Re: [libreplanet-discuss] membership confusion, FSF way forward

[Leah Rowe]

On Mon, 23 Sep 2019 11:04:46 +0200
Daniel Pocock <daniel@pocock.pro> wrote:
> On 23/09/2019 05:18, Leah Rowe via libreplanet-discuss wrote:
> > 
> > I take issue with this: there is the issue of vetting regular
> > members. What if a bunch of members are present who do not share
> > the FSF's hardline stance on free software?
> 
> If I understand correctly, RMS was always true to the philosophy and
> he may well be the gold standard.  His resignation coincided with
> vocal pressure from certain donors and partners.  So the importance
> of money is already getting an edge over the importance of philosophy.
> 
> What you describe is a problem that is well understood and shared by
> many organizations.  There are many articles and books about it, for
> example:
> 
> https://sheilamargolis.com/core-culture-and-five-ps/the-five-ps-and-organizational-alignment/philosophy/
> 
> Going forward, do you think FSF will be more successful with a
> fear-based approach or by exploring and consulting more widely on how
> to ensure an enduring philosophy?

Money is the main cause of fear in any movement. Fear of something to
lose.

This is especially true the larger you get.

I can't speak for the efficacy of FSF's board of directors in terms of
integrity to the movement. My experience has been that the FSF, despite
taking money from some questionable sources, has maintained its
integrity.

At times, I've raised by eyebrows about certain members of the board.

At present, I don't think the FSF is in a bad spot.

Of course, my answer is always:
Fuck the money. You have to stand by your convictions. This is how the
free software movement started; RMS was saddened deeply by the
increasing dominance of proprietary software in the hacker community.
He could have gotten filthy rich, but instead he created the GNU
project and the FSF.

*That* is what we need. RMS has always made a point of not being paid
by the FSF for instance; this means he is not influenced by whomever
donates to or sponsors the FSF. He is his own person.

When you have something to lose, it better be your ideology and not
money. If you have money to lose, you've already lost everything.

This is why I'm a perfect leader in my (albiet much smaller than the
FSF) organisations, because I'm not wealthy at all.

Wealth is what kills all ideological movements. You don't make progress
with money; you can build bridges with money, write software with money
and build infrastructure with it, but you can't buy ideology. Ideology
exists in its own universe.

-- 
Leah Rowe <info@minifree.org>
Company Director & Libreboot developer
https://minifree.org/ https://libreboot.org/

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Spread freedom. Tell everyone you know about it!
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

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