to be undertaken by any single organization or group of people acting alone. The scope of work required to build a real Libre Services industry is enormous, and can only be accomplished as a collective enterprise by many organizations and individuals.
The key to enabling this collective effort is a coherent basis for participation.
We have established a coherent basis and model for collaborative bootstrapping of the Libre Services industry. This consists of two major components:
We have defined a set of projects, representing the next stages of work required to move this initiative forward. Each project is largely independent and self-contained, and ready to be undertaken by an interested group or organization immediately. This project-based model allows efficient, coordinated collaboration on multiple bootstrapping tasks in parallel.
Each project is defined in the form of a Project Document, providing a complete specification for the project. The complete list of projects and Project Documents is provided in a separate article. See the article titled Libre Services: Projects for bootstrapping.
In this project-based model the role of the FPF is largely one of coordination and support. We will take responsibility for defining projects, creating and maintaining the Project Documents, and seeking out project sponsors.
As a commercial activity, deployment and delivery falls outside the scope of the FPF. We therefore rely on independent service providers to do the necessary deployment work. At the outset Neda will take responsibility for this. The primary role of Neda is to demonstrate engineering and business proof-of-concept by deploying usable first-generation services.
As the bootstrapping process gains momentum, we hope and expect that other service providers will also deploy the services.
We invite and encourage others to join us in this ambitious initiative. We invite active participation by all relevant constituencies:
The Libre Services Forum at LibreServices.org provides a variety of resources to assist organizations and individuals who wish to participate.
The forum hosts a number of mailing lists to facilitate various forms of participation. These include a general interest mailing list, a mailing list oriented towards engineering development, and a mailing list oriented towards business development. These provide a means for organizations and individuals to announce their participation, seek out partners, and coordinate cooperative effort.
Immediate mission-critical tasks are the creation of the Libre Services Manifesto, and the engineering work to create usable first-generation services. Those who are interested in promoting the Libre Services model can assist us by contributing additional material to the Manifesto, revising existing material, and translating Manifesto articles into foreign languages.
Organizations and individual programmers who wish to participate in the engineering effort can do so through the software repository and development resources at LibreServices.org. All FPF-sponsored Libre Services software is available at LibreServices.org, licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).