Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2017 13:31:13 -0800 From: Benno Rice <benno@FreeBSD.org> To: freebsd-arch@freebsd.org, freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Conclusion of fortune(6) discussion Message-ID: <1512509473.1313677.1195210352.2DC7580C@webmail.messagingengine.com>
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Hi all, First up I=E2=80=99d like to apologize for the length of time between my fi= rst email and this. I wanted to wait for the various discussions to play out somewhat and then I had a conference I needed to prep for. I should=E2=80= =99ve worked the timing around that better. So now that the dust has settled somewhat, I feel that the consensus decision is for fortune to remain in base along with freebsd-tips. Some points I=E2=80=99d like to make based on the discussion: Firstly, there were a number of suggestions that removing fortune et al from base is some form of complete deletion. It=E2=80=99s not. It=E2=80=99s= merely that FreeBSD stops distributing it as part of our releases. The code is still available in our Subversion history. Nothing in what I was proposing precluded creating a port. I will however admit that not mentioning a port at all left that unclear. Which brings me to point number two: My discussion was about base, not ports. It=E2=80=99s my firm belief that if I propose removing code from bas= e the onus shouldn=E2=80=99t be on me to create and thus, under the rules governi= ng ports, become the maintainer of a port for a piece of code I have no interest in maintaining. That=E2=80=99s not fair to anyone involved. There= =E2=80=99ve been ongoing efforts to streamline and slim down base. fortune seemed like an obvious thing to move out. There should absolutely be a discussion whenever anyone proposes moving code out of base and that should absolutely leave the option open for that code to move to ports. If a port is created though it should be done by someone with an interest in maintaining the code. And my final point: This was never about political correctness. I am not apologizing for making this move without discussion as any discussion would=E2=80=99ve turned out exactly like the threads that showed up. There = would have been no consensus. There would have been accusations of bias, bad faith and pointless bickering from all directions. The difference to me is that by removing these files from base we never have to have this argument again. If we kept the file we would=E2=80=99ve potentially had this discussion every time the file was touched or looked at by a new pair of eyes. I acknowledge the history that the fortune files embody but we=E2=80= =99re not living in that history any more. We=E2=80=99re living now. The world in= 2017 is not the world in 1987 or the world in 1997. Like it or not we live in a world where there is more expectation on everyone to acknowledge that what is funny to them may be offensive to others and that the nature of that offense may not be immediately obvious. Like I said in another post FreeBSD is an operating system, not an encyclopedia. There are far better projects for collecting humour, quotes, and history than ours. We should let ourselves focus on what we=E2=80=99re good at. Thanks, Benno.
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