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This is what the Linux Foundation does now
SiliconWizard:
https://www.linuxfoundation.org/supporters-of-chromium-based-browsers
:-DD
Nominal Animal:
When a human organization reaches a sufficient size, it will inevitably shift its focus towards ensuring its own survival.
In animals, apoptosis balances this out (failure leading to tumours), but us humans aren't intelligent enough –– or rather, cannot think long term enough, not any more at least –– to apply that to the organizations we ourselves are part of.
(Which is why Ron Swanson of the Parks and Recreation comedy series really is superhuman.)
It is also partially why investors tend to increase their estimates of a company when it shrugs off excess workforce.
Marco:
--- Quote from: SiliconWizard on January 11, 2025, 01:51:01 am ---https://www.linuxfoundation.org/supporters-of-chromium-based-browsers
--- End quote ---
To be fair, in between datamining its users Google has retained a lot of commitment to open source development. There is nothing inherently wrong with Chromium except the source of the money funding it and what can happen if Google just decides to stop contributing.
On the other hand, Firefox has been funded by the same money ... and running into the problem of what to do when Google decides to stop contributing. They should have gotten an engineer CEO with a 10x lower salary, put most of the Google money into a trust fund, then they could have funded the Firefox developers forever.
--- Quote from: Nominal Animal on January 11, 2025, 08:21:16 am ---When a human organization reaches a sufficient size, it will inevitably shift its focus towards ensuring its own survival.
--- End quote ---
That happens to companies and departments, but that's not really what happens to non profits. Most large non profits become enrichment schemes for friends of the board. They spend money like water, because the more money flows the more money can be diverted to friends with plausible deniability. Only a few avoid that fate. Either because leadership refreshes very often, it's intensely democratic, or it's intensely religious.
Nominal Animal:
--- Quote from: Marco on January 11, 2025, 02:23:13 pm ---
--- Quote from: Nominal Animal on January 11, 2025, 08:21:16 am ---When a human organization reaches a sufficient size, it will inevitably shift its focus towards ensuring its own survival.
--- End quote ---
That happens to companies and departments, but that's not really what happens to non profits. Most non profits become enrichment schemes for friends of the board.
--- End quote ---
To be fair, companies also fall prey to their executives' personal enrichment schemes, unless there are brutal measurements in place to stop it. For example, shareholder lawsuits, and shareholders willing to pursue them. Of course, no such tools exist for nonprofits, except perhaps the occasional tax audit.
SiliconWizard:
--- Quote from: Nominal Animal on January 11, 2025, 08:21:16 am ---When a human organization reaches a sufficient size, it will inevitably shift its focus towards ensuring its own survival.
--- End quote ---
Yes, but whether this actually ensures its own survival other than short-term can be dubious.
Regarding the Linux Foundation, this is no surprise per se, their financial reports show that they only spend about 3% for the Linux Kernel development.
So what becomes interesting is what they spend the rest of the money on, and here is one example. There's a bunch of even weirder stuff for sure, just have a look at their last report.
But I don't think that promoting Chromium, which already has over 90% of market share worldwide, is a good idea or even the role of the Linux Foundation, even if it's technically open-source.
That shows a fundamental problem with the viability of independent open-source software - and sure enough, there is Mozilla and many other similar foundations. Large software projects need large teams and large budgets to survive, open-source or not. And yes, as soon as an organization reaches a certain size, non-profit or for-profit alike, money and otherwise interests completely outside of the object of the project itself start to become prominent.
I have no real solution to that. I can just watch and laugh, or cry.
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