GH e-mail correspondence
parent
508981884a
commit
380893a559
6
Makefile
6
Makefile
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@ -86,8 +86,10 @@ www-root: docs thoughts
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&& find . -maxdepth 2 -name '*.html' -exec ../tools/doc-cp {} ../www-root/{} \; \
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&& find . -maxdepth 3 \( -name '*.pdf' -o -name '*.dvi' \) -exec cp {} ../www-root/{} \; \
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)
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cp -r images/ www-root/
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cp style.css www-root/
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cp -rv images/ www-root/
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cp -v style.css www-root/
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mkdir -p www-root/docs
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cp -rv docs/gh/ www-root/docs/
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clean:
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rm -rf www-root/
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@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
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Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2014 12:30:09 -0400
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From: Mike Gerwitz <mikegerwitz@gnu.org>
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To: tom@github.com, chris@github.com, pj@github.com
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Cc: support@github.com
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Subject: Free GitHub's JavaScript
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Hello everyone,
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I'm part of the FSF's Free JavaScript Campaign[1], but I would like to be
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clear that I'm contacting you personally, not on their behalf. While the
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current focus of the campaign is reddit (for which I'm completing an audit),
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I would be pleased if we could work with GitHub as well in the future.
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GitHub is an extremely popular platform for free software developers and
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harbors a strong community that is very beneficial for free software
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collaboration and development. While GitHub does provide a flexible API, it
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is unfortunate that GitHub's website serves proprietary JavaScript, and many
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features do not work unless JavaScript is enabled.
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GitHub's competitive advantage is their service. Liberating the JavaScript
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served to the client will not impact that service---indeed, it would make it
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more available to free software users and it would demonstrate the power of
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and commitment to free software on GitHub's part; it would set an excellent
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example. If GitHub made that JavaScript available in a repository on GitHub,
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it would also open the door for contributors to improve upon the website;
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I'm sure they have many great ideas.
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Tom, you posted this back in 2011:[2]
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Ok, then what shouldn't I open source? That's easy. Don't open source
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anything that represents core business value.
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Much of what the JavaScript code does can be done via the API, or is simple
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DOM manipulation; if any of it represents a core business value, it can be
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moved to the server and the client-side JS can make an XHR.
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I would love to discuss this with you further; I look forward to a response
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that facilitates that discussion. I would be willing to aid in this process
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however I can. If you would prefer to talk to the campaigns team at the FSF
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instead of myself, I work closely with Zak, who can be reached at
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zak@fsf.org.
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[J]ust flip that switch on your GitHub repository from private to
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public and tell the world about your software.[2]
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Thanks for your time.
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[1]: https://fsf.org/campaigns/freejs
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[2]: http://tom.preston-werner.com/2011/11/22/open-source-everything.html
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Best regards,
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--
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Mike Gerwitz
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Free Software Hacker | GNU Maintainer
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http://mikegerwitz.com
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FSF Member #5804 | GPG Key ID: 0x8EE30EAB
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@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
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Date: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 16:45:02 -0700
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From: "[Name Removed] (GitHub Staff)" <support@github.com>
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To: Mike Gerwitz <mikegerwitz@gnu.org>
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Subject: Re: Free GitHub's JavaScript
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Hi Mike,
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Thanks for getting in touch with us here. Some of our internal projects are specific to running GitHub, and as such will probably remain closed. We do make an effort to open source projects that we create that we think would be beneficial to the community, some of which is JavaScript.
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You can see a list of some of the open source projects that power GitHub here:
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https://github.com/showcases/projects-that-power-github
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[Name Removed]
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JavaScript Developer
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GitHub
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@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
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Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2014 20:47:00 -0400
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From: Mike Gerwitz <mikegerwitz@gnu.org>
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To: "[Name Removed] (GitHub Staff)" <support@github.com>
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Subject: Re: Free GitHub's JavaScript
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Hey [Name Removed]; thank you for your reply.
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On Thu, Apr 03, 2014 at 04:45:02PM -0700, [Name Removed] (GitHub Staff) wrote:
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> Thanks for getting in touch with us here. Some of our internal projects
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> are specific to running GitHub, and as such will probably remain closed.
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Unfortunately, the code that I am referring to---the code that is served to
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the client---is not internal; it runs on the user's web browser, just as any
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other software. By visiting GitHub's website, users' web browsers download
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and execute proprietary JavaScript.
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And much of this JavaScript performs fairly trivial tasks---tasks that could
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conventionally be done without JavaScript:
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* Updating account/profile data;
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* Sending pull requests;
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* Forking, staring, and watching repositories;
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* Changing repository/organization settings;
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- Creating wiki pages;
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- The issue tracking system; and more.
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I would consider the starred ones above to be the most essential features of
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the website---it may be lacking, since I use GitHub with JavaScript
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disabled---that users should be permitted to do without being required to
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surrender their freedoms, especially on a website that should understand at
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a deep level the fundamental need for those freedoms (even if GitHub's
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philosophy does not coincide).
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So my question is this: would GitHub consider:
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(a) Permitting those functions to work without JavaScript enabled; and
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(b) Releasing the JavaScript---including any libraries used to perform
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those tasks---under a free software license of GitHub's choice?
