Open Letters to the SMF Community
I believe people should know, what happens on simplemachines.org. I believe I owe everyone informations they must have, to make their decisions.
Allow me to make this thread, as a collection of facts, and my perspective over them.
SMF status
There are thousands of sites who depend on SMF on simplemachines.org, from security updates, new releases, packages, everything served to users from it. The community has started to wonder about what happens with SMF, again. They're right. And people need to know.
The past few months, there is basically no active development in SMF.
There is no one left, with both experience, access and will to make a release.
There is only one developer able to make releases, and through his dedication it's still possible. He has to rely on one other person, to painfully synchronize somehow to push out even for the latest security patches.
There is no one really handling the sites, subsites installations, wiki, downloads. They're outdated, sometimes even for security and/or needs of people who work on the project. Persistent and worsening infrastructure problems. I said elsewhere that it's crumbling. Because it is.
When people try to help, they may or may not be able to. Because there are only very few - one/two - who control access to sites, servers, FTP accounts. And they refuse to hand over access people need... by criteria that have nothing to do with expertise, will, or anything... In time, a network of red tape has been built to excuse their choices... and I'm afraid they don't even see, how it's only hurting the project.
I'm sorry, but it's just how it is. And I am concerned, I admit. Thousands of people relying on SMF need to know and have the right to know, to make their own informed decisions.
Re: Open Letters to the SMF Community
Reply #1 –
2010-2012, summary notes
Since 2010,
Around seven out of nine developers and development contributors have left SMF, for different reasons than RL reasons. Only a couple for RL reasons.
Around seven out of nine. Both developers and any significant help closely on it or around it. Those only ones who have stepped up since 2010 and have worked hard on significant responsibilities. They are no longer there, and not exactly for RL reasons. Some pushed out, some from a cascade effect of the lack of perspective and impossibility to move forward, some combined reasons with disappointment with management and giving RL time.
Today, there is no active development in SMF. For the past few months.
Until November 2012, ~200+ commits / month.
Last few months, < 40 commits / month.
Developers have left, and are rebuilding this project on fresh bases. That is another matter, though, not the point here.
I have taken responsibility for SMF in 2010. Myself, I had root access to almost all servers, admin to sites and all. It enabled me to make sure the project can still work normally, albeit sometimes at the edge. It enabled me to make sure to step in when people needed something, information or access, and almost no one else even knew what is happening and needed, such as for customization and all. Apart from software development and related.
I believe I didn't do my job too well. On the other hand, I admit I also believe... that I shouldn't have withdrawn... because it was, well, quite clear, that when I do, the few in SM management/infrastructure were not going to give by far any more access to others. (among other issues)
The route was going to be, towards locking development, site, any movement forward of significance. Incessant blocks, refusals, ...false "reasonings", ...personal feelings and choices, were going to be too much for anyone to handle. And ultimately suffocate this project.
I'm sorry. I have to admit, despite the tone (not entirely avoidable, it's simply true), that I'm not exactly blaming a certain person or another... If anyone is to blame in the big picture, that is myself, not them. It just.. wasn't possible for me to stay either, when I knew I wasn't able to fix this project.
In 2010, and after, I always told people that this project is badly wounded, and we can try to work to heal it... But there was a moment I was sure it wasn't true: it had cancer, and, ... you can't heal cancer.
Today, it's just doing it over again.
It was going to make a LLC in NPO dressing.
Have only a couple people with 'power' and controlling everything through access to resources.
Push out developers, at an accelerated pace even.
Have some manager who has to get his way... war after war, game after game, while the project was breaking in front of people's eyes. It never stops, in poor ole' SMF.
It isn't really about people. There are a few people I cannot work with, true, and part of the reason why I was going to withdraw. But that's not really it, in the big picture. It was a movement which became unstoppable after a moment (not sure which was the cornerstone, early 2012 in a way for me, but probably 2010 entrenchment itself, if not earlier, depends how you look at it).
SMF was in an unstoppable movement down... towards a 'corporation' which was going to kill development. And, it did.
The past few months, since most development stopped, the situation has worsened quite quickly.
(if I am wrong somewhere and you can correct my words, please do. The following are shocking, but true.)
The SM NPO 'corporation' was supposed to handle resources on behalf of the project.
Instead, the management was going to tell, in plain words, recently, to the SMF team, that they don't.
That SM is the "owner", the corporation who "owns" resources, servers, sites, and they "decide" what SMF needs.
That SMF team is not allowed to make a vote of non-confidence in 'the corporation', and let the project free or take it elsewhere, under an organization capable to handle it. The SM manager (and "father") told them the freedom of choice of SMF wasn't in his organizational diagrams. That SM owns the project... and only they can "decide".
That SM is more important, and (ok, this is difficult for me to write but I have to)
... that, to them, there are heavier consequences if SM dies, than if SMF dies...
