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Bruce Perens Voted off SPI Board
An anonymous reader writes "ComputerWorld is reporting that open source evangelist Bruce Perens has been ousted from the board of Software in the Public Interest. Even though he founded the organization he said it was time to move on, stating that he probably shouldn't have run but just couldn't let it go. It seems that for the time being Perens in content to focus on the truly important things, like watching his son grow and making time for his family. I just hope that he isn't gone for too long."
It sounds like he was forcefully ejected from his own board, but the story leads me to believe that this is what he wanted- even the slashdot summary states that he had said it was "time to go" and that he wanted more time with his family and son... so why was he 'ousted'? Or perhaps I'm simply reading something wrong...
I wish I got this much press everytime I got fired. One question though... if this guy is most famous (hey, I'm paraphrasing TFA) for getting fired, then what's his next move? What's his next job? And why is this news? So he started the organization. BFD. In TFA he admits that he wasn't that involved or motivated and that it showed. I've been fired for less, and with much less press coverage.
7h3$3 4r3n'7 7h3 Ðr01Ð$ ¥0 4r3 £00|{1n9 f0r. M0v3 4£0n9. --OB1
Time being Perens in content?
Here's a link with election info. Here are the election results.
But for me the real question is whether it is time for a magnetic floating bed?
>> Perens disagreed with the direction HP was taking on its Linux platform when it merged with Compaq.
A company that fires you when you disagree with them is most emphatically a company that you no longer want to work for.
Bruce has principles and doesn't toe the company line when it seems wrong. In my book, that's a good thing.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
Could someone give a short description of SPI? How is it different from other similar organisations? What does it do that these organisations don't?
Most of the time, people are not re-elected because of personality clashes with the rest of the board. Perhaps Bruce has an abrasive or forceful personality that didn't sit well with the rest of the board? Perhaps there's an ego problem somewhere here? Ego is what drives this industry, and ego is what gets most people into problems with others, no matter how much they want to cover it up or deny it or not even admit it to themselves.
-- Ed Carp, N7EKG erc@pobox.com PGP KeyID: 0x0BD32C9B What I'm up to: http://intuitives.mine.nu
How am I supposed to hear rampant rumor and speculation when the subject of the story is posting the truth? This is Slashdot after all; there is a tradition to uphold here people.
I for one welcome our... ahh never mind that won't work here.
DK
I'm sorry but the code is more important than watching some bag of meat grow up.
Okay, this is obvisouly the worst kind of karma whoring possible. How about we take Bruce's highest moderated replies and we all post our own questions?
So, whaddya saying, no ACs and if I want to read about Joss Whedon's grocery list I'll have to call his press agent?
I am *SO* there, Bruce! Congratulations!
(But do you kinda sorta think that your new competitive venture against slashdot is why your own dirty laundry got posted here by an AC? I'm just askin'...)
Rich.
libguestfs - tools for accessing and modifying virtual machine disk images
Bruce was removed, because he was an ass. He tried to force an agenda down everyone's throats that nobody agreed with. He also proved to be very arrogant and not very knowledgeable about the current state of the group itself. And yes, he missed a ton of meetings but no, that wasn't why people were angry. People were angry because he didn't even bother to let them know he was going to miss the meetings. He just blew everyone off under the arrogance that he was doing more important things.
I don't know. Technocrat.net is still very small potatoes next to Slashdot. Makes about $10 a day on google ads, which I pay to Zogger, the only paid editor. I doubt the Slashdot operators would mind a bit. But I do find that stuff I submit is less likely to run than links to stuff I submitted to other sites which are then submitted to Slashdot by third parties. You would think that Slashdot would like to get the news from the horses's mouth rather than some other part of the horse :-) One of the editors explained to me once that they do defensive postings, which means that they get so many people submitting the same article that they post it just to get them to shut up, but they really did not want to run that story at all. Maybe that's what happened this time. Interesting the effect that the internet has on editorial policy.
Bruce
Bruce Perens.
Good luck to you.
You're an inspiration to many.
By the way, I have a buddy who was up until very recently working in Montreal for a fairly big hardware/software firm. His wife got offered a job with Cisco in the US (South Carolina) and they (plus their two children) decided to move.
This meant (for him) abandonning his well-paying, well-established job.
I asked him what he planned to do for a job down in Raleigh, he answered "Take care of the kids"
"What?"
"Yup, that's it, that's all. I've been too busy with a million activities" he went on "I want to take care of my kids"
I thought about for a second, smiled and said "Those kids will be luckier than most"
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
Bruce is correct - remember Steve Wozniak phone?
In the early 1980's Steve Wozniak still had a published phone #. (actually 2 published #s I believe, one was a polish-joke-of-the-week answering machine, the other was in his den)
But you could still call the two lines. Steve Wozniak did not mind callers, and had a lot more fans and interested parties in 1983 than Bruce typically has.
I think Bruce is a stand up guy and to be RESPECTED.
Just answering the /. questions/comments as they're posted beats the heck out of one of those interviews where /. picks the top-rated posts and you get this long carefully-planned monologue-type response two weeks later.
Good luck with the software patents thing. You obviously understand how important it is, and many of us here do too. Thanks for spending your time on it.
Why are you letting these clowns ruin our country?
Technocrat is such a pretentious name. Good luck rising about the crowds with your superior views, and may it homogenize for you quickly.
Savvy through responding to drawn attention. You know what they say, self-promotion is the sincerest form of flattery.
And yes, this is what AC is for, the most appropriate response to your tack.
A while back, a former boss and I were talking, about moving to new jobs, etc. Came across a cool quote that day:
"No one ever got to the end of their life and looked around and said 'I wish I had spent more time working'"
You go Bruce.
"See, we plan ahead! That way, we never have to do anything now."
Patrick Doyle
I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
10 dollars a day from google ads, geez that must pay for electricity for one server. I hope you are making more with the annoying banner ads I filter out using adblock
http://adblock.mozdev.org/
errrr never mind...
Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
I see the change as a good thing -- if Bruce can keep the personal finances going well to have party-time Sourcelabs and part-time focused advocacy, then this is great! I've met Bruce in the past, and have seen him present a number of times, and am glad that he is putting a priority on some of the advocacy work. Sometimes organizations will come with you, and sometimes they will not, and that is fine.
TPM's applied to hardware (that disable the rights of owners to choose our own software), the tied selling of digital content to devices with TPMs applied to them (contrary to anti-trust/competition legislation - you can combine these two and call them "DRM" if you must) , and software patents are three policy areas I also have as a personal priority. This year I was asked to become the Policy Coordinator of CLUE: The Canadian Association for Open Source. As we grow our membership I will be finding out if this group wants to fund me to travel across Canada and elsewhere to deal with these problem policy areas, or whether they will want their association to have different priorities. My hope is the former, but otherwise I will be looking for a way to fund my advocacy work in other ways.
Digital Copyright Canada forum
Where's Nelson Muntz (from the Simpsons) when you need him?
"HA ha!"
I'm really important and I'm lonely. So if I call you, will you hand the phone to the nearest hot chick? Preferably one who is a Linux freak and video game robot?
More on the subject of the story (or maybe not) yesterday my kidney doctor told me next month she was going to work once a week so she could see more of her kids. What a coincidence.
Anyway, why not make technocrat.net P2P? I know at least The Circle has a way of filtering out undesireable posts using P2P. There really needs to be a good P2P news system with a good interface (last time I checked, Circle's wasn't that good), filtering system, reasonably popular, and just doesn't suck. At the very least, you could make one really popular, I'm sure.
BTW, I thought you'd have more important things to do than read slashdot.