Open Letter to the Free Software Community

3 files changed, 97 insertions, 54 deletions

diff --git a/www/index.md b/www/index.md
index 171c1605..20c79015 100644
--- a/www/index.md
+++ b/www/index.md
@@ -5,65 +5,46 @@ title: Libreboot
 [![Libreboot
 logo](logo/logo.svg "Canteloupe, the libreboot mascot"){#logo}](logo-info.md)
 
-[Downloads](download.md)                --
-[Documentation](docs/)                  --
-[Donate](donate.md)                     --
-[Buy libreboot machines](suppliers.md)  --
-[Report a bug](tasks.md)                --
-[Submit a patch](git.md)                --
-[Hardware Compatibility](docs/hcl/)     --
-[Installation Guide](docs/install/)     --
-[Mirror](rsync.md)
-
-Libreboot is a [free](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software) and Open Source BIOS or UEFI
-replacement; libre *boot firmware* that initializes the hardware and starts a
-bootloader for your operating system. [Watch our FOSDEM 2017 presentation about Libreboot (speaker is Leah Rowe,
-libreboot's founder)](https://video.fosdem.org/2017/K.1.105/libreboot.mp4)
-
-Libreboot is a long-time member of the [Peers
-Community](https://peers.community/) project, an organisation that supports
-Free Software and provides infrastructure, e.g. [Git
-hosting](https://notabug.org/).
-**[We call on AMD to release source code and specs for the new AMD Ryzen
-platforms!](amd-libre.md)**
-
-Questions? [Read the FAQ](faq.md) or
-[join](https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=libreboot) IRC for general
-support questions. You can also [contact the developers](contrib.md). [Sign up
-to our newsletter for release announcements!](announce.md). We also have a
-subreddit forum, for development discussion and user support:
-[r/libreboot/](https://www.reddit.com/r/libreboot/).
+[Downloads](download.md)                                                    --
+[Documentation](docs/)                                                      --
+[FAQ](faq.md)                                                               --
+[Donate](donate.md)                                                         --
+[Buy libreboot machines](suppliers.md)                                      --
+[Contributors](contrib.md)                                                  --
+[Report a bug](tasks.md)                                                    --
+[Submit a patch](git.md)                                                    --
+[Hardware Compatibility](docs/hcl/)                                         --
+[Installation Guide](docs/install/)                                         --
+[Mirror](rsync.md)                                                          --
+[IRC](https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=libreboot)
+
+Libreboot is a [free](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software) and Open
+Source BIOS or UEFI replacement, initialising the hardware and booting your
+operating system. We are a member of the [Peers Community](https://peers.community/)
+project, an organisation that supports Free Software.
+
+%%UNITYLETTER%%
 
 Why use libreboot?
 ------------------
 
 Many people use non-free proprietary boot firmware, even if they use [a
 free operating system](docs/distros/). Non-free BIOS/UEFI firmware often
-[contains](faq.md#intel) [backdoors](faq.md#amd), can be slow and have
-severe bugs, where you are left helpless at the mercy of the developers;
-*you have no freedom over your computing*. By contrast, libreboot is
-building a world where everyone can use, study, adapt and share
-software, with true control and ownership over their technology. **In
-other words, you should use Libreboot for your freedom's sake!**
+[contains](faq.md#intel) [backdoors](faq.md#amd), can be slow and have severe
+bugs, and you are left helpless at the mercy of the developers.. By contrast,
+libreboot is fully free software, where anyone can contribute or inspect its
+code.
 
 Libreboot is faster, more secure and more reliable than most non-free
-firmware, and can provide many advanced features (such as encrypted
+firmware, and can provide many advanced feature, like encrypted
 /boot/, GPG signature checking before booting your kernel, ability to
-load an OS *from the flash chip*, and more).
+load an OS *from the flash chip*, and more.
 
-Libreboot's main upstream providers are
-[coreboot](https://www.coreboot.org/) (which we deblob, for hardware
-initialization), [depthcharge](docs/depthcharge/) (bootloader, and
-default libreboot payload on ARM), and GRUB (bootloader, and default
-libreboot payload on x86). We also integrate
-[flashrom](https://www.flashrom.org/Flashrom) (for installing
-libreboot), and several of our own utilities, scripts and configuration
-files. All of this is integrated into a single, coherent package that is
-easy to use. We add our own patches to the various upstreams used, and
-where feasible try to merge upstream as much as possible.
+Libreboot's main upstream provider is coreboot,
+[coreboot](https://www.coreboot.org/), which we deblob. We upstream our custom
+patches to projects like coreboot, depthcharge, GRUB, and flashrom where
+possible. Together, we provide an automated build and installation system with
+nontechnical documentation, allowing Libreboot to be widely used. 
 
