Kian Mohageri wrote on Thu, Oct 05, 2006 at 04:46:41PM -0700:
> On 10/5/06, Ingo Schwarze <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> The structure of the OpenBSD project suggests that this project
>> might be able to resist better than others. It is no company.
>> It is no charity. It is not so small that it needs to grasp at
>> every straw to survive. It is not so large that any of the big
>> players will put any real effort into trying to corrupt it. As
>> long as it has a few people who know what they want, it might
>> stand unconquered for a while. Not because those people are
>> morally better than or in any way stronger than others, but
>> because they wisely choose a context for living and working
>> that lets them grow rather than corrupting them.
> The success of OpenBSD (with regard to keeping its original ideals
> in mind) has less to do with the size or structure and more to do
> with the overall goals and strength of the people involved. Writing
> off their ability to remain true to themselves and the community as
> a sort of accident or one of many equally probable outcomes is
> completely wrong. If it was not for Theo and the rest of the
> developers, and the community, standing up for themselves, it
> would have been dissolved into something different long ago
> despite the structure, popularity, size, whatever.
These two views are not as far apart as they might seem.
Indeed, BOTH are needed:
1) The resolution to pursue freedom, well thought-out goals
and a lot of strength to stick with them.
2) Care not to put oneself under conditions which will
make oneself lose point 1. Becoming the boss of a
corporation or the leader of a large party or charity
are dangerous in this respect, and, alas, fatal even
to most people who were once strong.
I stressed point 2 not because i doubt that Theo and Mickey and
Ted and Henning and... lack point 1 or because I deem point 1
unimportant (beware!). I stressed point 2 because Theo and Bob
just ranted away about "moral bankruptcy" of others - and i think
it *is* important not to trust blindly on one's own strenght,
but to also find out what caused others to fail, even though
those others were also strong and had valid goals to begin with.
In fact, i think Theo is well aware how important one's working
and living conditions are. He is quite careful not to depend
on any corporation or government or pressure group or whatever,
even if that means to get on with less money and to face
additional trouble from time to time.
> They actively work AGAINST corruption -- they don't simply
> avoid, ignore, or resist it.
That's clearly a very important point indeed.
Anyway, the OpenBSD project is not bound to lose its focus any
time soon. Perhaps i will now once more leave more space on
the list to posts that actually deal with code. =;-)
