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The Free Software Foundation is dying

drewdevault.com

221–230 of 247 posts

Re: The Free Software Foundation is dying

#221
post #181
post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, you're way off base :D But it's a welcome miss, because I found your experience interesting anyway, and relevant. My first point was that if it were true that "technical and social leadership" indeed was compatible and even "well-aligned", then why is it we don't see that in people in leadership positions? Where are they? Then I pre-empted the tired argument that we don't see them because they've been oppressed…

Ah, interesting… I think the discrepancy is where we’re looking. FWIW, I started my career at AOL-Time Warner in Florida in the late ‘90s. Management was all “good ol’ boys”. Definitely no role models anywhere. (I was closeted at the time). I’ve been fortunate in some ways, but nothing came easy to me. I didn’t come from money, didn’t graduate college, didn’t know anyone… I moved to LA just to escape that toxic envir…

> I’ve always felt success is a combination of hard work and luck, even for those “born into it”.

Defo, but I'd tweak that a little and say they come hand in hand. The luck comes from hard work, or at least just going for it, it doesn't just magically land in your lap.

I have a similar background; grew up poor in a rough area, low expectations from my teachers due to my ethnicity, and thanks to my parents, worked through all that to become what most would call successful. The breaks came from opportunities, which came from putting myself out there.

It's a mistake to think people are lucky, because it implies things just happen to you. Nobody has it easy. Even those who are apparently patently lucky in that they have rich parents, are not lucky. The only thing worse than not having anything, is having everything.

Re: The Free Software Foundation is dying

#222
post #3

Not much new here, but I do echo the call for new licenses. I would like to see an "Affero MIT" license where I get web-accessible credit for my contribution to a web service and something like an "Affero LGPL" to fill in the gap exposed by the ElasticSearch re-licensing debacle.

A example of a "Affero LGPL" would be the EU license: EUPL

https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/custom-page/...

Edit: This paper also gives a good overview of the license https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/c15...

Re: The Free Software Foundation is dying

#223
post #85

I find the proposed changes a bit disingenious. The gist is that Stallman should hand over the FSF franchise , to some unspecified persons, with free rein to do whatever they want with it, as long as it is loosely relevant with free software. It's only natural that Stallman will refuse, and I can't blame him for that. I mean, why not start your own "Libre Software Foundation" and get those unnamed "emerging leaders"…

I think you are correct. It seems to me to be a power struggle disguised as something that should be done for the good of the FOSS movement.

Re: The Free Software Foundation is dying

#224
post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What significant, tangible accomplishments does Stallmann have in the past 15 years? You believe you will never grow old? Do you wish your family and friends to turn back on you because you are old and don't have the same energy as you had when you were 20? The question is how the landscape would look like today and if there even would be "open source" in the broader sense as we see it today, with permissive licens…

Nobody said we should put him out on an ice floe, dismiss his achievements, or ignore his contributions. The point parent and the essay made is to ask what his new achievements have been. We can respect the work he has done in the past while questioning whether he is contributing well to the work that needs to be done now. In fact many accomplished leaders themselves recognize that they need to be succeeded by a new…

I'm of the opinion that he doesn't have to be a perfect human being; sometimes it's hard to disentangle facts from all the character assassination attempts that are thrown at him, and that's why I think we should rein in our emotions and not talk so passionately.

I also think that the enemies of free and libre open source software definitely don't want us to be able to have a civil debate, so they probably send shills to derail conversations (it's an asymmetric war, after all).

If we look back at historic movements, they weren't always led by people that were perfect by every metric (source: Behind The Bastards multi-volume episodes on Clarence Thomas, where they mention that some people that advanced equality in regards to racism were at the same time misogynistic, and didn't consider it worthwhile to advance women's rights).

As long as Stallman is a steward for the things we hold dear, I'm of the opinion that it's a good thing for us... Despite his flaws as a person, but with the condition that he get with the times and improve his behavior.

