[no subject]

There's no simple solution to this. For the project to move forward, one or 
the other of the warring philosophies must win out; either the project 
returns to its laid-back roots and gets on with the work, or it transforms 
into a super-organised engineering project and executes a brilliant plan to 
deliver what, ultimately, we all know we want.

Whatever path is chosen, whatever balance is struck, the choosing and the 
striking are the important parts. The current indecision and endless 
conflict are incompatible with any sort of progress.

Trying to dissect the above is far beyond the scope of any parting shot, no 
matter how distended. All I can really ask of you all is to let go of the 
minutiae for a moment and take a look at the big picture. What is the 
ultimate goal here? How can we get there with as little overhead as 
possible? How would you like to be treated by your fellow travellers?

Shouts

To the Slashdot "BSD is dying" crowd - big deal. Death is part of the cycle; 
take a look at your soft, pallid bodies and consider that right this very 
moment, parts of you are dying. See? It's not so bad.

To the bulk of the FreeBSD committerbase and the developer community at 
large - keep your eyes on the real goals. It's when you get distracted by 
the politickers that they sideline you. The tireless work that you perform 
keeping the system clean and building is what provides the platform for the 
obsessives and the prima donnas to have their moments in the sun. In the 
end, we need you all; in order to go forwards we must first avoid going 
backwards.

To the paranoid conspiracy theorists - yes, I work for Apple too. No, my 
resignation wasn't on Steve's direct orders, or in any way related to work 
I'm doing, may do, may not do, or indeed what was in the tea I had at 
lunchtime today. It's about real problems that the project faces, real 
problems that the project has brought upon itself. You can't escape them by 
inventing excuses about outside influence, the problem stems from within.

To the politically obsessed - give it a break, if you can. No, the project 
isn't a lemonade stand anymore, but it's not a world-spanning corporate 
juggernaut either and some of the more grandiose visions going around are in 
need of a solid dose of reality. Keep it simple, stupid.

To the grandstanders, the prima donnas, and anyone that thinks that they can 
hold the project to ransom for their own agenda - give it a break, if you 
can. When the current core were elected, we took a conscious stand against 
vigorous sanctions, and some of you have exploited that. A new core is going 
to have to decide whether to repeat this mistake or get tough. I hope they 
learn from our errors.

Future

I started work on FreeBSD because it was fun. If I'm going to continue, it 
has to be fun again. There are things I still feel obligated to do, and with 
any luck I'll find the time to meet those obligations.

However I don't feel an obligation to get involved in the political mess the 
project is in right now. I tried, I burnt out. I don't feel that my efforts 
were worthwhile. So I won't be standing for election, I won't be shouting 
from the sidelines, and I probably won't vote in the next round of ballots.

You could say I'm packing up my toys. I'm not going home just yet, but I'm 
not going to play unless you can work out how to make the project somewhere 
fun to be again.

= Mike

--
To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are 
to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and 
servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. -- Theodore 
Roosevelt

FreeBSD is dying



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