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Open Source Initiative bans co-founder, Eric S Raymond:
Last week, Eric S Raymond (often known as ESR, author of The Cathedral and the Bazaar, and co-founder of the Open Source Intiative) was banned from the Open Source Intiative[sic] (the "OSI").
Specifically, Raymond was banned from the mailing lists used to organize and communicate with the OSI.
For an organization to ban their founder from communicating with the group (such as via a mailing list) is a noteworthy move.
At a time when we have seen other founders (of multiple Free and Open Source related initiatives) pushed out of the organizations they founded (such as with Richard Stallman being compelled to resign from the Free Software Foundation, or the attempts to remove Linus Torvalds from the Linux Kernel – both of which happened within the last year) it seems worth taking a deeper look at what, specifically, is happening with the Open Source Initiative.
I don't wish to tell any of you what you should think about this significant move. As such I will simply provide as much of the relevant information as I can, show the timeline of events, and reach out to all involved parties for their points of view and comments.
The author provides links to — and quotations from — entries on the mailing list supporting this. There is also a conversation the author had with ESR. The full responses he received to his queries are posted, as well.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by MostCynical on Wednesday March 11 2020, @01:50AM (10 children)
When volunteer-based organisation have "old guard" members in conflict with the current board/committee/organisers, there are rarely any good outcomes.
either the oldies rally other oldies (often around the cry "change is bad"), and they all leave, making the organisation non-viable, or the oldies assert control, "re-take" the board positions, and all the new people leave, making the organisation unviable, or, everyone fights, everyone leaves, making the organisation unviable
The only real variable is the amount of time it takes to implode.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2, Offtopic) by barbara hudson on Wednesday March 11 2020, @02:03AM (2 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday March 12 2020, @03:04AM
Not exactly, I think. Basically, just like the GOP has a few different camps, the DNC also has different camps, with two main ones. One is the progressive wing, which is Bernie and his fans. The other is the neoliberal wing, which is Biden (and formerly Hillary, not sure if she's active in the party any more though since we never hear about her) and friends. The GOP has something similar: it has the Christian conservatives, the upper-middle-class people who want to pay less taxes, and the gun nuts. The big, big difference I see between the two parties, however, is that the different GOP camps will more reliably get out and vote for their candidates, even if they don't like them that much. Whereas on the Democrat side, people (especially younger and more progressive ones) will get pissed off and stay home when they really hate their candidate.
If we adopted a better voting system, we wouldn't have just these two parties: they'd break up and we'd quickly have 3-10 different parties, like western European nations do.
Anyway, the big reason this isn't like the DNC is because the OP was describing how these organizations end up collapsing or becoming completely irrelevant. This isn't happening with the DNC (or GOP). This kind of in-party turmoil really isn't new; they have lots of fights and change over time. Maybe you've forgotten, but back in '68 the Dems had a similar fight, with one popular guy getting the shaft by the party so they could push their unpopular candidate, and they both lost to Nixon. The DNC didn't die; they still had plenty of seats in Congress after that, and finally got a President elected (Carter), though it took a while. Of course, then we had 12 years of GOP presidents, but then we had 8 years of Clinton, and 8 years of Obama after W's two terms. Neither party is going away; Duverger's Law prevents it.
(Score: 2) by Lester on Thursday March 12 2020, @08:38AM
What does DNC stand for?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Wednesday March 11 2020, @02:40AM (6 children)
AKA "Emrace, Extend, Extinguish" accelerated by moles.
I KNOW I'm paranoid, but I'm starting to think I'm nowhere near paranoid enough.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 11 2020, @03:38AM (2 children)
I saw this happen in organizations with zero significance, power or otherwise. It's human nature. Now having said that, it's not going to take rocket science for a powerful outsider to exploit such an inclination for their own sinister purposes.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday March 11 2020, @02:05PM (1 child)
> with zero significance
The good old People's Liberation Front?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday March 11 2020, @04:46PM
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday March 12 2020, @01:04AM (2 children)
Never assign malice where incompetence would explain things.
Never assign incompetence where pettiness would explain things.
Never underestimate how much damage petty people can do.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Thursday March 12 2020, @09:51PM (1 child)
I'm having trouble imagining that high a level of incompetence or pettiness - I really think malice is the better explanation, and this is just a part of a much larger plot.
Especially if they're also malicious.
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday March 12 2020, @10:22PM
It is actually worse when they "mean well" and have "best intentions" because they " know what's right"
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex