On Wed, Oct 16, 2019 at 9:14 AM Andy Wingo <wi...@pobox.com> wrote: > > Perhaps this moment is an opportunity, to see where the Guile community > stands. In that spirit I invite Guile community members to weigh in on > the issue. What do you think about Guile's continued relationship with > GNU? What about its relationship with RMS? Finally, what would you > like to see happen regarding the future of Guile?
A bit of context about myself and what has shaped my feelings on the matter: In 2014 I was hired at the FSF as a web developer. In 2015 I quit because the work environment that RMS is ultimately responsible for was demotivating and sad. All of my former FSF coworkers, some of whom sincerely tried (and failed) to make positive change, have since moved on due to similar frustrations. In 2018 I disassociated myself with GNU (as in I no longer identify as a GNU hacker, as there is no formal association) after witnessing RMS rudely interrupt and derail Bradley Kuhn's LibrePlanet session and insist that conference rules do not apply to him. That was the last straw for me, personally, but this pressure had been building for years. However, I have felt, and continue to feel, that Guile is an oasis in the GNU desert and a large part of that is because it has maintainers that truly care about creating a welcoming environment and not tolerating bigotry in the name of "free speech." Andy, Ludovic, and Mark, I owe each of you much gratitude for all the help and positive messages I've received since 2012 or so when I discovered Guile. I love free software, and I especially love Guile. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now, onto the present. Seeing Mark step down from as a Guile co-maintainer was an indicator that something was amiss internally with Guile. I have a great respect for Mark, but I must admit that I've been extremely disappointed to see him, on internal GNU lists, steadfastly defending what I consider indefensible behavior by RMS. Upon seeing the mail to this list that Mark was stepping back into his co-maintainer role, I had assumed that Andy and Mark had worked through their differences and disagreements and was glad. But now that I know that the truth is that RMS, as chief nuisance, put Mark back into this role without the consent of either active Guile co-maintainer, and without even telling them, I am extremely disappointed and I do not approve. RMS, once again, has abused his leadership role to make unilateral decisions to the detriment of a GNU project. Yet another data point that reinforces my belief that when RMS "leads" the results are negative. This is not the behavior of a leader that I support, and I certainly don't personally recognize him as the leader of GNU. He truly is a broken stair, a stick in the mud, a roadblock. What happens if we pay no mind to him? Does the GNU brand mean anything at this point? If anything, it's probably negative. As for the future, I would like to see Guile continue to be the welcoming, inclusive, productive place it has been since I've known it, even though it may require some socially difficult decisions. Andy and Ludovic, you have my support. You've responded to recent events admirably even though it meant being personally attacked by others within GNU and outside. Mark, I urge you to reconsider where you stand with RMS. I know that you have a lot of history, but times have changed. Regards, - Dave
