Hey, Firstly, I will highlight the need for keeping this discussion calm, as this has a political nature it is a giant ticking timebomb and likely will cause a flame war. That being said, it is a legitimate discussion which needs to be had, so lets keep this calm :D
Disclaimer, I am neither for or against xlibre, the following argument is based on principle. > I am writing to request the removal of XLibre-related PKGBUILDs from > the AUR on the grounds that they violate the Arch Linux Code of > Conduct. > > As the community is likely aware, the Arch Linux wiki pages related to > XLibre were recently removed precisely because the project and its > associated content were deemed inconsistent with the Code of Conduct. > Similarly, references to unofficial user repositories promoting > XLibre have been taken down for the same reason. Alright I feel it is important to clarify the foundations to this argument. I think we can all agree a code of conduct for a project is there to ensure that everyone feels welcome, and is not excluded. With that being defined we can then derive the scope of the code of conduct would be for DIRECT involvement in the community, as otherwise the Arch team would be moderating every open source project which it packages. Why does this differentiation matter? The removal of xlibre from ArchWiki, and the request to remove xlibre from the AUR falls outside the scope of the project code of conduct as xlibre is not directly involved with Arch Linux. I would see the justification to ban xlibre contributors from the ML/IRC, but removing their software or refusing to allow documentation for it is intervening in the business of a third party project. For those who are calling for xlibre to be removed, I will remind you that there is many software which would technically violate the arch CoC. Hyprland notably has been accused of transphobia, yet its ArchWiki page, and package has not been touched. Double standards eh? What about Discord, a proprietary platform which goes against what Arch Linux stands for, should we then remove all the proprietary software, or software from developers with controversial views? This spread to the forums, which was quickly moderated. This highlights the selective enforcement of the CoC, and the major reason I avoid the Arch community these days, despite still using Arch to some extent. You can not enforce one set of rules on xlibre, and then let other projects violate those rules but because they are less controversial give them a free pass. The reason we all use Linux is freedom, the freedom to choose what software we want to run. Some people choose to run Discord, and despite my hatred for the platform, I would never call for Discord's package or ArchWiki page to be removed (although a non-free repo would be nice :p). If someone wants to run xlibre, they should be able to, whether you agree or disagree with their politics, its quite frankly none of your business as its not directly involved within the arch community. > Ok, they use some novax words, but also Torvalds told "nVidia > f*ck you" + the several harassment in linux mailing list, so should we > also remove linux kernel for the same reason? Yet another example of how it is infeasible to police the speech of every developer which Arch Linux packages their software, or documents their software. I hope this helps highlight how ridiculous this whole thing is, and also I am once again disappointed that any dissent with the actions of Arch staff quickly results in moderation. Take care, -- Polarian Jabber/XMPP: [email protected]
