58 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
58 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
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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