[Foundation-l] Software Policy Draft

[Tim Starling]

Thomas Dalton wrote:
>> Seems like instruction creep to me. Why do we need such a policy? Have
>> there been any challenges to these principles lately? Are there likely to be?
> 
> There seems to be a desire by the board to put things in writing.
> There are some benefits to this. While the community knows what our
> values are (since they are our values), we would never do anything
> against this policy. However, the staff at WMF aren't necessarily
> members of the community with the same values we have - their job is
> to do what the board tells them, we can't and shouldn't assume they
> know what we want instinctively. These policies are how the board
> guides the staff.

The technical staff have ample experience with the values of the community.

> Even if we could assume the staff are psychic, there are still
> problems with unwritten rules. When an unwritten rule conflicts with a
> written one, the written one will always take priority, regardless of
> which is more important. We can't really function with nothing in
> writing, so it's necessary to put everything in writing.

The problem comes when a vague written policy such as this one could be 
read in a way that conflicts with the core principles of the Foundation. 
The Foundation's mission is education; promotion of free software is 
secondary to that.

-- Tim Starling