Simon: Organizational Structure

Hi,

as the scope of our project grows to include sample acquisition, web
application development, etc. it certainly makes sense to talk about
some organizational parameters.

After a lively discussion in the meeting, and some more thinking this is
what I would propose:
"The Open Speech Group" (name is a work in progress)
The open speech group would be a team name under the KDE e.V.'s
umbrella. This means that it would be be subject to the principles and
recipient of all the benefits defined by the KDE manifesto:
http://manifesto.kde.org (please read it carefully)

In practice, I'd like to have a dedicated category in KDE's extragear,
putting "Speech" on the same level as e.g. "PIM" or "Network". Within
this group (project), we'd then collect all different sub-projects (like
the LiveTranscriber, models, etc.).
The KDE manifesto ensures that we each have access to each other's
projects, guaranteeing open collaboration.

The barrier of entry for a new, interested contributer is in this case
defined as "getting a KDE contributer account" (basically signing up for
an account online and having someone else from the team vouch for you).
Regarding this, I would also like to remind you that technically, you
have all cleared that "barrier of entry" already in some form or
another: Simon is a KDE project and to a certain extend you all are now
contributers. What I'm trying to highlight here is that in practice, the
barrier of entry is mostly defined by the community behind the project,
not the steps themselves. And KDE has an outstanding track record when
it comes to community spirit.

Here's some more reasons why I think we're better off under the KDE
umbrella than outside of it:
* KDE brings established practices, infrastructure and credibility.
* The KDE community is very active and inclusive. Just by mere
association we gain potential contributers.
* KDE has established marketing and promotion channels.
* The KDE e.V. is an openly governed, stable legal foundation with more
than 15 years of experience.
* Inclusion in community initiatives like Google Summer of Code or
Season of KDE.
* Much more but it's getting late and I'm pretty tired :)

Let me know what you think.

Best regards,
Peter