Answering frequently asked questions

2021-04-21T19:00:00Z

Following the Assembly kick-off, we received lots of questions and read comments that deserved answers. This post attempts to answer the most common questions.

Meta-question: why so much confusion around GNU/FSF?

Good question! A common belief is that GNU and the Free Software Foundation (FSF) are the same thing. This is untrue: GNU is not a registered non-profit, it’s an informal association among contributors, separate from the FSF. The FSF is oblivious to technical matters in GNU.

The FSF supports GNU development primarily in three ways: As legal guardian (copyright assignments, acting on legal disputes or legal representation), as fiscal sponsor for some GNU packages, and by providing infrastructure like Savannah.

Is this a fork of GNU?

No. The software in question is not being forked and the people who write that software remain the same.

What changes is how these people organize themselves beyond their individual projects—from a BDFL top-down model to a community-oriented, consensus-based model.

Is the GNU Assembly an initiative of an existing Free Software organization or is it sponsored by a specific corporation?

No, it’s not! The Assembly was founded by GNU maintainers on personal title and receives no support, financial or otherwise, from any organization at this time. At the moment the Assembly uses the resources of the individuals listed. We will publicly list anybody or any organization that provides us with sponsorship or resources to be completely transparent (Updated May 2nd, we now have a thanks page listing all the individuals and organisations who offered resources to the GNU Assembly).

You’re just a minority anyway

That’s not a question, but you’re right: about 30 people, mostly appointed GNU maintainers, endorsed the Social Contract so far and may participate in the Assembly. The number keeps increasing but is still a fraction of the number of contributors to GNU packages: there are 300+ GNU maintainers “on file”, though not everyone and not each project is active, some even left years ago for all practical purposes despite being still listed—these projects have their own governance model and rules, independent of “the rest of GNU”.

Anyway, is being a minority a problem? We don’t think so: we hope this platform appeals to many GNU contributors and contributors-to-be, but we can do great things even without on-boarding everyone!

Why now? Is this really about <current event>?

While current events certainly motivated the decision to make our efforts more visible, the desire for stronger collaboration between GNU packages and for communal decision-making as it pertains to a shared vision has been the subject of many discussions among GNU maintainers and contributors over the past decade or so.

Why didn’t you try to effect change from the inside?

We did! It goes back to at least ten years. The project was met with enthusiasm from some and hostility from others. That’s fine, we don’t have to agree!

Unfortunately, GNU would host project-wide discussions on private mailing lists, so these discussions and soul searching were only known to “insiders”. The Assembly is determined to have transparent processes; everything we did, starting with the drafting process of the Social Contract in 2019–2020, was done publicly.

Do you support PDP-11 assembly?

Some of us write assembly code (not sure about PDP-11 though), but all this is about a different kind of “assembly”.

Kicking off the GNU Assembly

2021-04-16T14:00:00Z

Hi there! We’re excited to kick off the GNU Assembly and its web site! This place intends to be a collaboration platform for the developers of GNU packages who are all “hacking for user freedom” and who share a vision for the umbrella project.

Truth be told, this is an old story finally becoming a reality. Almost ten years ago, Andy Wingo (of GNU Guile) emailed GNU maintainers:

From: Andy Wingo
Subject: [gnu-prog-discuss] An experimental GNU Assembly
To: gnu-prog-discuss <gnu-prog-discuss@gnu.org>
Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:32:09

Greetings, GNU maintainers.

At the last GNU Hacker's Meeting in Paris, we talked a lot about the
social structure of the GNU project.  There was broad consensus that the
GNU project would be healthier and more effective if GNU maintainers had
the ability to act collectively, beyond our capacities in our individual
projects.

This mail is an attempt to take concrete steps in that direction.  I'm
trying to reflect the consensus we reached in Paris, though the words
are mine only.

In brief, I would like to propose an experiment: the creation of a new
forum for collective decision-making in the GNU project.  This "GNU
Assembly" (or whatever we call it) will discuss topics relevant to the
GNU project, with the goal of producing technical recommendations
through a process of consensus-building.

The major organ of the GNU Assembly will be a new mailing list, with
public archives.  The details of the discussion and
recommendation-producing structure should be worked out on that list.

Ideally I would like for all core GNU contributors to participate in
this experiment.  Following Debian's example, GNU Assembly members
should first agree on a founding document of principles.  This document
should be short and sweet: something about the four freedoms, preference
for copyleft, and mutual respect among assembly members.

Please give your reactions on this list.  Eventually this discussion
should be archived publicly, so please start a new thread if you do not
want your message archived on the new list, and mark it as such.

If there is agreement, I would like to start work on a draft Social
Contract within the week, and open a new assembly@gnu.org mailing list
shortly.

Let's give it a go!

Yours in free software,

Andy

Why this did not happen “within the week” belongs to the past; everything in this message describes our effort today. We came up with a founding document last year through a transparent discussion process, followed by a formal endorsement period, after which we set up the Assembly mailing list. This mailing list is a safe space where the group discusses its organization and governance.

Currently, the GNU Assembly consists of maintainers and developers from about 30 packages—old and young, small and big. You too can join us!

The GNU Assembly