Re: GitLab CI setup file in scratch/tzz/gitlab

[Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org>]

[[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider    ]]]
[[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies,     ]]]
[[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]

  > >    > Great. Only Gitlab requires a file in the master branch, out of the
  > >    > three we're evaluating (the other two are Hydra and Buildbot).
  > > 
  > > Are those SaaSS too?

  > That's a trick question. Gitlab is not SaaSS.

It is an honest and serious question.  However, I should
have distinguishd more clearly between the software called GitLab
and the service called GitLab.

The GitLab software is not SaaSS, because it's not a service.
It is a program.  One version of that program is free.
It is fine for us to run that program if it serves our purpose.

To use a commercial service for this would be SaaSS, even
if it is running _the exact same program_

SaaSS is not a question of which programs are running on the server.
We can't verify which programs are running on anyone else's server.
We can't change them either, even if they are free software.

Please see https://gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html
for an explanation of the SaaSS issue.

Perhaps the FSF should find volunteers to set up a server to do CI for
GNU packages using the GitLab software.  Would that be useful?

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation (gnu.org, fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (internethalloffame.org)
Skype: No way! See stallman.org/skype.html.