[OSGeo-Discuss] About organizing a general strike

Tue Sep 29 03:30:39 PDT 2026

Hi Even,

I am still missing a clear identification of the target(s) of this strike. A strike against an unclear opponent (or against everyone) is bound to be ineffective.

The European Commission just allocated 6 M€ to open source software in GeoInformatics. The OSGeo Foundation is part of the consortium managing and assigning those funds. In that scope a strike regarding lack of funding seems inopurtune.

Regards.

--
Luís Moreira de Sousa

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On Monday, 28 September 2026 at 14:46, Even Rouault via Discuss <discuss at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:

> 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 !"
> 
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