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These features would be a great start.
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> We do make an effort to open source projects that we create that we think
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> would be beneficial to the community, some of which is JavaScript.
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And while I and many others do certainly appreciate that---some good free
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software projects have come out of GitHub---these are things that are
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*essential* to the community. Using GitHub's website with JavaScript enabled
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is no different than using any other proprietary software and is therefore
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very difficult for free software users to take full advantage of.
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The free software community and myself would appreciate a strong
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consideration on this topic.
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Thank you,
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--
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Mike Gerwitz
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Free Software Hacker | GNU Maintainer
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http://mikegerwitz.com
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FSF Member #5804 | GPG Key ID: 0x8EE30EAB
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@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
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Date: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 21:23:33 -0400
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From: Mike Gerwitz <mikegerwitz@gnu.org>
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To: tom@github.com, chris@github.com, pj@github.com
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Subject: [mikegerwitz@gnu.org: Re: Free GitHub's JavaScript]
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Tom/Chris/PJ,
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I did not receive a reply from [Name Removed], nor do I know if he has the
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authority to speak on these matters. I would appreciate a formal reply from
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GitHub that I can forward on to the FSF campaigns team to determine if this
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is something we can pursue.
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Please note that I wish to help make GitHub more accessible to all members
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of the free software community---members that GitHub targets by encouraging
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the hosting of free software, while at the same time serving up proprietary
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JavaScript.
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----- Forwarded message from Mike Gerwitz <mikegerwitz@gnu.org> -----
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Date: Thu, 3 Apr 2014 20:47:00 -0400
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=46rom: Mike Gerwitz <mikegerwitz@gnu.org>
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To: "[Name Removed] (GitHub Staff)" <support@github.com>
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Subject: Re: Free GitHub's JavaScript
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X-URL: http://mikegerwitz.com
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User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15)
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Hey [Name Removed]; thank you for your reply.
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On Thu, Apr 03, 2014 at 04:45:02PM -0700, [Name Removed] (GitHub Staff) wrote:
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> Thanks for getting in touch with us here. Some of our internal projects
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> are specific to running GitHub, and as such will probably remain closed.
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|
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Unfortunately, the code that I am referring to---the code that is served to
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the client---is not internal; it runs on the user's web browser, just as any
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other software. By visiting GitHub's website, users' web browsers download
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and execute proprietary JavaScript.
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|
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And much of this JavaScript performs fairly trivial tasks---tasks that could
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conventionally be done without JavaScript:
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* Updating account/profile data;
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* Sending pull requests;
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* Forking, staring, and watching repositories;
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* Changing repository/organization settings;
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- Creating wiki pages;
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- The issue tracking system; and more.
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|
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I would consider the starred ones above to be the most essential features of
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the website---it may be lacking, since I use GitHub with JavaScript
|
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disabled---that users should be permitted to do without being required to
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surrender their freedoms, especially on a website that should understand at
|
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a deep level the fundamental need for those freedoms (even if GitHub's
|
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philosophy does not coincide).
|
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|
||||
|
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So my question is this: would GitHub consider:
|
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|
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(a) Permitting those functions to work without JavaScript enabled; and
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(b) Releasing the JavaScript---including any libraries used to perform
|
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those tasks---under a free software license of GitHub's choice?
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|
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These features would be a great start.
|
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|
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> We do make an effort to open source projects that we create that we think
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> would be beneficial to the community, some of which is JavaScript.
|
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|
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And while I and many others do certainly appreciate that---some good free
|
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software projects have come out of GitHub---these are things that are
|
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*essential* to the community. Using GitHub's website with JavaScript enabled
|
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is no different than using any other proprietary software and is therefore
|
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very difficult for free software users to take full advantage of.
|
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|
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The free software community and myself would appreciate a strong
|
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consideration on this topic.
|
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|
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Thank you,
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|
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--
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Mike Gerwitz
|
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Free Software Hacker | GNU Maintainer
|
||||
http://mikegerwitz.com
|
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FSF Member #5804 | GPG Key ID: 0x8EE30EAB
|
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|
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----- End forwarded message -----
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--
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Mike Gerwitz
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Free Software Hacker | GNU Maintainer
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http://mikegerwitz.com
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FSF Member #5804 | GPG Key ID: 0x8EE30EAB
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|
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@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
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From: Chris Wanstrath <chris@github.com>
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Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 15:24:28 -0700
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Subject: Re: [mikegerwitz@gnu.org: Re: Free GitHub's JavaScript]
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To: Mike Gerwitz <mikegerwitz@gnu.org>
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Cc: Tom Preston-Werner <tom@github.com>, PJ Hyett <pj@github.com>
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Hey Mike,
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We have no plans to release github.com's JavaScript as free software at
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this time, nor do we have plans to remove the site's dependence on
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JavaScript. Thanks for the interest.
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@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
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#!/bin/bash
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# Formatter for `thoughts'
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#
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# Copyright (C) 2014 Mike Gerwitz
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# Copyright (C) 2014, 2015 Mike Gerwitz
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#
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# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
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# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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|
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Loading…
Reference in New Issue