I've lost track of how many #FOSS friends I've lost over my views:(a) #RMS' bad behavior,(b) that we should tentatively find ways to use of #LLM-gen-AI, (c) my belief that we need major improvement on #LGBTQIA+ matters; e.g.: would-be allies aren't doing as good as they think, (d) growing for-profit corruption in NGOs.
So many ghosted me, yelled at me so loud on the phone that it shook & fell off the table, called me a fascist, sent me copies of _1984_, threatened doxing, etc.🙁
Sign'o'the times.
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@bkuhn we're still friends, though!
I haven't heard about corruption in NGOs, though. Hopefully that's not the controversial view that blows our friendship out of the water.
@evan Re: NGO corruption: LF creates jobs, and folks think that because they're working for a "non profit" that it must be good. Ultimately LF is a class trade association, working toward the common interest of its for-profit members, so one who works there is just working for indoctrination.
LF employees have literally got in trouble for having breakfast with me at LF events. Like, seriously.
The situation is toxic.
@bkuhn I think this is a tough part about nonprofits. They have to raise money to survive, but they also have to have meaningful impact; raising money _for_ something. It's a really hard balance to reach, as I'm sure you know!
@evan Oh, yeah, the challenge is always there. (c)(6)'s are really a terrible structure because it's about raising a specific class of businesses into power.
(c)(3) structures are really a good way to go, but the lack of regulation (particularly in the current regime) means that they can behave badly and there is no way to hold them accountable.
As I get older, my conclusion is that capitalism is so corrupt it permeates every fiber of human existence now. We won't escape that in our lifetimes.
@bkuhn on a meta level (no pun intended), is it a mistake to make friends in the movement? When ideas and goals are so important to one, should one avoid confusing them with personal relationships? Should one preserve one's social battery for friendships with people interested in baseball or snail biology?
@bkuhn I feel very lucky to have so many good relationships I've made in FOSS, wiki and Fediverse work. And many people from my personal circles have become part of the same work I do, which I feel really good about. There are some people who don't like me, but not any that I would have ever called friends.
@evan
re: NGO corruption:
I'm mainly thinking about OSI and Linux Foundation there. But they have a plurality of attention by folks outside of FOSS about what Open Source is, and that's a terrible problem because it makes FOSS look like primarily an industrial, rather than community, endeavor.
FSF's corruption is purely a terrible case of Founder's Syndrome, which I had some hand in propping up from 2001-2018, so I have a lot of shame that I thought I was helping and I probably wasn't.
@evan
re: NGO corruption:
I'm mainly thinking about OSI and Linux Foundation there. But they have a plurality of attention by folks outside of FOSS about what Open Source is, and that's a terrible problem because it makes FOSS look like primarily an industrial, rather than community, endeavor.
FSF's corruption is purely a terrible case of Founder's Syndrome, which I had some hand in propping up from 2001-2018, so I have a lot of shame that I thought I was helping and I probably wasn't.
