From 92b8c4a967b946c5c516041675f1d4c118ea12fe Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Leah Rowe Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2017 15:32:18 +0100 Subject: Rename blog/ to news/ --- www/news/index.md | 14 ++++++ www/news/unity.md | 126 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 140 insertions(+) create mode 100644 www/news/index.md create mode 100644 www/news/unity.md (limited to 'www/news') diff --git a/www/news/index.md b/www/news/index.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..6d12ce7d --- /dev/null +++ b/www/news/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,14 @@ +% News announcements from the Libreboot project + +Updates to libreboot, both technical and organisational, will be written about +here over time. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +[Open Letter to the Free Software Community](unity.html){.title} +[2 Apr 2017]{.date} + +To the free software community: + +Over the past six months, the Libreboot project has been in a state of discord... + diff --git a/www/news/unity.md b/www/news/unity.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..b44f04e0 --- /dev/null +++ b/www/news/unity.md @@ -0,0 +1,126 @@ +% Open Letter to the Free Software Community +% +% 2 Apr 2017 + +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 + +### A message from Leah, to further complement Alyssa's submission: + +I acknowledge that what I did was wrong. Although I felt justified at the time, +I ended up hurting a lot of people, most of whom were uninvolved with any of +the relevant events. At the time of taking Libreboot out of GNU, I was going +through intense personal difficulty in my life, and I was highly unstable. +Presented with a similiar situation, I likely won't respond the way I did +before. I've changed a lot, and I promise this type of thing won't happen +again. + +What I'd like the most, is to simply focus on Libreboot as I've always done, +and to forget about what happened in the past and move on. + +I sincerely hope that the FSF, GNU project and others who I have hurt, can do +the same. My only goal at present is to continue improving Libreboot, and to do +everything in my power to make libre hardware a reality for everyone, as is the +goal of the Libreboot project. + +I will remain in my place as a developer in this project, but everything that I +do from now on will be the result of open collaboration with others in the +project. I very nearly single handedly destroyed this project, and caused a lot +of damage to the entire community, damage which I now wish to repair. I love +Libreboot, Free Software and the community, and my only wish is to see it +thrive. + +I wish well any and all outreach organisations that do work with the FSF; e.g. +Outreachy, who are working to do what they can to improve conditions for women, +LGBT people and other minorities in the sphere of computing and engineering +fields, related to Free Software. + +I hope that any damage I caused to the community is not permanent. + +I'm deeply sorry for the damage and upset that I caused. I will not repeat the +same mistakes twice. To a very specific person, who cannot be named in the +interest of their privacy, but for whom context will allow that person +to know this is for them: I'm especially sorry for the damage that I did to +you during those months, and I sincerely hope that you get what you are +currently seeking. I fully support you in your endeavour, and if I could help +you, I would. You still mean a great deal to me. + +I'm especially sorry to John Sullivan and Ruben Rodriguez of the FSF, both of +whom I publicly slandered on the Libreboot website. They did not deserve any of +that. I was being highly abusive towards you both. + +I would also like to express my sincerest apology to those GNU maintainers +whose emails I published on the Libreboot website, when all of that chaos was +underway. + +I'm sorry to all the other Libreboot maintainers at the time, some of whom felt +like they had no choice but to quit the project because of my actions. Doubly +so for Damien Zammit and Timothy Pearson, both of whom I let down in various +ways afterwards aswell. + +I would like to sincerely apologize to Timothy Pearson of Raptor Engineering +in particular, for the damage that I caused with Libreboot's exit from GNU, +while you were running your TALOS workstation campaign. Although I do not know +whether the campaign would have succeeded without all that chaos, my own +actions certainly did not help. + +Finally, I would like to once again apologize to the community as a whole, for +the damage that I caused. I hope that I can prove to you all that I do wish to +make amends for the damage, and to improve, and to re-build bridges with the +community, and to once again work with the community in bringing Libreboot and +Free Software forward, into the future. + +~Leah Rowe -- cgit v1.2.3-70-g09d2