Re: [gentoo-project] Gentoo, GitHub, and the Social Contract

[Andrew Savchenko <bircoph@gentoo.org>]

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On Sat, 14 Feb 2015 18:36:38 -0500 Rich Freeman wrote:
> I think we're going a bit too far down the rabbit hole.
> 
> Somebody asked in IRC whether we run linuxbios on our servers.  Even
> if we did, I'm sure the CPU schematics aren't published, or the
> blueprints for the power plant that runs the datacenter.
> 
> Until the entire world runs on FOSS, I think we can live with Gentoo
> simply trying to adhere to the social contract as best it can.  We
> don't have to run the tinderbox on a CPU whose specs date to the 80s
> since that was the only one we could find with published schematics.
> 
> I'm not aware of any aspect of Gentoo that necessitates the use of
> proprietary software to contribute to, at least not anything a
> contributor would have to pay for / etc.  If somebody spots something
> and can offer a reasonable alternative, I'm sure it will be looked
> into.  I think everybody around here is fairly dedicated to FOSS.
> That said, Gentoo has always been a bit pragmatic - we allow non-free
> stuff into the portage tree, for example (heck, even paid proprietary
> software where you need the original CD to use the ebuild).  But, you
> can always set your ACCEPT_LICENSE strictly and never accidentally
> install it, and that won't hold you back from contributing at all.
> 
> Honestly, I'm not really seeing a lot of division here - just arguing
> over definitions/etc.

I agree with you, we can't get rid of all proprietary components
in real world, but:

1. We should try to do this when possible.

2. We should estimate possible impact of a failure of such
component. If BIOS or network card firmware will fail, we can use
another hardware. And what if github will turn to be main
development platform for Gentoo and it will fail or refuse service?
Development will not be stopped completely, but will be impaired
significantly. A whole project will suffer a major damage. I want
to avoid that that's all.

Unfortunately my reasons above are not sheer speculation, unlike
theoretical proprietary firmware failures I already had suffered
from github blockade in our country.

Best regards,
Andrew Savchenko

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