Re: Leaving the guix project

[Jan Nieuwenhuizen]

David Craven writes:

Hi David,

> But I wish to leave the guix project and that my savannah account be
> removed. This is not a decision I make lightly. The reason why I
> decided it was time to move on is because I do not wish to be part of
> GNU or the FSF.

Sad to see you leave.  There was a question the other day about the
state of KDE, I remember you worked quite hard on that.  If you do
not want to be [seen as] part of GNU, I can imagine that working on
Guix becomes difficult.

> I believe that the reason why free software is better and will always
>be better than non-free software, is because of all the love and care
>that we put in. It's about building cool and awesome stuff. I think
>that this is the reason free software has become a viable alternative
>to non-free software.

If free software is better that's at best a happy coincidence.  Possibly
some people find it difficult to put love and care into something that
in the end is owned by someone else?  I'm not sure if that is a
universal rule or if it's merely a cultural/ego thing.

To me, running GNU today has very little to do with it being better: it
is because of the freedom that I think GNU is important and fun.

> I also believe that the gnu project has moved away from those core
> values

What makes you think that?  GNU is and has been (building) a UNIX-like
system but free; not unix.  Quoting gnu.org:

    GNU is an operating system that is free software—that is, it
    respects users' freedom.

    The development of GNU made it possible to use a computer without
    software that would trample your freedom.

> and focuses instead on petitioning websites and hardware
> manufacturers to release work they have invested a lot of money in
> developing, often in very pushy and uncivil ways. Even if they
> succeed, I do not really care about this expensive, rushed to market
> and badly engineered code. I believe that the free software community
> can do much better on it's own.

I am sad that you have seen such things, I cannot relate to this.

> I hope you can understand and respect my decision.

Sure; thanks and all the best!
Greetings, --janneke

-- 
Jan Nieuwenhuizen <address@hidden> | GNU LilyPond http://lilypond.org
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