Re: conflicts in the gnu project now affect guile

[Mike Gran]

On Wed, Oct 16, 2019 at 03:14:06PM +0200, Andy Wingo wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> In the last few weeks, a conversation among GNU maintainers that has
> been simmering for years burst into public.  For a while it resubmerged
> into private GNU lists, but now it has resurfaced to affect the Guile
> project.

I did read the whole of this email and looked at some of the links.

My big surprise about recent events is how much people still care
about the GNU brand identity.  I believe it to be a relic and a bit of
a historical curiosity.  I'm surprised at how impassioned this debate
has become.  It is good how some believe that GNU is worth saving.

So GNU, the brand, must mean something to y'all.  I know what it is
*supposed* to mean.

I hope y'all work it out.  I've met a few of you, and you seem nice.

> 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?

GNU Guile is, for me, a weekend pastime.  The people on the project
seem alright.  I've learned some programming tricks.  It is cool that
sometimes stuff I wrote gets used.  It is cool that it has a bit of
status to it, and that via my association with Guile, I got to give a
FOSDEM talk on games.  There have been a couple of dispiriting
interactions back in the day that made me disappear for months at a
time, but, mostly positive compared to other volunteer groups I've
worked with.  If it remains a fun place to hang, I may keep throwing
in my rare and random contibutions.  If it doesn't, I won't.

I am not discomfited by RMS's existence or association with GNU, or
his alleged skeeziness.  Never having been to Boston or having met RMS
or any other GNU or FSF employee, I have no idea who does paid work
for GNU or the FSF or what they do all day, really.  For me it is just
an descriptive adjective for a type of orthodoxy, like 'Dogme 95' for
film, or 'organic' for food.  And it is the orthodoxy that matters.

Regards,

Mike Gran