From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Ricardo Wurmus Subject: Re: Leaving the guix project Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2017 09:38:56 +0100 Message-ID: <87h93ua5sv.fsf@elephly.net> References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:47036) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1ceHat-0003u8-4T for guix-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 16 Feb 2017 03:39:20 -0500 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1ceHao-0000gC-3x for guix-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 16 Feb 2017 03:39:15 -0500 Received: from sender-of-o51.zoho.com ([135.84.80.216]:21081) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.0:RSA_AES_256_CBC_SHA1:32) (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1ceHan-0000g2-SJ for guix-devel@gnu.org; Thu, 16 Feb 2017 03:39:10 -0500 In-reply-to: List-Id: "Development of GNU Guix and the GNU System distribution." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: guix-devel-bounces+gcggd-guix-devel=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: "Guix-devel" To: David Craven Cc: guix-devel Hi David, > I am very grateful for all the things I could learn during my time > here and all the awesome work that you guys put in. …and we are grateful for your many contributions! It’s probably obvious that you and I disagree on some of the points you’ve made, but for the sake of onlookers I’d like to comment on a few of the points you’ve made in your email. I’m not trying to change your mind; instead I’d like to offer a different perspective. > But I wish to leave the guix project and that my savannah account be > removed. This is not a decision I make lightly. The reason why I > decided it was time to move on is because I do not wish to be part of > GNU or the FSF. […] > I also believe that the gnu project has moved away from those core > values and focuses instead on petitioning websites and hardware > manufacturers to release work they have invested a lot of money in > developing, often in very pushy and uncivil ways. Even if they > succeed, I do not really care about this expensive, rushed to market > and badly engineered code. To avoid misunderstandings: GNU is separate from the FSF, but they stand for two branches of the free software movement. GNU is representative of the part that is mostly fun: writing new freedom-respecting software, exploring new ideas to give users more power (see the Hurd and Guix projects for examples), a volunteer effort to develop a complete freedom-respecting operating system (a shifting goal). The FSF and its sibling organisations focus on policy and advocacy, areas that are often avoided by people who just want to write code. The issue of free software is closely tied to ideas relating to the development of society itself, so it involves different powerful actors — this includes suppliers of hardware as well as policy makers. Lobbying and advocacy are strategies, not goals in themselves. Likewise, Copyleft as implemented in various licenses such as the GPL is not the goal, but it is a *strategy* towards that goal. Few people (myself included) get excited about legal language, but Copyleft is a great legal hack that tries to ensure that the other branch of the movement can continue to write software that remains free. I do not share your experience about how this is done (“often in very pushy and uncivil ways”); in my experience the FSFE has done excellent work to make the issue of free software visible where it matters. (Since I’m based in Europe I haven’t directly seen or as closely followed much of what the FSF does.) I’m convinced that we need both branches of the movement in order to get closer to the goal of having a reasonable *chance* to get our computing done without the use of proprietary software. -- Ricardo GPG: BCA6 89B6 3655 3801 C3C6 2150 197A 5888 235F ACAC https://elephly.net