Xlibre [LWN.net]

Xlibre

Posted Jun 12, 2025 7:25 UTC (Thu) by daenzer (subscriber, #7050)
In reply to: Xlibre by pizza
Parent article: Ubuntu 25.10 to drop support for GNOME on Xorg

> The reason for this fork is that its creator was banned from further commits to the main xorg repo due to repeatedly submitting PRs that introduced pretty serious regressions -- of the sort that would have been prevented had the code been even _run_ once.

That’s not quite accurate. He was banned from gitlab.freedesktop.org as a whole for violating the corresponding CoC, not for the low quality of his xserver MRs.

(As a member of the xserver project, I do wish the project itself had stood firmer against his flood of mostly-churn MRs though)

to post comments

Xlibre

Posted Jun 12, 2025 19:46 UTC (Thu) by linuxrocks123 (subscriber, #34648) [Link] (7 responses)

Any details on this? He clearly has some weird and disturbing political views, but did he actually _do_ anything, or is this a thoughtcrime situation?

Xlibre

Posted Jun 13, 2025 0:45 UTC (Fri) by daenzer (subscriber, #7050) [Link] (6 responses)

I don’t know any more details than you. The reasons for CoC action are generally not shared publicly.

The freedesktop.org CoC committee generally bans users only after multiple infractions and unfruitful mediation attempts, so he most certainly has „done something“ though.

Xlibre

Posted Jun 13, 2025 9:35 UTC (Fri) by paulj (subscriber, #341) [Link] (5 responses)

"Justice must be done, and must be seen to be done".

Behind closed door enforcement may be problematic.

Xlibre

Posted Jun 13, 2025 10:42 UTC (Fri) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link] (4 responses)

> Behind closed door enforcement may be problematic.

Open enforcement may be problematic.

Damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

Especially given that - in many cases - SWIFT enforcement may be necessary to protect the victims, and sometimes that can harm the perpetrators more than necessary. That sentiment has been expressed in these comments. And as a gentoo user I get the impression the project was seriously harmed (a good few years back) because some "bad actors" weren't dealt with quickly.

If you're in a position where you need to say "stop this NOW!", the last thing you need is a load of public bike-shedding. At the end of the day, you need a BDFL who you trust really is B. I don't think I'd do a particularly good job, but I like PJ's definition she used for Groklaw. "If I wouldn't have it in my living room, I won't have it on Groklaw". Simple, clear (pretty much), and there's no comeback.

Cheers,
Wol

Xlibre

Posted Jun 13, 2025 10:52 UTC (Fri) by paulj (subscriber, #341) [Link] (3 responses)

Didn't say it had to be slow, or had to be by committee or vote. It should be stated what for and why though, should it not?

Xlibre

Posted Jun 13, 2025 12:41 UTC (Fri) by daroc (editor, #160859) [Link] (2 responses)

While I agree that public decision-making is important for good community-building, I think this thread is wandering increasingly off topic. Let's leave it here.

Xlibre

Posted Jun 13, 2025 14:14 UTC (Fri) by paulj (subscriber, #341) [Link] (1 responses)

Course. I think at some point it could be useful to have an article in and around this topic, if there is some appropriate news to thread it around. There have been a number of cases of CoC enforcements that you've reported on where the grounds and process has been murky (and acknowledged as such in at least 1 case I think). Some way to distill the meta issue of "Justice should be /seen/ to be done" out of the various individual cases and see what different approaches there have been and pros/cons, might be useful. Comments will be fun too I'm sure. ;)

Xlibre

Posted Jun 23, 2025 13:32 UTC (Mon) by Wildfurangelplumes (guest, #177995) [Link]

I get the push for transparency, but projects like freedesktop.org aren't democracies. They're run by maintainers who have the right to manage their space, and that includes enforcing CoCs without turning it into a public spectacle. IMO open source doesn't mean every decision needs community consensus, behind-closed-doors processes are often the only way to avoid bikeshedding and harassment. As for Xlibre, the fork isn't the problem in itself. It's the fact that it breaks compatibility and the dev has a history of publicly toxic behavior, including anti-DEI rhetoric. You can fork, sure. But people are also allowed to say "no thanks."