[Info-vax] Key LLVM developer resigns

[Craig A. Berry]

On 5/5/18 10:58 AM, MG wrote:
> Op 5-mei-2018 om 16:44 schreef Craig A. Berry:
>> Software doesn't develop itself; it needs people.
>>
>> [...]
>>
>> That's actually a very good plan to "put development of LLVM first"
>> long-term.
> 
> They just lost the fifth most important developer.  Let that
> sink in for a moment.

If they have more than five key developers, they are in better shape
than a lot of open source projects. I did say there would be some
short-term harm, but who knows whether he'll stay away all that long.
It's pretty common for people to quit open source projects in some kind
of personal pique and then come back and be even more involved than
before. Or he can send patches to his friends if there is something he
is still interested in working on.

>> That's a pretty basic "don't be evil" guideline similar to what is found
>> in almost every workplace these days.
> 
> Did IBM, DEC, Apple, Microsoft, etc. ever need these 'guidelines' to
> get where they are now... and were these companies filled with "evil"
> people without such 'guidelines'?

I have no doubt there have been many pockets of abuse at all of those
places over the years; their technical and business successes in no way
disprove that, and certainly don't justify it. It used to depend on the
whim of individual managers, but all of those places that are still with
us will have much more formal and explicit standards of conduct now than
they used to have. The open source world is slowly catching up to the
corporate world in this regard.

>> By saying that he disagrees with this code of conduct, Avila de Espindola
>> is asserting his right to threaten with violence, personally attack,
>> sexually harass, or otherwise bully people with whom he disagrees. I'm
>> not saying he ever did any of these things, but since he'd rather quit
>> than lose his right to do so, they're better off without him.
> 
> Did you read the referenced articles in the original post?  If not,
> maybe you should, instead of engaging in what would technically
> potentially amount to libel.

I don't see how it could be libel if I'm just taking him at his word. I
read the full text of the resignation e-mail and the full text of the
code of conduct to which he objects. The code of conduct discourages
many kinds of discrimination and abuse, including on the basis of
political beliefs. He says that the code of conduct is itself against
his political beliefs. He's not very specific (and frankly not very
articulate) in explaining what he objects to, but clearly he's not
comfortable working in an environment where bad behavior might have
consequences or where his technical skills won't protect him from having
to act like a grown-up.
>> Apple will benefit from a larger and more inclusive development
>> community. Losing one prima donna, however talented, might do a
>> little short-term harm, but overall the decision to start acting
>> like grown-ups and expect other people to do the same is a good
>> sign for the project's continued success.
> 
> Rejoice and downplay it all you want.  But the fact remains: The
> fifth most important developer has left the project.
> 
> Does merit not mean anything anymore these days?

Of *course* merit is important, but it doesn't give anyone the right to
be a jerk. Also, when 90+ percent of the people whose merit we know
about all come from *one* demographic, something is terribly wrong with
how merit is identified and encouraged. It's nice to see the LLVM
project doing something about that.