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Michael Smith Leaves Core
Donald Burr of Borg writes "Following in the footsteps of Jordan Hubbard,
Michael Smith leaves the FreeBSD core team. Reasons cited are similar to those that jkh gave, including displeasure at the bureacracy and politicking, and FreeBSD not being "fun" anymore."
When I stood for election to the FreeBSD core team nearly two years
ago, many of you will recall that it was after a long series of
debates during which I maintained that too much organisation, too many
rules and too much formality would be a bad thing for the project.
Today, as I read the latest discussions on the future of the FreeBSD
project, I see the same problem; a few new faces and many of the old
going over the same tired arguments and suggesting variations on the
same worthless schemes. Frankly I'm sick of it.
FreeBSD used to be fun. It used to be about doing things the right
way. It used to be something that you could sink your teeth into when
the mundane chores of programming for a living got you down. It was
something cool and exciting; a way to spend your spare time on an
endeavour you loved that was at the same time wholesome and
worthwhile.
It's not anymore. It's about bylaws and committees and reports and
milestones, telling others what to do and doing what you're told.
It's about who can rant the longest or shout the loudest or mislead
the most people into a bloc in order to legitimise doing what they
think is best. Individuals notwithstanding, the project as a whole
has lost track of where it's going, and has instead become obsessed
with process and mechanics.
So I'm leaving core. I don't want to feel like I should be "doing
something" about a project that has lost interest in having something
done for it. I don't have the energy to fight what has clearly become
a losing battle; I have a life to live and a job to keep, and I won't
achieve any of the goals I personally consider worthwhile if I remain
obligated to care for the project.
Discussion
==========
I'm sure that I've offended some people already; I'm sure that by the
time I'm done here, I'll have offended more. If you feel a need to
play to the crowd in your replies rather than make a sincere effort to
address the problems I'm discussing here, please do us the courtesy
of playing your politics openly.
From a technical perspective, the project faces a set of challenges
that significantly outstrip our ability to deliver. Some of the
resources that we need to address these challenges are tied up in the
fruitless metadiscussions that have raged since we made the mistake
of electing officers. Others have left in disgust, or been driven
out by the culture of abuse and distraction that has grown up since
then. More may well remain available to recruitment, but while
the project is busy infighting our chances for successful outreach
are sorely diminished.
There's no simple solution to this. For the project to move forward,
one or the other of the warring philosophies must win out; either the
project returns to its laid-back roots and gets on with the work, or
it transforms into a super-organised engineering project and executes a
brilliant plan to deliver what, ultimately, we all know we want.
Whatever path is chosen, whatever balance is struck, the choosing and
the striking are the important parts. The current indecision and
endless conflict are incompatible with any sort of progress.
Trying to dissect the above is far beyond the scope of any parting
shot, no matter how distended. All I can really ask of you all is to
let go of the minutiae for a moment and take a look at the big
picture. What is the ultimate goal here? How can we get there with
as little overhead as possible? How would you like to be treated by
your fellow travellers?
Shouts
======
To the Slashdot "BSD is dying" crowd - big deal. Death is part of the
cycle; take a look at your soft, pallid bodies and consider that right
this very moment, parts of you are dying. See? It's not so bad.
To the bulk of the FreeBSD committerbase and the developer community
at large - keep your eyes on the real goals. It's when you get
distracted by the politickers that they sideline you. The tireless
work that you perform keeping the system clean and building is what
provides the platform for the obsessives and the prima donnas to have
their moments in the sun. In the end, we need you all; in order to
go forwards we must first avoid going backwards.
To the paranoid conspiracy theorists - yes, I work for Apple too. No, my
resignation wasn't on Steve's direct orders, or in any way related to work
I'm doing, may do, may not do, or indeed what was in the tea I had at
lunchtime today. It's about real problems that the project faces, real
problems that the project has brought upon itself. You can't escape them
by inventing excuses about outside influence, the problem stems from
within.
To the politically obsessed - give it a break, if you can. No, the
project isn't a lemonade stand anymore, but it's not a world-spanning
corporate juggernaut either and some of the more grandiose visions
going around are in need of a solid dose of reality. Keep it simple,
stupid.
To the grandstanders, the prima donnas, and anyone that thinks that
they can hold the project to ransom for their own agenda - give it a
break, if you can. When the current core were elected, we took a
conscious stand against vigorous sanctions, and some of you have
exploited that. A new core is going to have to decide whether to
repeat this mistake or get tough. I hope they learn from our errors.
Future
======
I started work on FreeBSD because it was fun. If I'm going to
continue, it has to be fun again. There are things I still feel
obligated to do, and with any luck I'll find the time to meet those
obligations.
However I don't feel an obligation to get involved in the political
mess the project is in right now. I tried, I burnt out. I don't feel
that my efforts were worthwhile. So I won't be standing for election,
I won't be shouting from the sidelines, and I probably won't vote in
the next round of ballots.
You could say I'm packing up my toys. I'm not going home just yet,
but I'm not going to play unless you can work out how to make the
project somewhere fun to be again.
= Mike
--
To announce that there must be no criticism of the president,
or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not
only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to
the American public. - Theodore Roosevelt