On Sun, 11 Apr 2021, 20:19 Alexandre Oliva via Gcc, <gcc@gcc.gnu.org> wrote:
> > However, the FSF does NOT control nor own the GNU project. That appears > to be a very common misperception. > > The FSF offers various pro-bono services to the GNU project, among them > guarding some GNU assets for the GNU project, but the GNU project is an > independent (unincorporated) organization, with its own separate and > independent governance structure. > "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <g...@gnu.org> <g...@gnu.org>. There are also other ways to contact <https://www.gnu.org/contact/> the FSF." That's the footer of ... www.gnu.org and the "other ways to contact" link goes to www.gnu.org/contact The page header has a "Join the FSF" button, and the page's subtitle is "Supported by the Free Software Foundation <https://www.gnu.org/#mission-statement>" where the link goes to www.gnu.org again (not to fsf.org). It's pretty confusing to outsiders. The governance structure of the FSF is pretty opaque to me, and I've been involved for close to 20 years. Who are the "voting members" of the FSF? The governance structure of GNU is described at https://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-structure.html but apart from the names of the authors, only one individual is named on the page (you know who). > > Can anyone come up with any rational motivation for this move right now? > So "you didn't complain about the FSF in 2019, why do you have a problem with them now?" Really? OK ... There is a perception that GCC's link to both GNU and the FSF is harmful to GCC's reputation. The unclear (to outsiders) relationship between GCC, GNU and FSF may be to blame, but telling somebody that their perception is just because they are confused doesn't necessarily help. Would GCC leaving the GNU project but not removing links to the FSF really mean much, when the FSF has just welcomed RMS back? And when the FSF still sponsors the GNU project, which RMS has been clear he still leads whether or not he's in the FSF? Can you really not see why people who want to remove links to RMS/GNU might also think that remaining linked to the FSF is a problem, given the FSF's strong links to GNU and renewed link to RMS? And if somebody didn't think being linked to the FSF was a problem a month ago, can you really not see why they might think it is a problem now, after RMS rejoined the FSF? Finally, the FSF seems to be imploding. I don't want GCC to suffer as a result of that.
