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Free Software Foundation Priority Projects

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Re: Free Software Foundation Priority Projects

#61

Post by tornadoboy55 »

eikenberry wrote: post #49
tornadoboy55 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shame that the battle for the desktop is actually (mostly) being fought on the laptop - and Linux sucks there. The default settings are usually extremely poor for powersaving. Why doesn't powertop+TLP get installed, configured and activated by default when Ubuntu/Fedora detects its installed on a laptop? Also, sleeping still isn't reliable (if I close my Macbook with some work on I can be damn sure it'll be exactly a…

The fact that TLP exists is a great step. It wasn't that long ago that I had a dozen different custom hacks in place to get better power usage while on battery, now TLP does all of them and more.

Still kind of disheartening that I get 10-14h battery life on my 13" 2015 Retina under macOS, but it drops to 4-5h on untweaked Ubuntu. I can push that to about 7-8h with the help of Powertop and TLP. That's still a vast, vast chasm to overcome for Linux. Yes, I know Macbooks do non-standard things with Wi-Fi and Thunderbolt controllers (special ACPI sleep modes etc.), that isn't a bad thing, Linux should attempt those as well. To end on a positive note: I do agree TLP (and other powersaving tools) are good progress.

Re: Free Software Foundation Priority Projects

#62

Post by moxious »

orblivion wrote: post #38

While doing all of this catch-up is important, I think it would help FOSS politically (as it were) if there were something new and exemplary to come out. Signal is a good example (once they fix the Google thing, and BTW someone finally took up Moxie on the offer and there's a PR in progress). Maybe Sandstorm too (Plug and play web apps that are secure? That's kind of novel and useful if you think about it. And IMO th…

FOSS often plays catch-up, because true innovation is really hard and takes a lot of time and resources. It's frequently too much to ask of an all-volunteer workforce. It's not that they can't do it (ultimately the people writing FOSS are the same people as those writing apps for companies) it's just that there isn't the same set of motives in place.

This is why in earlier days, GNOME's goal was to catch up to Windows, and why a phone operating system (a pretty standard thing that everyone has) is now a target.

Re: Free Software Foundation Priority Projects

#64

Post by cperciva »

TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #36
cperciva wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Humans are herd animals. They tend to look at what other people like them are doing, and do likewise. It's unfortunate that people look at trivia like gender and ethnicity in such circumstances; but it's a fact of human behaviour. If potential contributors look at a project and don't see anyone who "looks like them", they're unlikely to contribute; so projects which want to maximize contributions are well advised to…

I view this issue differently, and I would love your opinion on my view. First on sex/gender: I feel that hormonal differences create psychological differences in the norms between genders. This is why men are generally more aggressive and violent(see higher incarceration rates) and women are more nurturing. These differences lead to people in general choosing careers that reflect their psychology, and forced diversi…

Are there differences between genders? Sure. It's an open question how much of the differences are due to direct biological causes and how much are due to societal norms (I find the parallel between open source software and indigenous gift cultures to be quite interesting, for example), but there are certainly differences.

As such, I would oppose any attempts to establish quotas or even aspirational targets for diversity; as you say, forced diversity has negative consequences -- not just for the organization, but also for the individuals involved.

But as much as we shouldn't be trying to bring in individuals who aren't really interested, we need to make sure we're not keeping out individuals who are interested... in a sense, it's more important to look diverse than it is to be diverse.

Re: Free Software Foundation Priority Projects

#65

Post by idobai »

no_wizard wrote: post #58
idobai wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Free/libre OSS won the battle for the server, lost the battle for the desktop I don't think it lost the battle on desktop - if you don't rely on platform(or interest)-specific software like the adobe/microsoft suites and some 3A games then you'll be more than fine on the linux desktop.