-Libreboot provides a fully automated build system and installation
-process, with documentation written for non-technical users, in an
-attempt to make the software as easy to use as possible. ROM images are
-provided, along with utilities, all built from the publicly distributed
-source code.
+[Watch our FOSDEM 2017 presentation about Libreboot (speaker is Leah
+Rowe)](https://video.fosdem.org/2017/K.1.105/libreboot.mp4)
diff --git a/www/publish.sh b/www/publish.sh
index 9e973d85..73ff8912 100755
--- a/www/publish.sh
+++ b/www/publish.sh
@@ -15,9 +15,13 @@ fi
 tail -n +5 $FILE.md >> temp.md
 
 # add license notice where applicable
-if [[ ${FILE} != "docs*" ]] ; then
-    cat license.md >> temp.md
-fi
+# TODO: make this less intrusive
+#if [[ ${FILE} != "docs*" ]] ; then
+#    cat license.md >> temp.md
+#fi
+
+# add unity text in
+sed temp.md -i -e "/%%UNITYLETTER%%/r unity.md" -e "s/%%UNITYLETTER%%//"
 
 # change out .md -> .html
 sed temp.md -i -e 's/\.md\(#[a-z\-]*\)*)/.html\1)/g'
diff --git a/www/unity.md b/www/unity.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..acfbcbb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/www/unity.md
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+Open Letter to the Free Software Community
+---------------------------------------------
+
+To the free software community:
+
+Over the past six months, the Libreboot project has been in a state of discord.
+After an issue with a transgender employee at the FSF escalated, Libreboot
+publicly left GNU with little consultation from the community. Relations with
+so many people were strained. Friendships broken, lines of code never written:
+the chaos needs to come to an end.
+
+A series of organisational issues with Libreboot enabled this fallout to occur.
+We have since corrected them:
+
+Previously, the libreboot repository and the website could only be modified by
+the project leader, Leah Rowe. This setup created a single point of failure,
+with little leeway for dissenting contributors. Since then, I have joined the
+project as the sysadmin. Along with another contributor, Sebastian "Swift Geek"
+Grzywna, direct access to the code and servers is shared. Though the project
+cannot yet be completely decentralised, this change is a win for transparency.
+
+Previously, most of libreboot.org, including public statements such as those
+regarding GNU, were issued by Leah herself. The rest of the team and the
+community were not consulted. As Damien Zammit, a former contributor noted, the
+word "we" on old Libreboot notices meant "Leah". But alas, there is no room for
+the "royal we" in democracy.
+
+Finally, on a personal note, Leah was at the time struggling with gender
+dysphoria and substance abuse. Since then, she has been managing these issues.
+She agrees that her behaviour was rash and is determined to find a unifying
+solution. 
+
+With all of this in mind, were the allegations against the Free Software
+Foundation true? Perhaps. Perhaps not. At this point, it doesn't matter.
+Indeed, it is unlikely that Libreboot will ever rejoin GNU, but feuding in an
+already fragmented community helps nobody. The world of free software is
+shrinking and under attack. Though the FSF may make mistakes from time to time,
+so do we. We do not need another divide.
+
+Similarly, we would like to work closely with librecore, another project
+working to deblob coreboot, whose team includes Damien Zammit. Once librecore
+matures, libreboot plans to switch to librecore in lieu of our current
+deblobbed fork. That is, there will be less duplication of effort; instead of
+competing with librecore, libreboot will complement it.
+
+As a technical update, we are currently working on a Libreboot port to
+the X220. Leah and Swift are investigating ways to disable the ME on
+Sandybridge hardware, which potentially means more modern Intel hardware may be
+supported. Additionally, Paul Kocialkowski has been working on supporting
+several new Chromebooks with ARM chips; these ports will also be available in
+an upcoming release.
+
+No more "royal we". No more notorious surprises. No more late night
+"typofixes".
+
+Transparency and collaboration are the way forward.
+
+~Alyssa Rosenzweig