Hi, On 25.03.21 23:32, Christian Kastner wrote:
>> the "technical" decisions we make based on that also have political >> consequences. > That's taking meaning of the word 'political' in the widest possible > sense, and in that sense, literally any action (or inaction) carried out > by an individual within a society is political, because they all have > consequences. Too some extent, yes: > I interpret the calls for Debian being apolitical (to some degree) as > calls differentiating at least between > (1) whether specific political consequences are intended or not That's one of the key points I was trying to make: Debian very explicitly believes that users should have certain rights, and that creating free software is the most effective way to achieve this. We're absolutely not limited to creating free software because we recognize that this isn't sufficient, as the environment in which the software is to be used is also important for whether users can realize their rights. Therefore, we have done a lot of work besides writing software. Debian was instrumental in getting US "munitions export" law changed to allow the export of cryptographic software, and we have repeatedly taken a stand against software patents. Community building is just another area where we work in the interest of our users, both directly (as the community gives them local support resources) and indirectly (as the community is a source of new contributors). If there are issues within the community that are a hurdle to participation, that is a conflict with our explicit political goal. > (2) how deeply Debian gets involved We are in a prominent position. The OSI's Open Source Definition is derived from the Debian Free Software Guidelines, after all, not the other way 'round. There is no way for us to not be involved in something that affects the whole free software community. > (3) effects are directly or indirectly caused > (4) degree of effect. Indirect effects are often stronger and reach further than direct ones. We're acting inside a complex and interconnected political sphere, and limiting our vision to a small bubble will cause us to miss the bigger picture. Simon
