Lorenzo Ancora Oct 8, 2024
Responsible #FOSS developers should avoid #politics and intentionally divisive behaviours against their userbase. The #freesoftware movement survives on reputation. Less #Wokot and more #Godot!
Show threadParagrimm Oct 8, 2024

@LorenzoAncora where does politics begin and where does it end? Isn't the idea and the goals behind #foss political aswell? Regain power over companies that steal and sell our data without our consent? Being able to publish a game without worrying about licensing or fees or whatever? Making technology available for everyone instead of a handful corporations?

Isn't all this political to some extent aswell?

Show threadLorenzo Ancora Oct 8, 2024
@Paragrimm no, "politician" and "software developer" are distinct professions. Free software developers should focus on producing free software.
Show threadParagrimm 
@LorenzoAncora gotcha, you don't understand free software and the organization behind it. Those who work on the engine are "software developers" and focus on improving the engine. Since nothing technical changed and nobody is forced to show a pride flag in the splash screen for example, there's no politics in the free software. Now the mind blow: "community manager" != "software dev"; "project lead" != "software dev"; ... where is the impact for you as a dev or engine user?
Oct 9, 2024 at 5:10amWeb
Show threadLorenzo Ancora Oct 9, 2024

Hi @Paragrimm , I'm a long standing free/libre software developer, also served the Free Software Foundation and many other free sofware associations and projects. I administer the Free Software Database.

I hope this experience is a sufficient "proof" of my understanding of free software! 😅

Show threadAlfred M. SzmidtOct 10, 2024

@LorenzoAncora I think you are gravely misrepresenting your so called credentials, you never worked for the FSF. None of which are proof of your understanding of free software.

The Free Software Database should also not be confused with the Free Software Directory which is maintained by the FSF and volunteers.

@Paragrimm

Show threadParagrimm Oct 10, 2024
@amszmidt Yea, I sadly realized that a bit too late :D thanks for clearing that up though :)
Show threadLorenzo Ancora Oct 10, 2024
@[email protected] to be clear: I've been a member of the GNU webmaster team to facilitate the transition toward new web standard and co-administered the Free Software Directory for years. I did all for free. Then I founded - in agreement with the FSF staff, which has direct privileged access to manage all GNU entries - the Free Software Database. Nowadays I no longer actively volunteer for the FSF, altough all GNU members can still ask for my assistance due to our history of cooperation.
Show threadLorenzo Ancora Oct 10, 2024
@[email protected] the Free Software Database is a user-friendly platform which aims to offer similar services, but is more focused on a modern search experience and on deeper evaluation of new entries, which can be more than software. The FSD and the FSWDB can freely exchange their contents. From a technological point it is meant to be a full replacement and can diverge in content and internal policies, altough it will always only offer FOSS and information about the free software community.
Show threadLorenzo Ancora Oct 9, 2024

@Paragrimm all foundations are fully responsible for the actions of their staff and official collaborators, regardless of their role.

The impact of toxic behaviours against the community could manifest as a loss of users, profit and reputation for anyone involved. Of course, this includes engine users when the usage of Godot is disclosed in the final product.

Show threadParagrimm Oct 9, 2024
@LorenzoAncora I do agree with THIS. The foundation is responsible for what happened. And there should be consequences for abusing power etc. I agree. But that's the problem of the foundation, not of the software. It's wrong to reviewbomb an engine that de facto hasn't changed software wise, it's wrong to attack devs who use Godot, it's wrong to attack community members, because they have a different political view and so on and so forth. The people are political, yes. The software isn't. 1/2
Show threadParagrimm Oct 9, 2024

@LorenzoAncora 2/2 therefore: distinguish between these 2 things.

The people are the problem, not the software. Subjectively speaking the outrage was bigger than the outrage back then regarding "master" branch and that it should be called differently, due to the words history. And even that was silly af (it's just a branch name... why should I be upset if the default name is changed to "main"?).

Nothing would've happened if it would be about FPS or RPGs, why the outrage for "Woke games"?

Show threadParagrimm Oct 9, 2024

@LorenzoAncora To add to this... FPS games and RPGs are inherently political... CoD with their WW topics, LOTRO was inspired by real politics, ...

I fail to understand why these "Woke" games are so inherently different that there's an outrage justified? I'm sure that there would be a drama if "Gone Home" would've been released today... why?

Well... because some of the people who are upset, have a concrete problem with THIS specific political view... not politics in general. Hypocrites.

Show threadLorenzo Ancora Oct 9, 2024
@Paragrimm Good point. Most criticisms target the wokot initiative and how the public relations were handled. Games are a form of art and art can be political, but game engines are tools which go beyond gaming (they can be used to create GUIs, 3D editors, CADs and so on), represent a huge time sink and cannot have this luxury. Engines, frameworks and libraries are hard-to-replace critical components which need to be trusted by both end users and developers. Perceived neutrality is precious.