Michael Smith recently posted his resignation from the FreeBSD core team. His resignation came shortly after the resignation of one of the FreeBSD founder's, Jordan Hubbard [earlier story]. Michael echoed similiar sentiments, with the project no longer being fun for him, "instead [it having] become obsessed with process and mechanics."

On the FreeBSD home page you can find a historical list of core team members, a list of the current core members, and a list of contributors who have commit privileges to the FreeBSD source tree.

Jordan Hubbard offers some insight, "I think that if FreeBSD is to succeed in the much longer-term, it needs to transcend its "old guard" beginnings and transition to being governed by a new and entirely more youthful set of folks, it perhaps being a maxim for the future that if you've been in core before then you don't qualify, no hard feelings or offense meant."

From: Michael Smith
Subject: It's not fun anymore. (Mike resigns from core)
Date: Wed, 08 May 2002 03:29:00 -0700

 Declaration
 ===========

When I stood for election to the FreeBSD core team nearly two years
ago, many of you will recall that it was after a long series of
debates during which I maintained that too much organisation, too many
rules and too much formality would be a bad thing for the project.

Today, as I read the latest discussions on the future of the FreeBSD
project, I see the same problem; a few new faces and many of the old
going over the same tired arguments and suggesting variations on the
same worthless schemes.  Frankly I'm sick of it.

FreeBSD used to be fun.  It used to be about doing things the right
way.  It used to be something that you could sink your teeth into when
the mundane chores of programming for a living got you down.  It was
something cool and exciting; a way to spend your spare time on an
endeavour you loved that was at the same time wholesome and
worthwhile.

It's not anymore.  It's about bylaws and committees and reports and
milestones, telling others what to do and doing what you're told.
It's about who can rant the longest or shout the loudest or mislead
the most people into a bloc in order to legitimise doing what they
think is best.  Individuals notwithstanding, the project as a whole
has lost track of where it's going, and has instead become obsessed
with process and mechanics.

So I'm leaving core.  I don't want to feel like I should be "doing
something" about a project that has lost interest in having something
done for it.  I don't have the energy to fight what has clearly become
a losing battle; I have a life to live and a job to keep, and I won't
achieve any of the goals I personally consider worthwhile if I remain
obligated to care for the project.

 Discussion
 ==========

I'm sure that I've offended some people already; I'm sure that by the
time I'm done here, I'll have offended more.  If you feel a need to
play to the crowd in your replies rather than make a sincere effort to
address the problems I'm discussing here, please do us the courtesy
of playing your politics openly.

From a technical perspective, the project faces a set of challenges
that significantly outstrip our ability to deliver.  Some of the
resources that we need to address these challenges are tied up in the
fruitless metadiscussions that have raged since we made the mistake
of electing officers.  Others have left in disgust, or been driven
out by the culture of abuse and distraction that has grown up since
then.  More may well remain available to recruitment, but while
the project is busy infighting our chances for successful outreach
are sorely diminished.

There's no simple solution to this.  For the project to move forward,
one or the other of the warring philosophies must win out; either the
project returns to its laid-back roots and gets on with the work, or
it transforms into a super-organised engineering project and executes a
brilliant plan to deliver what, ultimately, we all know we want.

Whatever path is chosen, whatever balance is struck, the choosing and
the striking are the important parts.  The current indecision and
endless conflict are incompatible with any sort of progress.

Trying to dissect the above is far beyond the scope of any parting
shot, no matter how distended.  All I can really ask of you all is to
let go of the minutiae for a moment and take a look at the big
picture.  What is the ultimate goal here?  How can we get there with
as little overhead as possible?  How would you like to be treated by
your fellow travellers?

 Shouts
 ======

To the Slashdot "BSD is dying" crowd - big deal.  Death is part of the
cycle; take a look at your soft, pallid bodies and consider that right
this very moment, parts of you are dying.  See?  It's not so bad.

To the bulk of the FreeBSD committerbase and the developer community
at large - keep your eyes on the real goals.  It's when you get
distracted by the politickers that they sideline you.  The tireless
work that you perform keeping the system clean and building is what
provides the platform for the obsessives and the prima donnas to have
their moments in the sun.  In the end, we need you all; in order to
go forwards we must first avoid going backwards.

