MESSAGE
DATE | 2020-02-29 |
FROM | aviva
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SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Shannon Dosemagen and the FSF
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Hello
I wanted to voice my concern about the direction the the Free Software Foundation has recently taken. It seems that it has, with out warrant, moved past its initial mandate and adapting a more radicalized political stance that drives away large segments of the population from the mission of promoting Free Software.
Recently, the FSF has announced having Shannon Dosemagen as a keynote speaker at libreplanet. Shannon is in no way a representative of the Free Software movement, and represents an organization, Publiclab, centered on concerns for environmental activism. The two missions are not continuous or even similar. Most disconcerting, is that Publiclab has a number of efforts that obstruct the principles of Free Software, and is selective and not open liberal in who it allows to participate. It is a radical organization that ostracizes anyone who doesn't believe in it's principles, and has a chilling effect on public discourse.
Specifically, Publiclab has an extremely authoritarian code of conduct which is published below. The code of conduct refuses participation of anyone who disagrees with the organizations principles, without even due process. In doing so, it discourages large groups of participants from any educational or communal benefits of its efforts. This is not the free software philosophy, and is a dangerous authoritarian trend among those who perceive that they are fighting for social justice.
Since Publiclab fails to be in either the domain of Free Software, and encourages authoritarian politics, it would be best for the FSF to separate its association from Shannon Dosemagen and Publiclab. Even though Publiclab proclaims that it uses techniques inspired by the Four Freedoms devised by Richard Stallman, it fails to actually apply them. Instead it largely operates like proprietary software, restricting access to resources to individuals unless they proclaim political loyalty to specific causes.
Thank You
Aviva
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https://publiclab.org/conduct
Public Lab Code of Conduct
Public Lab, 3014 Dauphine Street, Suite E. New Orleans, LA 70117
We are coming together with an intent to care for ourselves and one another as we produce knowledge in pursuit of environmental justice. For this to work for everybody, individual decisions will not be allowed to run counter to the welfare of other people. We—visitors, community members, community moderators, staff, organizers, sponsors, and all others—hold ourselves accountable to the same values regardless of position or experience. This community aspires to be a respectful place both during online and in-person interactions so that all people are able to fully participate with their dignity intact. This document is a piece of the culture we're creating.
This code of conduct applies to all spaces managed by the Public Lab community and non-profit, both online and in person. It provides a clear set of practical guidelines for events led by organizers and community members, multi-day events such as Barnraisings, and online venues such as the website, comment threads on software platforms, chatrooms, our mailing lists, the issue tracker, and any other forums created by Public Lab which the community uses for communication. For interactions with additional groups, see our Partnership Guidelines at publiclab.org/partners. We come from all kinds of backgrounds
Our community is best when we fully invite and include participants from a wide range of backgrounds. We specifically design spaces to be welcoming and accessible to newcomers and folks from underrepresented groups. Public Lab is dedicated to providing a harassment-free, safe, and inclusive experience for everyone, regardless of personal and professional background, gender, gender identity and expression, style of clothing, sexual orientation, dis-/ability, physical appearance, body size, race, class, age, or religion. Public Lab resists and rejects: racism, sexism, ableism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia, body shaming, religion shaming, “geekier-than-thou” shaming, education bias, the shaming of people nursing children, and the dismissal or bullying of children or adults. We do not tolerate harassment or shaming
While we operate under the assumption that all people involved with Public Lab subscribe to the basic understanding laid out above, we take these issues very seriously and think they should, in general, be taken seriously. Therefore, individuals who violate this Code both in and outside of Public Lab spaces may affect their ability to participate in Public Lab ranging from temporarily being placed into online moderation to, as a last resort, expulsion from the community. If you have any questions about our commitment to this framework and/or if you are unsure about aspects of it, email conduct-at-publiclab.org and we will do our best to provide clarification. How It Works
Sometimes things go wrong. When a situation is uncomfortable, hurtful, exclusionary, or upsetting, there is a problem that should be addressed. This code of conduct is an effort to maintain a safe space for everyone, and to talk about what might happen if that space is compromised. There are additional guidelines below for community behavior on how we expect people to interact with one another. Two helpful groups
Conduct Committee (ConductCom): If at any time you experience something that you are not comfortable with, you may contact the Conduct Committee.
For the [event name] in Month YYYY, in person Conduct Committee members are:
[Firstname Lastname] [Firstname Lastname] [Firstname Lastname] [Firstname Lastname]
If you would like to have a confidential conversation, meet with ConductCom in person or send email to conduct-at-publiclab.org. A minimum of two committee members will confer and respond as swiftly as possible. If you would prefer to speak privately with a representative of the nonprofit, please contact the executive director Shannon Dosemagen directly either in person or by email: shannon-at-publiclab.org.
To submit a report anonymously for review by ConductCom, click the button at the top of this page to view the reporting form. The form will be monitored daily at 8am CST during in-person events like Barnraisings and weekly at all other times. During multi-day in-person events hosted by the Public Lab non-profit, there will also be a physical suggestion box available. This box will be monitored throughout the event and can also be used to let us know if you need us to check on an anonymous online submission sooner.
NOTE: ConductCom is not open to self-appointment. The committee lead is responsible for posting job roles and interviewing to fill roles, with attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion. At time of writing, the lead is Liz Barry.
Moderators Group: The moderators group is responsible for addressing immediate moderation issues that arise during online violations of the code over email lists and Public Lab community websites, as well as approving first-time posts and generally handling spam. Instructions on how to become a moderator, and, if you’ve been placed in moderation how to begin the process of getting out of moderation can be found at: https://publiclab.org/wiki/moderation.
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