Business as Code and GNU way of doing business (was: Re: Requesting permission to post a job search in guix-devel)

[Andrea Rossi <andrea.rossi@softwareworkers.it>]

Hello everyone,
Here are some thoughts after the search and subsequent appointment of a
developer to work in a GNU-oriented workplace.


On 28/02/23 14:50, Tobias Geerinckx-Rice wrote:
> Hi Andrea [on-list],
> 
> So, good news.
> 
> A majority of maintainers has awoken, and all agree that job searches 
> are welcome on guix-devel@ as long as they:
> 
>   1. are related to Guix, obviously not an issue here;
>   2. do not promote non-free software.
> 
> Promotion would include applicants being ‘encouraged’ or required to 
> produce non-free software to get (or increase their chances of getting) 
> the job.
> 
> Certainly not the vibe I got from your company, so if you/Gio' can vouch 
> for that, feel welcome to share your post!
> 
> Best of luck,
> 
> T G-R


1) TOOLS AND MINDSET GO HAND IN HAND

People who adhere to the Unix philosophy [0] (to name one of the pillars
of our approach) are more likely to use tools that are consistent with
it. At the same time, people who prefer different approaches tend to use
different tools.
Track record is important in the selection of candidates, but their fit
with the culture of the workplace is also important and in the long run
a major success factor.



2) MINDSET AND VALUES ALSO GO HAND IN HAND

Although this is a statement based on anecdotal experience rather than
statistical evidence, we believe that mindset is related to values. More
specifically, we believe that the technical mindset we value most is
related to the hacker ethic.



3) A COMMON SET OF VALUES COULD FORM THE BASIS OF A "GNU WAY OF DOING
BUSINESS"

In the spirit of reproducibility, we are trying to express every aspect
of the business in code form: from accounting to project management to
contracts, we are migrating everything into a text format that can be
managed with a version control system.

We do this because we see reproducibility as both an obligation and an
opportunity:

- An obligation to our stakeholders, who must be able to rely on the
reproducibility not only of the software we deliver, but of the entire
context in which that software can be run, maintained and used.

- And an opportunity for us, because it allows us to scale the
organisation at the only cost of bringing new people on board (hackers
are welcome - as stated in point 2).



4) DIVERSITY AND OPENNESS PREVENT FANATICISM

The above is nothing new: in addition to the many open source companies
scattered around the world, there are also a handful of theoretical
contributions (the Wikipedia article 'Commons-based peer production' [1]
is a good starting point to delve into the topic).

The problem is that all of this is struggling to break the glass ceiling
beyond which mainstream business dominates our lives and conditions our
future. Until the "GNU way of doing business" contaminates a critical
mass of corporations, government agencies, and non-profits, we will have
to contend with being weird when we are probably just pioneers.
Contamination is the key word, and while we are aware that contamination
is often mutual, we will have to face the market to make a difference.

Regards,
Andrea


[0] Which, by the way, should be kept up to date. Should we perhaps call
it "re(GNU)wed Unix philosophy, or just "GNU philosophy?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commons-based_peer_production

-- 
Andrea Rossi
OpenPGP key: FCE2EDE78BD9B2CB

Software Workers srl
https://softwareworkers.it