Re: The Free Software Foundation is dying

#225

This article could be summed up with "there should be a completely different free software organization that behaves the way I want it to." Ok? Go ahead and start it.

Is your typical answer to any criticism of an open-source project: "You don't like it? Fork it and build your own!"? It's like a child who flips the board when they don't like being told, "That's not how this game is played..."

This article is saying "the FSF should change it's leadership, it's message, end it's support of GNU, and ditch the GPL." At that point, why call it the FSF?

Re: The Free Software Foundation is dying

#226
post #125
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technical and socially competent leadership is compatible -- actually, well-aligned -- with diverse representation.

> Technical and socially competent leadership is compatible -- actually, well-aligned -- with diverse representation Reality begs to differ. If they're well aligned, where are these people? Have they been oppressed by not being given a chance? Let's see where we are in 20 years when that argument can finally be put to rest (when's the last time you saw a positive _male_ role model in films or other pop-culture, tech-…

Justine Tunney, Mekka Okereke, Christine Lemmer-Webber.

Three off the top of my head.

I wonder why it is you wouldn't have run into any...

Re: The Free Software Foundation is dying

#227
post #4

>It’s time for Richard Stallman to go I was expecting to see this, there is nothing more corporations would like more then to see him gone. Then they can take full control of the FSF, already they have their hands in it. So far many of his predictions have come true and there are a few more that seems to be on their way to happening. What FSF should do is work stop the move to secure boot. Already there are Intel Lap…

> I was expecting to see this, there is nothing more corporations would like more then to see him gone. Then they can take full control of the FSF, already they have their hands in it. That's amazingly over-optimistic IMO. Stallman hasn't been relevant in decades. Companies don't fear him. The FSF is as far as I can tell politically irrelevant. Just look at even the nerdiest sites: HN, Slashdot, the Linux-centric sub…

Not sure what you mean here. The formal role of RMS in FSF today is not that of a leader (nor president, nor treasury.)

Re: The Free Software Foundation is dying

#228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of talk about "forced diversity" that ignores the diverse pool of talented people that the FSF has pushed away because they don't think "GNU+Linux" is a hill worth dying on or whatever.

[flagged]

What's the deal with this low-effort flame bait? Have you volunteered for the FSF? Are you or have you been active on the FSF or GNU mailing lists?

Certainly there are countless opportunities for reform away from elitist pedantry that are not tantamount to "being about the newest Apple products", wouldn't you agree?

Re: The Free Software Foundation is dying

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could not agree with you more, it's one thing to say a person is a product of their time and we need leadership to take the same approach however with new modern social viewpoints and diplomatic approaches. RMS is not a proper businessman, and not a social butterfly either, he has many haters whether you agree with what he says or not. However, it is a complete other thing to say 'we'll fix this with more inclusion,…

>However, it is a complete other thing to say 'we'll fix this with more inclusion, yep, that'll fix it', this is the pinnacle of doing the least amount of effort, just like a convincing leader that use anecdotes to sell their vision..its cheap. It's amazing how the article present five points and y'all are obsessed over this one point (which concerns the removal of RMS and open up for more diversity & inclusion). But…

TBF, it is not "this one point". It is the first point of an enumerated list of changes. Of course people will focus discussion on it, since it is intentionally presented as the most important one.

Re: The Free Software Foundation is dying

#230

[flagged]

> I am not calling for non-proportional representation, or for forcing proportional representation either. Then what, precisely, are you calling for when you call for more surface-level diversity in the leadership? How do you achieve proportional representation without manual manipulation? And why do you think that DEI is the first problem worth listing? If we're criticizing Stallman as an unpopular and uncharismatic…

I was watching the Netflix documentary about Abercrombie & Fitch [1] the other day. At some point they were forced by a court to improve the diversity of the company.

How did they handle it? (a) They created a Chief Diversity Officer position, and hired a black guy to staff it, (b) they padded their diversity numbers with low-pay/0-hour contract employees at the lowest level possible.

Diversity is fostered by initiatives, not mandates.

[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19034522/

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