Re: Stepping back up as a co-maintainer

[Alex Sassmannshausen]

Hi Mark,

Mark H Weaver <address@hidden> writes:

> zx spectrumgomas <address@hidden> writes:
>
>> Of your words: “RMS has not yet appointed me as a co-maintainer.” , the
>> word “yet” I guess that means if he would have had his permission then you
>> wouldn't have needed it of the current maintainers, as I also deduce from
>> here:
>> “Frankly, it should not be your decision to make.”
>> https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guile-devel/2019-10/msg00021.html
>
> Yes, and I stand by that statement.  I made my case clearly in the
> message cited above.
>
> That said, I agree that it would have been improper for RMS to appoint
> me without first consulting the existing maintainers.  In fact,
> discussions are currently ongoing with Andy and Ludovic to resolve the
> situation, and I'm hopeful that we'll reach a mutually acceptable
> resolution.
>
> Regarding my phrase "In light of recent events", which I cited as the
> reason for my decision to return, I should now be clear what I meant by
> that:
>
> GNU is far more fragile than I had supposed.  It's like if your mother
> has a heart attack, and you suddenly realize that although you've always
> taken her presence in your life for granted, her mortality has now
> become real to you in a way that it wasn't before.
>
> I realize now that I took GNU's continued existence and integrity for
> granted, like a steady rock that I naively assumed would be there and
> stay strong regardless of whether I was a part of it or not.  Now I see
> that it will depend on all of us who care about software freedom to do
> what we can to keep GNU strong.
>
> I'm not interested in dividing the Guile community.  That would
> obviously be disastrous.  I fully support Andy's work, and I recognize
> that he is the main driver in core Guile development.  His continued
> participation is crucial.  Still, we must guard against Guile becoming a
> one-man show if it can possibly be avoided.  Keeping GNU strong means,
> among other things, resolving our differences peacefully and working
> together to make Guile better.  That's what I intend to do.
>
> I hope that clarifies things.
>
>       Thanks,
>         Mark

I value your incredibly thoughtful comments, and elaboration of your
concerns.  I really hope you manage to come to an agreement that works
for all of you.

Best wishes,

Alex