[OSGeo-Discuss] About organizing a general strike

Tue Sep 29 11:05:06 PDT 2026

ok, I'll have to go to the end of my thoughts. Basically I want to 
strike against this poisonous capitalist system that leads us to our 
end. Working while doing futile things (=writing software) doesn't make 
any sense until we have overthrown that system.

Le 29/09/2026 à 16:20, SERGIO ACOSTAYLARA a écrit :
>
> Hello. Generally speaking—at least within the realm of labor unions—a 
> strike is undertaken as a measure of last resort to achieve a specific 
> goal. It is a drastic and extreme step because it is designed to cause 
> disruption to the other party (typically the employer, in the case of 
> unionized workers). With the proposed strike, who would be affected, 
> and how?
>
>
> Sergio Acosta y Lara
> Departamento de Cartografía Digital
> Dirección Nacional de Topografía
> Ministerio de Transporte y Obras Públicas
> URUGUAY
> (598)29157933 ints. 20329
> http://geoportal.mtop.gub.uy/
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *De:* Discuss <discuss-bounces at lists.osgeo.org> en nombre de Vincent 
> Picavet via Discuss <discuss at lists.osgeo.org>
> *Enviado:* martes, 29 de setiembre de 2026 7:58:10
> *Para:* Luí s Moreira de Sousa; Even Rouault
> *Cc:* OSGeo Discuss list
> *Asunto:* Re: [OSGeo-Discuss] About organizing a general strike
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>
> Hi Luis,
>
> Not answering on a general level nor on the strike itself, but 
> concerning funding I think there is a misunderstanding here in terms 
> of orders of magnitudes.
>
> Great news that the EU allocates funding to OSS software in 
> geospatial, BUT :
>
> - It gets down to 3m€ cascaded to projects in the end, cut into ~50K€ 
> grants ( ~0.5 FTE per project )
>
> - 3m€ is literally peanuts compared to the global funding of 
> opensource geospatial software and to what would be required to 
> address real funding issues (
>
> - 3m€ is literally nothing in the EU budget, including if you compare 
> to other funded IT domain ( e.g. just on a French scale, tax 
> reductions for research & development amount to _8 billions_ yearly )
>
> I do not say it is not a good news, and I really enjoy seeing our 
> topics being at least recognized, and especially allocated to OSGeo / 
> NLNet, because these funding programs are good, well managed, and can 
> help improve projects.
>
> But let's be realistic, having 3m€ on the table will not solve any of 
> the foundamental funding issue for opensource and for opensource 
> geospatial, to say the least.
>
> Regards,
>
> Vincent
>
> On 29/09/2026 12:30, Luí s Moreira de Sousa via Discuss wrote:
> > 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
> >
> > Sent with Proton Mail secure email.
> >
> > 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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> >> Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
> >> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> >>
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-- 
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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