damn good take on the rms situation
http://wingolog.org/archives/2019/10/08/thoughts-on-rms-and-gnu
I don't think english is this person's first language and I want to be clear that I'm not making fun of non-native english writers, but the demands and accusations in this email are just *bonkers*.
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guile-devel/2019-10/msg00001.html
oh and that email links to a blog post that accuses the guix maintainer of violating guix's code of conduct and gnu's "kind communication guidelines". wow.
hahaha oh boy they are mad that they can't comment on guix's blog so I guess I'm implicated as well because I wrote their blog software.
oh and it gets even better. the blog post cites *anonymous comments on 4chan* to show how mad people are. these comments are, of course, full of offensive language that is the norm on 4chan.
I saw that too
it's delirious
These people are really bonkers
But this fury is positive, I think
That means that these posts by mantainers are politically significant, I think
@dthompson this is all incredibly depressing, but as an aside your blog software looks pretty neat and this has reminded me that i want to give guix a look.
@brennen thanks! the software is just a static site generator, which is why there are no comments. you'd have to add disqus integration with javascript or something in order to have comments.
@dthompson yeah, i maintain one of those myself (of which, as far as i have been able to tell the last 18 years or so, i have always been the sole user) and have come to view the absence of comments as belonging strongly to the "feature" category.
@brennen the venn diagram of "all programmers" and "programmers who have their own static site generator" is a circle.
also I absolutely agree that lack of comments is a feature. no spam to control, no trolls to block. it's wonderful.
@dthompson @brennen I've wondered if you could substitute a fediverse thread for a comment system; like if the blog post was exposed via activitypub, you could either display a JS widget or link to the AP-hosted copy of the post which could show the replies?
@technomancy @brennen now *that's* a cool idea!
@dthompson @technomancy i could swear i've seen someone doing that exact sort of thing around here, but i can't now recall who...
@brennen @dthompson tbh I kind of assumed that was the whole point of https://writefreely.org/ but I haven't looked into it. it's not a particularly novel idea so I'm sure others have taken a swing at it.
@pea @brennen @dthompson ah huh; what's the point of that then? might as well just write an atom->AP converter to get the same job done with much less fuss.
@technomancy @pea @brennen @dthompson what about @PlumeDev ?
@brennen @dthompson @technomancy I've done that once, inspired by Bradley Kuhn using identi.ca for his blog.
So many of us having the same thoughts on commenting systems. Some others already have done something about it.
https://joinplu.me/
#fediverse #disqus #activitypub
Also, recently read about a #WordPress plugin to get comments and follows from the fediverse. Its called Pterotype.
@dthompson why is it not justifiable to ask for creditable proof for the claims being made? Throughout this whole shit show, people have been using examples that have nothing to do with the claim being made, are a non-issue or are examples of the politically correct gone a muck.
@NullWhereMan no it's not justifiable because it's not a question being asked in good faith.
@dthompson Whenever I read something from Andy Wingo, I am either edified or inspired (or both).
@cstanhope same. smart guy in both a technical and social sense, a rarity in the software world, even more so in the free software world!
@dthompson Not going to lie, the blog post was blah, just a simple "to arms!" cry. I'm not against or for RMS, but I think this has been blown way out of proportion. So much coverage on one side to remove leaders and rebuild in some else vision. And this is not limited to GNU, software, tech.
The sign-off comment at the bottom about no gods, no leaders, etc, is also the nail in the coffin that makes me ignore a post.
@jordan31 this isn't about an isolated event. it's about *years* of bad behavior that has gone unchecked and many attempts to address issues privately have failed.
@dthompson I'm glad it it starts with the "the GNU project does not exist" meta-point. I've been confused about that, so it helped to see it explicitly included in the discussion here.
That is true only if you divorce #GNU software development from its philosophy. That sound like what Torvalds sees in the #GPL. That is open source.
Which would make even the free/libre tag a charade, while mutilating the GNU name.
#GNU philosophy, and #RMS keeping a bead on what's admitted under the umbrella, is what gives it meaningfulness.
@dthompson
So ... This is the comments thread for that blog post. (Somehow, the blog author only posts gardening stuff on his Mastodon handle.)
It is reprehensible that #FSF used the media smear based on wrong quotes to take #RMS and "per" philosophy out of the FSF.
Now, atleast 1 GNU maintainer says philosophy has no place in software, and #RMS shouldn't have #GNU.
Basically, no place for philosophy in software.
Bollocks!
@brennen @technomancy
That blog post is saying openly what all the other actors may have as the unspoken motivation.
Taking #FSF and #GNU out of #RMS' control is a detail (a necessary one, as #Stallman would want #FSF to actively protect the copyrights assigned to it by contributors).
It is really about shaking "per" associates free of "per" fastidiousness about free/libre.
The free/libre ethos probably has never really been in some.
@brennen @technomancy
@wyatwerp @technomancy @brennen it's most definitely *not* about trying to undermine free software. I know several of the people that joined in on that statement and they all care very deeply about free software. there is no conspiracy here.
It is not at all about conspiracy.
It is all about maybe letting a non-activist take charge of THE #FreeSoftware organizations that matter (who have been assigned copyright over lots of code by hundreds if not thousands), in an atmosphere where "per" new in-charge has to mind "per" words even on unrelated websites and mailing lists.
Aren't any of those who assigned copyright to #GNU worried about this possibility?
@brennen @technomancy
In case it isn't apparent, I have great respect for all the signatories (those that I recognize by name). Hence the gnawing thought about what they are enabling.
#RMS' extremism is what has enabled so many non-technical people to avoid becoming part-time sys.admins of Windows PCs or hide-bound to whatever Apple deems is good for them.
@brennen @technomancy
Without #RMS, we wouldn't even have the BSDs surviving, because there wouldn't be enough open device drivers. Without the #GPL, we wouldn't have Linux' critical mass of developers putting in all the systems work; given Torvalds' short-sightedness on the Bitkeeper matter, it is unlikely he would have come up with something like the GPL.
We need more of #RMS nowadays, not less!
@brennen @technomancy
#FreeSoftware #GNU #Stallman #FSF
discourse, subtype gnu/rms/etc.
@wyatwerp i'm not in the immediate social inner circle of gnu or the fsf, but the balance of the evidence i've seen suggests that rms has behaved poorly for a long time, that an incident like this was going to happen eventually, and that it's time for new leadership.
i also think this has surfaced a lot of unhealthy personality cult stuff in the community that we need to get past.
discourse, subtype gnu/rms/etc.
@wyatwerp
i also think that rms has been right about a great deal. his ideas have shaped my thinking as much as any i've encountered. i care deeply about the free/libre ethos and i've built my life and career in many ways around that motivation.
i'll leave it at that; i really don't feel like going in circles with you about any of it.
also someone got mad at this post and sent a very long email to Andy and *FOUR* gnu mailing lists. as soon as you criticize rms there are a bunch of termites that come out of the woodwork asking for "proof."