I take slight issue with this. It's not you personally, but I see this a lot in tech, in particular from the FOSS crowd 'Well, if you don't need x or y, then its fine!' FOSS will always be second tier for most people until the plethora of software available is at some relative parity, similar to that of macOS at least. (I'm talking strict availability). The fact that there isn't more cohesive efforts to have big soft…

Alternatively, if you don't need:

privacy,

a fast OS with a diverse set of desktops for power users,

comfortable development environment with power tools,

security,

open standards,

sane package management(don't even mention Program Files and Control Panel...)

and a helpful and progressive community

then you'll be fine with windows. Yeah, you can run adobe and ms software natively, instead of using wine or crossover.

Seriously, you either avoid the ms bloat or find alternatives(ez). The FOSS community needs an industry but doesn't need the industrial abuse. By default, NOBODY should depend on a company or a "network" of companies and their software. That's the sin of public education - selling the youth to companies. It's now like in Pascal Lainé's book - "L'Irrévolution(1971)" where the youth after finishing the school goes to the town's factory. There is no choice - you've been sold.

Re: Free Software Foundation Priority Projects

#66

Post by webmaven »

TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #24

> Encourage contribution by people underrepresented in the community Why is this necessary? There's no force keeping people from contributing, they are just choosing not to. edit: To those downvoting me, can you please explain to me what is wrong with what I said?

> There's no force keeping people from contributing, they are just choosing not to.

Ah, but there are forces that keep people from contributing, or at least increase the amount of effort required considerably. These forces are not evenly distributed, and there are several dynamics operating that actually increase the effect many of these forces have on members of underrepresented groups.

So, given that this is to some extent a self-reinforcing phenomenon, if we want the community to look like it welcomes all comers, we not only have to be welcoming (which we aren't doing that great on in the first place), but also do everything we can to counteract the force of those feedback loops that keep groups underrepresented.

Re: Free Software Foundation Priority Projects

#67

Post by webmaven »

TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #57
hackuser wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's no force keeping people from contributing, they are just choosing not to. We all naturally have tunnel vision, and apply our experience to everyone else. I can't speak for you, but many people who don't face discrimination naturally don't encounter the obstacles and don't feel negatively toward minorities; they assume that therefore such things don't exist. But something is missing from our perception, beca…

What affect does culture and income have on the prevalence of people in tech? Do white people who come from a poor background get into IT more than black people with poor backgrounds? What leads me to believe culture has more of an affect nowadays than race is the fact that Asians have higher average incomes than whites, even though they were also historically subjected to racism.

Are you asking about the effect of the culture of the underrepresented groups keeping them out of tech in general and free software in particular, or about the effect of the culture of overrepresented groups in keeping others out?

Re: Free Software Foundation Priority Projects

#68

Post by webmaven »

mhd wrote: post #22
mynegation wrote: post #8

This is the right thing to do and I hope it is not too little too late. Free/libre OSS won the battle for the server, lost the battle for the desktop, but desktop is not (that) relevant anymore. FLOSS phone ecosystem will be hard to next to impossible, in my opinion, but worth going into. Self-hosted server side software has a very good chance of succeeding. For a long time I essentially wanted something like Synolog…

Given the popularity of SaaS and Electron apps, I think everyone lost the battle for the desktop.

What's wrong with Electron apps?

Re: Free Software Foundation Priority Projects

#69

Post by webmaven »

tmsldd wrote: post #63

if FSF wants a intelligent assistant it will have to collect usage data, no? a little against the whole principle... but if the data are open, that would be kind of cool ;)

> if FSF wants a intelligent assistant it will have to collect usage data

Well, not necessarily (although that is certainly the path of least resistance). However, even if data collection is necessary, there are ways of doing it in a privacy- and freedom-respecting manner.

Re: Free Software Foundation Priority Projects

#70

Post by camdenlock »

TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #24

> Encourage contribution by people underrepresented in the community Why is this necessary? There's no force keeping people from contributing, they are just choosing not to. edit: To those downvoting me, can you please explain to me what is wrong with what I said?

It becomes an even stranger thing to focus on when you consider that the main avenue of contribution to open source projects is the Internet, a medium where identity is irrelevant. You can be an incredibly productive member of a community and never need to be known as anything but a name, and perhaps "human". Other so-called "identities" are truly irrelevant in this context.
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