I find it sad and very anti-democratic that they blocked my post, which is polite and respectful. The reply of the moderator was moreover rude: “Instead of starting useless drama here, seemingly in search of magic validation points” and “Go and protest somewhere else, to the people that can actually do something about it.”
Here’s my polite open letter:
I have been happily using KDE software, and especially the Kubuntu Linux distro, Plasma, and Dolphin, for almost a decade, on several devices. Of course I’m also a regular donor and affectionate follower.
It seems that more and more software developers in the Linux and FOSS ecosystem want to implement changes to comply with various age-verification laws. I understand that for the KDE developers and maintainers it might be a difficult decision whether to make this kind of changes or not. They have to consider “legal” aspects, collaboration with other developers, and, possibly, also what their user base think. What to weigh in, and how much weight to give to what, is of course up to the maintainers and developers.
I respect the choice that will be made by KDE. But I also want to make clear, in a respectful and polite way, that if such changes are implemented in KDE software and the Kubuntu distro, then I’ll move away from them, to other software and distros that do not comply (there already are some and I’m sure there’ll be plenty more).
“Well, who cares?” might the KDE people justly say. Partly I’m writing this open letter out of a feeling of friendship. It’s somehow like when you discover that a dear friend might have values very different from yours, so you have to break your no-longer-meaningful friendship, but you also feel you have to explain to your friend why, rather than going away silently. I also believe that many other KDE users think like I do, so this message does not come from me alone.
For me GNU Linux and FOSS is not only a choice about software: it’s also a choice about human values, human rights, and moral stances. These laws, besides being pointless, cross a threshold about human rights and values that I personally do not and will not allow (if this makes me a “criminal” in the egregious company of “criminals” like Claudette Colvin or King or Mandela, so be it). I want therefore to use software that also makes a similar choice, based not only on what’s “legal” but also on what’s “moral”. Besides appeals to politicians, marches of protests, strikes, and similar, also software choice is a form of protest and non-compliance; a stance.
I’m sorry you feel this way, but again you are barking up the wrong tree as we can’t do anything about it… except what you can do too: protest to the people who want to impose this upon us.
Bringing this issue up here or on Discuss is pointless: We know, we are aware, we are against it, we don’t want it, we realise there are ulterior motives from corrupt actors, and we will do what we can to oppose them.
But this, posting to Discuss, complaining about KDE being indifferent here (which it isn’t) is probably the most unproductive thing you could. You are tying up resources of volunteers who are already on your side. Like you say organising a protest, writing to the powers-that-be, educating your local/state/national representative, all these thing help.
But this just consuming volunteers’ time up in moderating a potential flamewar on a topic that we (and I would argue everybody else here) already knows about.
I don’t think it’s unproductive at all. Positive changes and resistance to negative changes are caused by many, extremely different and complex factors, one of which is voiced discontent at all levels. It’s a chain of pressures. Some elements press on other elements which are not the final target, but this pressure makes them in turn exert even more pressure closer to the target. Without such internal pressures, positive changes may fail. History shows examples over and over (a good read is the historian Barzun’s From Dawn to Decadence). I’m sure that if it wasn’t me posting stuff like this, it’d be someone else, and maybe sharing a much less polite post.
Also, I think that this kind of moderation ends up giving a very false picture on the forums, as if everyone discussing there doesn’t really mind about the topic.
I think developers can do something about it. They don’t want to, maybe for obvious reasons, and I respect their choice. But there is a choice.
Can you point me to the… what? Survey? you are getting this information from? What are we talking here? 90%+ of all FLOSS developers?
I ask because it is usually quite hard to get FLOSS developers to all agree on anything. I am surprised you got a monolithic response to such a controversial topic.
Narrator: They didn’t have a source.