Re: salsa.debian.org maintenance (GitLab 11.1.4 upgrade, external storage migration)
On 08/17/2018 04:11 PM, Wouter Verhelst wrote:
> But if we're going to
> be using an external cloud provider for such things, then it doesn't
> matter whether that external cloud provider runs a free software cloud
> implementation or a proprietary one, since we wouldn't have any of the
> benefits of the free software implementation anyway. In that background,
> it makes much more sense to use free software which can talk to multiple
> cloud storage implementations; that gives us the ability to move from
> one cloud provider to another by simply copying some data followed by
> the flick of a switch (or "just" that flick, if the free software in
> question copies the data for you).
>
> It is true that the whole "cloud" thing does have some impact on free
> software, and it is indeed also true that this is something that should
> be considered when deciding on a strategy; however, it is *not* correct
> to assume that a cloud provider which uses free software is in any way
> less of a problem in that context than a cloud provider which does not.
> Both are cases of you relying on a third party for part of the service
> which you provide, and so there is no real difference.
Wouter, I very much do not agree with your argumentation. Please read
this video:
https://meetings-archive.debian.net/pub/debian-meetings/2018/DebConf18/2018-07-30/server-freedom-why-choosing-the-cloud-op.webm
Having the underlying infrastructure to fully run free software is super
important, for many reasons. For example, because you can completely
reproduce it on your own hardware if you feel like it's the correct
thing to do, and then migrate your data to it. Also, using a free
implementation avoids vendor lock-in, and provides proven (and tested on
a CI, for the case of OpenStack) interoperability.
And there's what Jeremy replied to you. We shall not endorse non-free.
I've been fighting for software freedom on the servers for nearly all of
my professional career, and reading what you wrote makes me really sad.
IMO you haven't understood what the problem is.
Though what I agree very much about, is that we'd get more freedom if we
were self-hosting fully. One always do.
Cheers,
Thomas Goirand (zigo)
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