To the paranoid conspiracy theorists - yes, I work for Apple too.  No, my
resignation wasn't on Steve's direct orders, or in any way related to work
I'm doing, may do, may not do, or indeed what was in the tea I had at
lunchtime today.  It's about real problems that the project faces, real
problems that the project has brought upon itself.  You can't escape them
by inventing excuses about outside influence, the problem stems from
within.

To the politically obsessed - give it a break, if you can.  No, the
project isn't a lemonade stand anymore, but it's not a world-spanning
corporate juggernaut either and some of the more grandiose visions
going around are in need of a solid dose of reality.  Keep it simple,
stupid.

To the grandstanders, the prima donnas, and anyone that thinks that
they can hold the project to ransom for their own agenda - give it a
break, if you can.  When the current core were elected, we took a
conscious stand against vigorous sanctions, and some of you have
exploited that.  A new core is going to have to decide whether to
repeat this mistake or get tough.  I hope they learn from our errors.

 Future
 ======

I started work on FreeBSD because it was fun.  If I'm going to
continue, it has to be fun again.  There are things I still feel
obligated to do, and with any luck I'll find the time to meet those
obligations.

However I don't feel an obligation to get involved in the political
mess the project is in right now.  I tried, I burnt out.  I don't feel
that my efforts were worthwhile.  So I won't be standing for election,
I won't be shouting from the sidelines, and I probably won't vote in
the next round of ballots.

You could say I'm packing up my toys.  I'm not going home just yet,
but I'm not going to play unless you can work out how to make the
project somewhere fun to be again.


 = Mike


-- 
To announce that there must be no criticism of the president,
or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not
only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to 
the American public.  - Theodore Roosevelt



From: Chris Knight
Subject: RE: It's not fun anymore. (Mike resigns from core)
Date: Wed, 8 May 2002 21:30:27 +1000

Howdy,

It's unfortunate that it has got to the stage where you feel it
necessary to leave core. I can appreciate you doing so, but from the
sentiments you expressed, it sounds like the FreeBSD community needs
more people like you within core.

I'd like to thank you for your all your efforts related to FreeBSD,
especially where you have personally helped me out.

I hope for FreeBSD's sake that your disenchantment doesn't extend to
code-cutting - talented programmers such as yourself are hard to
come by; committee executives are a dime a dozen.

Regards,
Chris Knight
Systems Administrator
AIMS Independent Computer Professionals
Web: http://www.aims.com.au



From: Andy Sporner
Subject: Re: It's not fun anymore. (Mike resigns from core)
Date: Wed, 08 May 2002 13:44:49 +0200

I will keep this short so someone does jump all over me about being
off topic about this.

I share some of his ideas, but mainly those dealing with frustration. 
 People
here are saying with their mouths that they want new blood here, but 
following
through with actions.

People are afraid when somebody leaves core like this, but what about the
future people who might want to help in this level.  

Short to the point as far as I am concerned.  I have been in this 
business far
too long to be treated like a newbie.  I may be a new face here and my 
language
may not be the best, but guarantee that unless the mood changes a little 
bit
and it becomes a little more fun you can have it all to yourselves! :-(


This comes to basic courtesy.  If I reply to a question, then pay 
attention to
that and not do like a particular one does and boldly expand to the point of
being like an encyclopedia.  This has happened more than once!  

I have been cautioned by a few wiser people here to have a thicker skin,
but I will say one thing.  As long as I am giving my free time (something
these days that is in short supply) at least I should have fun at it and 
this
just isn't fun...  

Let's all try to get along a little better.  That goes for all the 
syntax checkers
and people who are so stuck on rules of posting that they forget what
collaboration and coopeation mean.  If you don't like to read something, 
there's
the delete key.  It keeps the whole environment more civil.  Not everybody
has had the fortitude or longitude of being here for so long to know all of
this historical arguments or what has or has not been said, so they know 
what
should not be said.  If there are complaint write them privately (Seems like
I read these somewhere).

