Re: GCC association with the FSF

[Nathan Sidwell <nathan@acm.org>]

On 4/11/21 2:51 PM, Alexandre Oliva via Gcc wrote:
> There's something very confusing about this entire debate, that signals
> some clear confusion about the role of the FSF.
> 
> GCC is part of the GNU project.
> 
> RMS is founder and leader of the GNU project.
> 
> RMS is also founder of the FSF.
> 
> The FSF was initially founded to support the GNU project.
> 
> The FSF later expanded its activities to other campaigns, but supporting
> the GNU project remains a very important focus of FSF's activities.
> 
> However, the FSF does NOT control nor own the GNU project.  That appears
> to be a very common misperception.
> 
> The FSF offers various pro-bono services to the GNU project, among them
> guarding some GNU assets for the GNU project, but the GNU project is an
> independent (unincorporated) organization, with its own separate and
> independent governance structure.
> 
> 
> The conversation has supposedly moved on from being centered on the
> (very indirect) relationship with RMS to being centered around the
> (even more indirect) relationship with the FSF.
> 
> The trigger for the present movements seems to be RMS's reappointment to
> the board of directors of the FSF.
> 
> That makes no sense to me
> 
> RMS's closest roles regarding GCC have been of initial developer, leader
> of the project that GCC belongs in, and occasional participant in
> discussions among the GCC SC, and none of this has changed recently.
> 
> What is the relevance of his reappointment to the board of a separate
> organization he's founded, long participated in, and presided for most
> of its history, and that has supported both the GNU project at large and
> the GNU toolchain specifically, in ways that haven't changed at all, not
> when he resigned from the board, not when he was reappointed?!?
> 
> Can anyone come up with any rational motivation for this move right now?

I gave them in my initial email.  You can go find them in the archive.

nathan

-- 
Nathan Sidwell