[OSGeo-Discuss] About organizing a general strike

[Even Rouault]

Hi,

I've had recently a discussion with one of ours that suggested that my 
proposal should be refined, particularly in terms of dates and claims, 
which I agree. I'd wish not to be the lead on this, but oh well since 
this is already my 12th day of strike, I guess I can spend some time 
helping coordinating.

Several points:

- how long people are ready to strike ? (I'm well aware people have 
bills to pay.) One week, two weeks, one month ?

- one way also to extend the length of the strike could be to organize 
it in a rolling way,   e.g. it could be 4 weeks, with only 25% of people 
being on strike simultaneously

- how do we communicate around that ? I'd be great if OSGeo as an 
organization would be willing to make an official press release, since 
strikes are only efficient if they are made felt and visible.

- which claims do we want to bring forwards ? So far what I've heard:
      * lack of funding for maintenance in open source software
      * complaint against economical and political forces in 
responsibility for not making the decisive steps to stop the root causes 
of global warming and mitigate the unavoidable consequences
      * complaint against lack of involvement of citizens on the 
appropriateness, scope and limits of the use of AI technologies

We can organize a poll once people have expressed a bit their minds.

Even

Le 11/09/2026 à 18:31, Even Rouault via Discuss a écrit :
> Hi Luis,
>
> I was genuinely interested in what people could have in mind with such 
> a call. I realize that my motion (obviously second degree in its form) 
> was way too much restricted with the developer and not inclusive enough.
>
> So let me write down a sketch what I had in mind. Well something along 
> those lines... I'm a poor communicator and activist
>
> """Here we undersigned X, Y, Z, etc members of the OSGeo community 
> make the following statements:
>
> - we recognize that economical and political forces in responsibility 
> in countries of our finite planet are not making the decisive steps to 
> stop the root causes of global warming and mitigate the unavoidable 
> consequences
>
> - we ask that citizens of countries of our planet to have their say 
> through democratic expression on the appropriateness, scope and limits 
> of the use of AI technologies
>
> Both issues affect all inhabitants of this planet, and ourselves in 
> particular.
>
> To underline the seriousness of our concerns, we have decided to stop 
> our activities for a period of one month, formely a strike, and invite 
> any other person or group in other communities to act similarly
>
> """
>
> So yes nothing directly about the business of software or against 
> OSGeo... But in a world where your life is endangered, creating or 
> using software is the least of your concern. Recent experience showed 
> me that in a world were I would be exposed regularly to temperature >= 
> 30 degrees,  my productivity those days would be zero as this summer 
> demonstrated. So after all, you could tell that it's about OSGeo 
> making sure its members have access to liveable conditions to 
> accomplish it mission (and I consider that buying a fan or air 
> conditionning is just a band-aid, not a serious response to the 
> issue).  The part about AI could enter in the mental health of its 
> members. AI is an addictive drug, a true one.
>
> To be fully transparent, my main needs in life are breathing, drinking 
> water, eating, health care, dressing, housing.   Being able to write 
> open source software would probably be ranked below 50th position. 
> This is kind of a futile hobby, right? Yes I know I'm kind of 
> provocative, but in the world we're heading too, not sure that 
> computers will matter that much.
>
> Even
>
>
> Le 11/09/2026 à 18:00, Luí s Moreira de Sousa a écrit :
>> Hi Even,
>>
>> strikes, and general strikes, were some of the first tools (many 
>> times effective) in what became knownw as the Class Struggle. A 
>> strike is an action taken by a percieved weak faction (union, workers 
>> association) facing a strong faction (employer, owner of means of 
>> production).
>>
>> Before devising motives, it would be important to identify against 
>> which faction the community would be striking. We contribute to 
>> projects and the Foundation itself, none of which fit the traditional 
>> understanding of owners of means of production.
>>
>> Regards.
>>
>> -- 
>> Luís Moreira de Sousa
>
-- 
http://www.spatialys.com
My software is free, but my time generally not.
LLMs contribute to global warming and brain rot.
Let's guillotine them! "Ah ! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira !"