During the last days the open source world has been on the move due to Richard Stallman's announcement of his return to the FSF which thousands of people have raised their voices so that he can be expelled of the organization he created and of which he has been a symbol for decades. In fact, following the reaction of the Open Source Initiative (OSI), hundreds of free software supporters signed an open letter asking the founder of the Free Movement to give back his apron, but also the entire free software council.
While on the other hand, thousands of people have expressed their unconditional support and they are organizing to make the Free Software Foundation resist the pressure.
This is only the view on the part of those who support and are found, but also the fact that RMS has returned to the FSF has set a series of precedents not only within the structure of the FSF but also in various communities and organizations.
And such is the case of John Sullivan who recently announced his resignation as CEO of the Free Software Foundation, it occupies since 2011 (the details of the transition period and details of the transfer of control to the new director that John promised to publish in the next few days).
After 18 years at the Free Software Foundation, I have decided to resign my position as CEO, effective at the end of a transition period. We'll share more details, including information on that transition, and a few more words, in the coming days. It has been a great honor to serve this institution and to work alongside FSF staff, members and volunteers throughout the years. The current staff deserve your full trust and support; they certainly have mine.
It is only noted that the STR Foundation staff are completely trustworthy and it has been an honor to serve the Foundation and work together with its employees, members and volunteers.
At the same time, Kat Walsh, abogada who participated in the creation of the Creative Commons 4.0 license, he was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation and of the governing council of the Xiph.org Foundation, was announced to leave the Board of Directors of the Free Open Source Foundation.
Kat pointed out that leaving should not be construed as an abandonment of free software ideas. Taking the step came from a long and difficult understanding that the role you played in the organization is no longer the best way to promote open source software to the world. Kat believes that the Free Software Foundation needs changes to fix existing problems, but she is not the person who could implement these changes.
Also another of the changes that were generated is that in accordance with the process proposed above to change the governance of the STR Foundation, Geoffrey knauth, President of the STR Foundation, announced the incorporation of a new voting member to the Board of Directors to represent the views of the staff and was selected by the STR Foundation. The council hired a system administrator Ian Kelling.
This is an important step in the FSF's effort to recognize and support new leadership, connect that leadership with the community, improve transparency and accountability, and build trust. There is still much work to be done, and that work will continue.
I have always known that the FSF has a good, hard-working staff, but with the success of LibrePlanet 2021, and speaking to staff during the controversy that developed immediately afterwards, I have no doubt that it is critical to involve staff much more in the decisions. -Realization and strategic discussions. The advice they have offered in the last week alone has been invaluable. I sincerely believe that this step to improve the governance of the FSF will lead to better results in the future.
Furthermore, it can be seen that the number of those who signed the letter in support of Stallman significantly exceeded the number of those who signed the letter against - 3693 signed for Stallman, against - 2811.
Sources: https://www.fsf.org