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From: William Pitcock <nenolod@dereferenced.org>
Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2017 02:57:57 -0500
Message-ID: <CA+T2pCE2H8Z8ERg5vS3mnr98Ets+0-m0aZpp4ZPzQ+huKMPOjA@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: [alpine-devel] a discourse on the troubles of being an alpine developer these days
To: alpine-dev <alpine-devel@lists.alpinelinux.org>
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It's become abundantly clear to me that Alpine no longer has the same
values that it did when I joined the project many years ago.  We've
been through a lot and have exceeded expectations many times over, but
unless some major changes happen very quickly, which I don't expect to
happen, I think I'm out.

The reality is that when bpitrowski@ was run out of the project by
jirutka@ and some contributors that are part of his social clique, the
core team did nothing to stop it, with individual members (including
myself) expressing sorrow about the situation.  Since then it has
become clear that inaction of the core team has sent a very harmful
message.  The group who systematically harassed bpitrowski@ until he
resigned have had other actions which have lead to perceptions such as
"spewing hate is part of the Alpine brand."

It has now been a year since he was run out of the project, and almost
two years since I started raising concerns about this targeted
harassment.  In the past week, this group has felt even more
empowered:

   http://archive.is/wEF8F
   https://twitter.com/JakubJirutka/status/890386241061085184

Natanael in his role as the person who founded the project quickly
stepped in to apologize, but, yet again, no sanction has occurred
because of it.  History repeats itself: the core team is too cowardly
to actually sanction the behaviour.

One of the solutions proposed, in part, to curb the behaviour of that
particular clique was a Code of Conduct.  Instead, they hijacked the
process of authoring a Code of Conduct by jumping out in front of it
by being the first to propose text for a Code of Conduct:

   http://lists.alpinelinux.org/alpine-devel/5663.html

This was explicitly stated by them to be a "defensive measure against
SJWs."  As if so-called SJWs are the only people who care about having
a Code of Conduct.  We are talking about a consistent and coordinated
effort to undermine the project from specific actors.

Ever since the bpitrowski@ incident, I have struggled with deciding
whether or not to leave.  But lately it has become obvious that
leaving is the only thing I can do personally, as the core team as a
whole clearly refuses to take any action to even understand why and
how that incident played out.  In fact, the core team has never
discussed or attempted to analyze the incident.  As far as I know,
nobody ever bothered to ask why he left either, which means no
analysis could be done even if they wanted to do it.

What I know is that I cannot personally maintain good faith when it
comes to interactions involving these people, largely because they ran
a developer out of the project.  And since I can't maintain good faith
with these people anymore, it makes little sense to stay with the
project, when I can work in a derivative instead.

So really, my question is: why should I continue to do my work inside
Alpine, to participate as a core developer when I am at risk of being
harassed in the same way?  Why should I spend my time contributing to
a project that doesn't stand up for it's own when they need it the
most?

When Alpine was a younger project, solidarity was a crucial aspect of
the core team.  We worked hard and spent many nights hacking out
fixes.  Where we are now would never have happened if it wasn't for
our loyalty and solidarity to each other.

The true tragedy is that people have come in and destroyed that solidarity.

I want to believe we can fix this, but right now, a year after the
bpitrowski@ incident, I find myself still hurting.  I do not like that
I have to be pensive around certain people to avoid becoming their
next victim.

Is the future being pursued, ironically in the name of "quality
assurance" by those actors, the future that everyone including Docker
and IBM want?  It's not the future I want at any rate.  I say we must
kick that agenda and those who pursue it to the curb.

William


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