Post #2072351

2026-04-16 11:01 UTC

@jamey @pho4cexa the context I apply to this, that I don't see represented in this thread but is perhaps left too implicit in Gingerich's blog post, is that what makes many of us think of SFC as "one of the good ones" is that it is staffed and led primarily by people with a deep and painful history of trying to do advocacy in organizations led by toxic, fundamentalist leaders entrenched into a refusenik position. We have sympathised with their aims and know they are trying to do better than what has failed before SFC, perhaps uniquely so, understand the limits of "just say no," embodied in a so-called leader that protected his own purity by expecting others to interact with the vast imperfect edges of the world that continued more tightly to enclose him. I read more than a little "love the sinner, hate the sin" into this call for discussion.

Replies (1)

@jamey@toot.cat 2026-04-16 12:36

@idlestate @pho4cexa I get where you're coming from, but I'm not convinced. for one thing, your characterization of Conservancy leadership doesn't match my personal experience of them. they are just as hard-line about their own avoidance of non-free software even when that forces other people to work around them; just ask them about banking and taking donations without running proprietary JavaScript, for example. I think they would agree that this is roughly their position, although I'm probably missing nuance. I can even respect them for that stance. but it does make this blog post more strange, in a way, for the reason you point out. anyway, even given a very generous reading in which we assume they were fundamentally only trying to make a "love the sinner" argument, that leaves too many crucial issues unaddressed which really can't be left out of a discussion of generative AI's impact on free software in 2026. I think the thread starting at https://social.coop/@cwebber/116411429436945287 says everything I'd want to about this. I'm very short on sleep right now so I'm not sure how coherent you'll find the above, and there's only so much I'm willing to say about this anyway, but I wanted to acknowledge your perspective even though I don't find it convincing.

Open ##2072352