From 162aa870b3e059dfbc32df318c230771ec58f1ae Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: =?UTF-8?q?Ludovic=20Court=C3=A8s?= Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2021 22:23:35 +0200 Subject: Add draft FAQ. Details are still under discussion: https://lists.gnu.tools/hyperkitty/list/assembly@lists.gnu.tools/thread/O64CDB5ACX2FVFHUTEKODOLVACAIAKPW/#YNF3XNQUBUFH6CAL32NXGNYWEQYPQAAZ * drafts/faq.md: New file. --- drafts/faq.md | 106 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 106 insertions(+) create mode 100644 drafts/faq.md diff --git a/drafts/faq.md b/drafts/faq.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7a15c24 --- /dev/null +++ b/drafts/faq.md @@ -0,0 +1,106 @@ +title: DRAFT Answering frequently asked questions +author: The GNU Assembly +date: 2021-04-20 16:00:00 +--- + +**DRAFT** + +Following the [Assembly +kick-off](https://web.gnu.tools/en/blog/2021/04/kicking-off-the-gnu-assembly/), +we received lots of questions and read comments that deserved answers. +This post attempts to answer the most common questions. + +# Meta-question: why so much confusion around GNU/FSF? + +Good question! A common belief is that GNU and the Free Software +Foundation (FSF) are the same thing. This is untrue: GNU is not a +registered non-profit, it’s an informal association among contributors, +separate from the FSF. The FSF is oblivious to technical matters in +GNU. + +The FSF supports GNU development primarily in three ways: by taking care +of copyright assignments (for the few GNU packages that require it), as +a [fiscal sponsor](https://www.fsf.org/working-together/fund) for a few +projects, and by providing infrastructure like +[Savannah](https://savannah.gnu.org). For the most part, the FSF +“supports GNU development” in the same way that Microsoft “supports” the +development of projects hosted on GitHub. + +# Is this a fork of GNU? + +No. The [software in question](/en/software) is not being forked and +the people who write that software remain the same. + +What changes is how these people organize themselves beyond their +individual projects—from a +[BDFL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benevolent_dictator_for_life) +top-down model to a [community-oriented, consensus-based +model](https://gnu.tools/en/documents/governance/). + +# Is this backed by FSF/OSI/SFC/XYZ? + +No, it’s not! The Assembly was founded by GNU maintainers and +contributors and receive no support, financial or otherwise, from any +three-letter-acronym organization. Evil Corp™ isn’t helping either. + +# Is this _against_ FSF/OSI/SFC/XYZ? + +Nope! The Assembly is not a _reaction_ to the three-letter acronym of +your choice—it’s first and foremost a _constructive_ project. + +Is it at odds with the three-letter acronym you have in mind? Maybe! +But we’re interested in _building_ something more than in arguing about +what others are doing. + +# You’re just a minority anyway + +That’s not a question, but you’re right: about [30 people](/en/people), +mostly appointed GNU maintainers, endorsed the [Social +Contract](/en/documents/social-contract) so far and may participate in +the Assembly. The number keeps increasing but is still a fraction of +the number of contributors to GNU packages: there are 300+ GNU +maintainers “on file”, though not everyone and [not each project is +active](https://wingolog.org/archives/2020/02/09/state-of-the-gnunion-2020), +[some](https://github.com/gnuradio/gr-governance/blob/main/aoa.md) +[even](https://www.r-project.org/foundation/) +[left](https://lwn.net/Articles/529522/) +[years](https://wingolog.org/archives/2009/12/13/gnu-gnome-and-the-fsf) +[ago](https://discourse.gnome.org/t/relation-between-gimp-and-gnome/2376/8) +for all practical purposes despite being [still +listed](https://www.gnu.org/software)—these projects have their own +governance model and rules, independent of “the rest of GNU”. To put it +differently, significant parts of GNU territory is no longer controlled +by the central government, if we dare such an analogy. + +Anyways, is being a minority a problem? We don’t think so: we hope this +platform appeals to many GNU contributors and contributors-to-be, but we +can do great things even without on-boarding everyone! + +# Why now? Is this really about ? + +While current events certainly motivated the decision to make our +efforts more visible, the desire for stronger collaboration +between GNU packages and for communal decision-making as it +pertains to a shared vision has been the subject of many +discussions among GNU maintainers and contributors over the past +decade or so. + +# Why didn’t you try to effect change from the inside? + +We did! It goes back to [at least ten +years](/en/blog/2021/04/kicking-off-the-gnu-assembly/). The project was +met with enthusiasm from some and hostility from others. That’s fine, +we don’t have to agree! + +Unfortunately, GNU would host project-wide discussions on private +mailing lists, so these discussions and soul searching were only known +to “insiders”. The Assembly is determined to have transparent +processes; everything we did, starting with the drafting process of the +Social Contract in 2019–2020, was done publicly. + +# Do you support PDP-11 assembly? + +Some us write assembly code (not sure about +[PDP-11](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDP-11) though), but all this is +about [a different kind of +“assembly”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_assembly). -- cgit v1.2.1