#Debian was structured as a democracy of developers (maybe technically a platonic aristocracy, but it does not matter here).

Thanks to this, it got trust that turned it into a fundamental building block for #Linux users (most used distro are Debian derivatives).

Unfortunately, such trust also attracted commercial interest.

Now most of Debian Developers (just like most of #Linux kernel's devs) are corporate employees that would not be assigned to Debian development if they would oppose corporare interests.

So ultimately Debian cannot be trusted anymore: the vote on #LLM is just an evidence of this fact.

To people who use it since decades (I started with Potato because of its focus on #freedom), it's a pain.

Right now I'm slowly moving to #NetBSD.

@skjeggtroll@mastodon.online @freshstart@hachyderm.io @neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk

@giacomo @tiotasram @skjeggtroll @freshstart @neil

I wonder, why you say, that #Debian does not focus on #freedom and #stability anymore.

The only decision, that admittedly went away from #freeSoftware principles was the inclusion of #nonfree #firmware in the default installer. I'm OK with that.

The only thing not as #stable as it used to be, are the exemptions for Chromium, Firefox, and Thunderbird, i.e. allow new versions during stable. I don't like that, but can't change it.

FOSS Meetup in #London on Saturday was a success, we ultimately had 9 people attend that day.

That you so much to those who attended, and also those who helped with outreach. I am aiming to run another one sometime in October, but this time with more infrastructure.

Also again, thanks to the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) for managing to get the sticker package to us on short notice.

If anyone lives in/near #London and is passionate about #FOSS and #Freedom and would like to help build a community, please do reach out, the more the merrier.

Picture of the meetup attached, lots of stickers!

Alt...

Photo looking downwards onto a round wooden table in a pub environment, on which some pint glass es are visible (some empty, some half-full) as well as some FSFE informative leaflets and stickers. The table is surrounded by ~8 people, who are not visible in frame apart f rom some arms and legs, as the camera is looking down. One person's hand is reaching into the sticker pile. There are so many stickers sprawled over the table that they have taken over ~80% of the table. The stickers are loosely grouped into a few sections: the overwhelming majority are FSFE stickers, while nearer the camera there are also some w ith the logos of XMPP, Snikket and OMEMO.