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I think it's naive to believe there's something that comes politics-free at all. Engineers can be keen to get stuff done without political disputes, but from pe

I think it's naive to believe there's something that comes politics-free at all. Engineers can be keen to get stuff done without political disputes, but from personal experience, that mostly just means not challenging anything taken for granted. I think the very existence of the FSF is proof of the fact that you can't take politics out of even basic engineering questions. The real assumption is that anything apolitical is doing something more than pandering to your views.

ryan-allen 10y ago
Keeping politics out of work is just simple professionalism. Sure, be an activist, but keep it out of work and do it on your own time.
- wz1000 10y ago
  Free software is explicitly a political movement. It is a mistake to assume everything done within work hours is apolitical.
  - infodroid 10y ago
    The problem here isn't the politics, it's the mission creep. Libreboot has clear techno-political goals, to free our hardware from the shackles of BIOS and UEFI. It wasn't created to serve as a vehicle to protest a case of alleged sexual discrimination against a friend in a different project. There are many ways to protest at perceived injustice, but I don't think derailing a volunteer project to do that is good for the movement as a whole.
  - _pmf_ 10y ago
    > Free software is explicitly a political movement. Yes, but it's a specific political theme. It's not a blank cheque for instrumentalizing your FOSS work for every topic you personally find important.
- boomboomsubban 10y ago
  If you assume the false accusation was true, ignoring it would not be professional and it would be impossible to keep it to your own time. The mistake was the public and hasty reaction, not politics.
  - infodroid 10y ago
    If the false accusation was true then there would be a lawsuit by now. Trial by social media can never provide true justice, only an ugly exchange of accusations that harms all parties involved. That's why we should keep personal matters out of the front page of software projects.
    - boomboomsubban 10y ago
      Yes, the public and hasty reaction was inappropriate. This is a very different claim than keeping politics out of the project.
- erikpukinskis 10y ago
  Professionalism is very political. It's just mainstream, so from the inside it appears to participants as apolitical. Ask someone whose accent or hair texture is "unprofessional" or who can't afford "professional" clothing whether professionalism is political.
- edam 10y ago
  Sadly, the sort of activists we're talking about here seem to believe that their activism should pervade every aspect of their lives.

ryan-allen 10y ago

Keeping politics out of work is just simple professionalism. Sure, be an activist, but keep it out of work and do it on your own time.

wz1000 10y ago
Free software is explicitly a political movement. It is a mistake to assume everything done within work hours is apolitical.
- infodroid 10y ago
  The problem here isn't the politics, it's the mission creep. Libreboot has clear techno-political goals, to free our hardware from the shackles of BIOS and UEFI. It wasn't created to serve as a vehicle to protest a case of alleged sexual discrimination against a friend in a different project. There are many ways to protest at perceived injustice, but I don't think derailing a volunteer project to do that is good for the movement as a whole.
- _pmf_ 10y ago
  > Free software is explicitly a political movement. Yes, but it's a specific political theme. It's not a blank cheque for instrumentalizing your FOSS work for every topic you personally find important.
boomboomsubban 10y ago
If you assume the false accusation was true, ignoring it would not be professional and it would be impossible to keep it to your own time. The mistake was the public and hasty reaction, not politics.
- infodroid 10y ago
  If the false accusation was true then there would be a lawsuit by now. Trial by social media can never provide true justice, only an ugly exchange of accusations that harms all parties involved. That's why we should keep personal matters out of the front page of software projects.
  - boomboomsubban 10y ago
    Yes, the public and hasty reaction was inappropriate. This is a very different claim than keeping politics out of the project.
erikpukinskis 10y ago
Professionalism is very political. It's just mainstream, so from the inside it appears to participants as apolitical. Ask someone whose accent or hair texture is "unprofessional" or who can't afford "professional" clothing whether professionalism is political.
edam 10y ago
Sadly, the sort of activists we're talking about here seem to believe that their activism should pervade every aspect of their lives.