From 41fb2d4ab8c44d645611ac4e78db56cbaf239595 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: =?UTF-8?q?Ludovic=20Court=C3=A8s?= Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2021 18:42:20 +0200 Subject: faq: Publish. * drafts/faq.md: Move to... * posts/faq.md: ... here. Remove "DRAFT" and adjust date. --- drafts/faq.md | 96 ----------------------------------------------------------- 1 file changed, 96 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 drafts/faq.md (limited to 'drafts') diff --git a/drafts/faq.md b/drafts/faq.md deleted file mode 100644 index 92e03d8..0000000 --- a/drafts/faq.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,96 +0,0 @@ -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: As legal -guardian (copyright assignments, acting on legal disputes or legal -representation), as [fiscal sponsor](https://www.fsf.org/working-together/fund) -for some GNU packages, and by providing infrastructure like -[Savannah](https://savannah.gnu.org). - -# 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 the GNU Assembly an initiative of an existing Free Software organization or is it sponsored by a specific corporation? - -No, it’s not! The Assembly was founded by GNU maintainers on personal -title and receives no support, financial or otherwise, from any -organization at this time. At the moment the Assembly uses the -resources of the individuals listed. We will publicly list anybody or -any organization that provides us with sponsorship or resources to be -completely transparent. - -# 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”. - -Anyway, 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 of 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