The GNU Toolchain Infrastructure Project

[Mark Wielaard]

Hi Florian,

On Wed, Oct 12, 2022 at 03:18:55PM +0200, Florian Weimer wrote:
> * Mark Wielaard via Overseers:
> > And it is a about having a public discussion.
> >
> > - Sourceware roadmap discussions
> >   https://sourceware.org/pipermail/overseers/2022q2/018453.html
> >   https://sourceware.org/pipermail/overseers/2022q2/018529.html
> >   https://sourceware.org/pipermail/overseers/2022q3/018636.html
> >   https://sourceware.org/pipermail/overseers/2022q3/018716.html
> 
> Overseers was a hidden list until recently:
> 
> <https://web.archive.org/web/20220826033101/https://sourceware.org/mailman/listinfo>

Right, it wasn't advertised, but it was public:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220826033101/https://sourceware.org/mailman/listinfo/overseers

There were a couple of lists that were public, but not advertised,
which changed when we setup our public-inbox instance:
https://inbox.sourceware.org/overseers/YwJuV4e0I01sWxi0@wildebeest.org/

This was in part because we also handle account request on
overseers. It felt like a good idea to not make it easy for search
engines archive those. We now have a new (private, not archived)
account-requests list for that.

> I'm pointing this out to show how difficult it is to build public
> consensus.  You might think you are doing it, but the view from the
> outside is probably quite different.

Yes, I certainly see your point. But we did also post to the 20 most
active sourceware project lists about some proposals. And some of the
posts about the roadmap and the discussion about joining the
conservancy even made it to new sites like lwn:

Sourceware – GNU Toolchain Infrastructure roadmap
https://lwn.net/Articles/898655/
Sourceware seeking support from the Software Freedom Conservancy
https://lwn.net/Articles/906502/

And as the archives show we did publicly discuss things and actually
answered any questions people had:

- Joining Software Freedom Conservancy as member project proposal
  https://sourceware.org/pipermail/overseers/2022q3/018802.html
- Full Sourceware SFC application text
  https://sourceware.org/pipermail/overseers/2022q3/018804.html
- Public SFC video chat meeting notes
  https://sourceware.org/pipermail/overseers/2022q3/018837.html
- Cauldron discussion notes and chat logs
  https://sourceware.org/pipermail/overseers/2022q3/018849.html

I really liked some of these discussions. Hopefully in the future we
can do quarterly sourceware BBB video chats about any infrastructure
issues people/projects have.

Cheers,

Mark