> Sent: Monday, April 12, 2021 at 12:05 AM > From: "John Darrington" <j...@darrington.wattle.id.au> > To: "Gerald Pfeifer" <ger...@pfeifer.com> > Cc: g...@gnu.org > Subject: Re: GCC association with the FSF > > On Sun, Apr 11, 2021 at 12:30:41AM +0200, Gerald Pfeifer wrote: > > There are a number of people arguing here who have contributed little > to nothing to GCC, whose names even did not trigger memories - unlike > David M. or Jonathan, for example, or Nathan or Alexandre. > > For myself, I have been a long term user/contributor to GCC albiet hardly in > a major role. I don't think I've ever posted to this list until a few days > ago, when all of a sudden these messages started popping up in my inbox. So > either I subscribed to this list many years ago and it has been dormant until > recently or someone subscribed me just recently. > > When it comes to deciding the direction of a project like GCC - technical > and otherwise - in my mind it primarily should be those actually involved > and contributing. > > I disagree. The principle by which high level decisions in all GNU projects > have always been made is how it best helps the GNU system as a whole. > Contributors are exactly that. They offer *contributions* - the very meaning > of the word implies there is no expectation of anything in return. Obviously > I hope all contributors *do* get some satisfaction and maybe even some > tangible > benefit. But contributions are not to be seen as a means to gain control of > the project at a high level. > > J'
There are many instances of project maintainers who are not the major contributors, but are very capable of leading their project. Many fail to understand the benefits of knowing the role maintainers play in alleviating or conquering some of the current challenges that interdisciplinary projects face. Although I agree that they need to possess technical experience too. I see many MBAs trying to parachute in as a leader without having worked their way up. Regards Christopher