Re: Open Letters to the SMF Community
Reply #2 –
I'll start with details for your knowledge, on the so-called 'copyright issue', since it's simple, essential and currently in an ... unbelievable stage.
The 'Copyright Issue' - summary
Copyright is a set of exclusive rights given by the law to the author of a work of authorship.
When you create a work - or add to a work - you automatically receive these rights, and you can grant any of them under any conditions, through a license, to anyone.
Copyright holders of SMF software are its developers and contributors.
The software belongs to those who do the work of authorship. And they share it to the world, giving equal rights to everyone, by only licensing it with an open license. It's that simple.
SM corporation is a licensee under BSD 3-clause license. Or MPL, for a few projects/pieces.
IBM corporation is a licensee under BSD 3-clause license. Or MPL, for a few projects/pieces.
Everyone receiving the work, the releases, the code, is a licensee under BSD 3-clause license. Or any other open license.
Developers - including community contributors alike - share the software under a license.
SM corporation has received the rights given by the BSD 3-clause license, and should respect its conditions:
never remove or alter the copyright notices from the code.
SM is telling SMF community today... that they sit and "make decisions" on licensing. That they're self-entitled "authority" on licensing. 5-6 managers, non-contributors, sit in their private board and claim to "make decisions" on the software licensing. On the work that SMF developers and community have made available to the world under the license. They claim to remove notices, alter them...
But they forget this essential detail: licensees should respect the licenses granted to them.
Re: Open Letters to the SMF Community
Reply #4 –
The "Copyright Issue" - follow-up
They have jumped on the repositories, and removed my acknowledgement notice from the software. Not that I mind objections or changes - I'm not too happy with my own PR anyway, but that's not the point.
But the "authority" has bypassed the open development process, including SMF's process on copyright/licensing updates I had set in place.
And, within the next weeks, SM corporation has taken control of the project.
All rest aside, I'm afraid they still did forget. That they're a licensee.
And licensees should respect the license: never remove or alter the copyright notices for the software granted to them by developers/contributors.
Licensees are not an authority on copyright/licensing. That's meaningless.
As lead developer of SMF, I have made all licensing changes or adjustments (and in two cases I believe, oversaw others) to any piece of official software. I have an interest in copyright/licensing, it's true, but that's not only it: developers should pay attention to licensing, since it's simply fair. To respect licenses when they integrate code from other projects, to verify and to adjust licenses appropriately when the project receives code from pull requests, to make sure that code is properly licensed and any mistakes are fixed.
Of course, they may need help on that - the more, the better, and there is great help out there. But help means help. Sorry to say, but some corporate management, non-contributors, non-developers, removing license notices at their whim, then sitting in 7-people private environment to "make decisions" on licensing is not help. It's an attempt to control the SMF development community, and this one is quite screwed up at that: control over your own work conditions from a handful of non-contributors.
I'm looking on sm.org today, and I find it unbelievable... and unacceptable. They keep the entire SMF community blocked, over their so-called "decisions", for months.
It's not a joke. It's SMF development community under SM corporate control today.
If someone, some entity, had more rights (licensing/copyright), it's a dangerous power. And unacceptable for them to use them blindly, against your will.
But in this case, it's even worse. That's exactly what SM NPO are not supposed to do at all.
Licensees do not "make decisions" on licenses granted to them. They only respect them.
Re: Open Letters to the SMF Community
Reply #5 –
The "Copyright Issue" - status
I look at sm.org...
On one side,
They have forced SMF developers hand, to "give give give copyright to the SM corporation". Under DCO.
Developers told them there is only a license. Over the distribution, over the software, over any work. The authors' work.
They weren't satisfied. They pushed developers to a wall, to accept, that they 'give copyright' to the 'corporation', over their own work...
On another side,
I think (I can't know for sure), SM BoD are asking SFLC, about the little notices.
They're giving them an image, in the name of developers, on our intentions when I set up the DCO-based policy. You see, they withdrew the former 'corporate editors' claim. Now I think they're giving an image, about developers intentions with the DCO-based policy, and they're still asking for advice about the notices.
On yet another side,
They're innocently telling former developers or wedge developers, that... they're 'only protecting copyright'. And it's a 'legal legal matter'. That 'legally legally' they hold standing in court for copyright infringement. With a simple licensee status.
On yet another side,
They're keeping the community at bay, to sit and wait until they "make decisions" on licensing. Telling an entire community, that the "legal legal entity" makes "legal legal decisions". Over community contributions... That they're privileged, you see... everyone else must respect each other's license (=the license of the pool of software in the repository), but they claim... they have the authority to disrespect licenses.
It's unbelievable... but true. They're playing a game, sorry to say, with everyone. With... everyone.
A game of power and control over what was supposed to be a community driven project.