Re: Endorsement for Joachim Norieko

[Shaun McCance <shaunm gnome org>]

On Wed, 2006-11-29 at 11:27 -0500, Richard Stallman wrote:
>     I must say, I hadn't read Joachim's other comments until
>     after I'd sent my endorsement.  I stand by my assertion
>     that he's been a highly motivated contributor to the GDP,
>     although it's now somewhat hard to understand why.
> 
> It shouldn't be a surprise.  People have lots of different motives for
> contributing to free software projects.  This is a good thing, for the
> most part, since it means more progress.  In a practical activity,
> such as writing code or manuals, there is usually no practical need to
> discuss anyone's motives, since in most cases a contribution only
> needs to be judged on its practical merits.  Thus, it is easy for the
> difference in motives to go unnoticed.
> 
> However, the fact that we don't need to discuss motives most of the
> time in technical work should not lead to forgetting them entirely.
> Since free software projects generally do include contributors that
> are not interested in the free software ideals, and contribute for
> other motives, we should take explicit steps to make sure that project
> continues to uphold and spread the ideas of free software.
> 
> For instance, GNOME documentation provides a good opportunity to
> communicate the ideas of free software: freedom and social solidarity.
> Does it do so?

It unfortunately does not at this time, and that's something
I'd really like to address.  But right now, the documentation
isn't even doing a good job of being documentation (although it
is better than it used to be, thanks in large part to Joachim),
and that's a higher priority for me.

--
Shaun