Re: Business as Code and GNU way of doing business

[vidak@riseup.net]

On 2023-05-19 19:17, Andrea Rossi wrote:
> 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
> 

I absolutely agree with the above decision anyway. Those two
requirements are entirely sound.

Good to see people posting job adverts for Guix.

Loving it.

~vidak

> 
> 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