The concept of FOSS Without a doubt, he is one of those who promote development through the support of others, and we can see this when a development application generates a community that works for a common good. But Not everything is rosy, since the problems are not something that free software does not know about since even here on the blog we have come to touch on the issue of claims of abuse that free software suffers.
Linux is no exception to this and not because other projects are being abused, but problems also tend to arise between developers, some of them very well known, even among the Kernel developers themselves and the reason for talking about it is that recently Eelco Dolstra, author of the Nix package manager, announced his resignation as head of the board of directors of the NixOS Foundation.
It is argued that the reason of this was due to emergence of such a toxic culture, that threatens the viability of the project and is It was attributed to Eelco's behavioral pattern. Dolstra, as he undermined the authority of other participants, refused to delegate authority to others, ignored community problems, and had conflicts of interest (for example, grievances over the lack of support for representatives of marginalized groups, as well as suspected of promoting the interests of Determinate Systems, of which he is a co-founder).
In addition to it, also is accused of pressuring the remaining board members and the development team to reverse certain decisions. For example, after reaching a consensus on the community's ability to veto NixCon sponsors, Eelco Dolstra, being the sole dissenter, initiated a re-examination of this issue.
Other examples of abuse of power are also mentioned, such as overriding decisions that should be made together, including Dolstra's refusal to grant code review rights to long-standing contributors and blocking an RFC-agreed change in the build system. It is also mentioned that due to unregulated power, the moderation team feels powerless and fears that their authority could be undermined by Dolstra's actions.
The decision to resign from Eelco was made after the publication of an open letter collective criticizing all these actions and also citing fears for the future of Nix and NixOS. The letter was originally published by anonymous authors, but after its publication, 160 people signed it.
The letter states that the project has reached a turning point, after which further inaction could lead to a loss of trust, the cessation of business support, the departure of some participants, as well as the disintegration of the most active core of the community and the collapse of the moderation team, in addition to the signatories of the letter They expressed their willingness to support the bifurcation of the project if Eelcoo Dolstra does not resign.
The published open letter cites a leadership crisis on the project and the current administration's failure to adequately respond to community concerns, which has resulted in these issues remaining unresolved for years. In particular, leadership fails to establish and uphold the values ​​to which the community must adhere, nor to hold members accountable for their misbehavior. According to the authors of the open letter, a toxic culture has developed in the community and the leadership of the NixOS Foundation is inactive and doing nothing to eradicate it.
In response to the open letter, Eelco Dolstra issued a statement explaining that in recent years it has had little involvement in the management of Nixpkgs and NixOS, and that it has ceded control to other members of the community, over whom it has no further influence. than any other active member. Formally, he has no more powers than other members of the NixOS Foundation board, and since January he is not a member of the committee that accepts RFCs. Furthermore, he emphasized that the community is self-organized and is not controlled or managed in any way by the NixOS Foundation.
After reviewing the open letter, the NixOS Foundation board of directors announced a meeting within 14 days to formulate a new project governance structure, subordinate to the community and aimed at meeting its needs. Once the new structure is created, members of the current governing council, which includes Eelco and four other members, will transfer their powers to the new entity. This project management transformation process will be public and accessible to all participants.
Source: https://discourse.nixos.org/