[tc] Campaign Question: Treating the Problem, not just the symptoms- Burnout, No Polling, etc

Jeremy Stanley fungi at yuggoth.org
Fri Sep 6 13:10:54 UTC 2019


On 2019-09-06 13:27:53 +0100 (+0100), Chris Dent wrote:
[...]
> Most people work on OpenStack because it is their job or is closely
> related to their job. But because it is "open source" and "a
> community" and "collaborative" doing what people ask for and helping
> others achieve what they need is but one small piece of the
> motivation and action calculus.
[...]

I don't know that this captures my motivation, at least. I chose my
job so that I could assist in the creation and maintenance of
OpenStack and similar free software, not the other way around. Maybe
I'm in a minority within the community, but I suspect there are more
folks than just me who feel the same.

> I don't believe that OpenStack is (currently and through the peak
> of its history) open source. It is collaborative inter-enterprise
> development that allows large companies to have a market in which
> they make a load of money.
[...]

Yes, making these tasks easier and less expensive for "large
companies" like CERN, SKA, MOC, and all manner of other research and
educational organizations is what causes this work to be worthwhile
for me. I like that what we do provides a positive contribution to
the sum total knowledge of our species. I personally think this
aspect can't be overstated.

What we do matters beyond the desire and ability for some
self-serving commercial enterprises to take and give nothing back.
The nature of modern business is exploitation, but it's not as if
the commons of free software is the only resource they're exploiting
to their own gain. I'm all for the people of our planet coming
together to fight injustice or abuse by corporate and political
powers, but the problem extends far, far beyond our community and
pretending we can solve such abuse and oppression within OpenStack
without looking at the bigger picture is short-sighted and naive.

I'm disappointed that you don't think the software you're making is
open source. I think the software I'm making is open source, and if
I didn't I wouldn't be here.
-- 
Jeremy Stanley
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