[OSGeo-Discuss] About organizing a general strike

Wed Sep 30 02:19:39 PDT 2026

Hi,

If a large fraction of the people who don't directly contribute to the 
vital working (supply chain of water and food + health care) of this 
broken system would stop working, that would have visible consequences. 
I'm missing so much the COVID times where nights were finally fully 
silent, with all airplanes down. And you could look at the sky at night 
without all those gaziliions satellites polluting what mankind had 
always admired since its inception.

Except that us in open source is that we would have to strike for years 
before our lack of labor become visible. We must be aware that we are 
the perfect slaves of this rotten system. Giving away our production, 
and for a surprising proportion of us, welcoming LLMs that have robbed 
our production and are now charging us for using it...

In the mean time my little personal strike means a bit less use of 
continuous integration VMs, so that's my modest contribution to reducing 
carbon emissions.

Cheers,

Even

Le 29/09/2026 à 21:12, Luí s Moreira de Sousa a écrit :
> Hi Even,
>
> we are going down a deeply philosophical path. However, let me offer a 
> further thought: it is not with a strike that a socio-economic system 
> is overthrown.
>
> Best.
>
> -- 
> Luís Moreira de Sousa
>
> On Tuesday, 29 September 2026 at 19:04, Even Rouault 
> <even.rouault at spatialys.com> wrote:
>>
>> 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
>>> CORREO EXTERNO
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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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>>> >>
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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 !"
>
-- 
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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