Andy

From: Robert Watson
Subject: Re: It's not fun anymore. (Mike resigns from core)

Date: Wed, 8 May 2002 10:00:12 -0400 (EDT)

On Wed, 8 May 2002, Michael Smith wrote:

> It's not anymore.  It's about bylaws and committees and reports and
> milestones, telling others what to do and doing what you're told.  It's
> about who can rant the longest or shout the loudest or mislead the most
> people into a bloc in order to legitimise doing what they think is best. 
> Individuals notwithstanding, the project as a whole has lost track of
> where it's going, and has instead become obsessed with process and
> mechanics. 
> 
> So I'm leaving core.  I don't want to feel like I should be "doing
> something" about a project that has lost interest in having something
> done for it.  I don't have the energy to fight what has clearly become a
> losing battle; I have a life to live and a job to keep, and I won't
> achieve any of the goals I personally consider worthwhile if I remain
> obligated to care for the project. 

Well, I think I speak for everyone in the project when I say that we're
sorry to hear that you are resigning from the core team, and that I hope

that you'll choose to remain involved in the project in the manner you
feel both able and willing.  Your contributions in both the technical
space (expecially relating to hardware support for RAID, and especially of
late relating to ACPI) have been greatly appreciated, as have your
contributions to managing the project and setting its direction.

In all institutions, there are the inevitable politics, and the inevitable
noise.  That noise can become overwhelming, especially when the noisy
people are quite noisy and Feel They Must Be Heard; that said, while I
sympathize with your viewpoint, I'm not sure I agree with the fundamental
conclusion.  My only suggestion would be that you do exactly what you are
already doing.  Take a step back (maybe two), and do the things that you
find personally motivating--spending time on things that leave you with
this kind of feeling isn't what it's all about.  See if some combination
of the project growing and your being less involved makes things
sufficiently palatable for you to become more involved again.

> I started work on FreeBSD because it was fun.  If I'm going to continue,
> it has to be fun again.  There are things I still feel obligated to do,
> and with any luck I'll find the time to meet those obligations. 

That's more than we can ask of you, and something we're lucky if you want
to do.  :-) 

> However I don't feel an obligation to get involved in the political mess
> the project is in right now.  I tried, I burnt out.  I don't feel that
> my efforts were worthwhile.  So I won't be standing for election, I
> won't be shouting from the sidelines, and I probably won't vote in the
> next round of ballots.
> 
> You could say I'm packing up my toys.  I'm not going home just yet, but
> I'm not going to play unless you can work out how to make the project
> somewhere fun to be again. 

I think it's still fun for many people involved, or more of them would
long since have left.  I know I personally enjoy this work a great deal,
and that's why I spend so much time on it.  I also know that it's not the
political fray that I'm here for--it's the fascinating technical work, the
challenge of the operating system environment, and the opportunity to do
some new and really exciting things with a number of other people who feel
the same way. The FreeBSD Project has proven in the past, and still proves
to be, an excellent vehicle for people who have a technical vision and
technical expertise to explore both of them, and at the end of the day,
produce a piece of software that lets hundreds of millions of people a day
do their work.  We need to look at this past success to see the success we
can have in the future.  I agree that there needs to be change in the
areas you've pointed at--I've taken note, and I hope that others will too.
Thanks again for everything you've done,

Robert N M Watson             FreeBSD Core Team, TrustedBSD Project
[email filtered]              NAI Labs, Safeport Network Services



From: Sheldon Hearn
Subject: Re: It's not fun anymore. (Mike resigns from core) 
Date: Wed, 08 May 2002 18:29:10 +0200

On Wed, 08 May 2002 10:00:12 -0400, Robert Watson wrote:

> Well, I think I speak for everyone in the project when I say that we're
> sorry to hear that you are resigning from the core team, [...]

Nope, you don't speak for me.  I'm thrilled that Mike's leaving the core
team.  His heart's obviously not in it any more, so the fact that he has
all the right skills for being useful on core doesn't mean anything any
more.

And his leaving the core team will hopefully free him up to contribute
more brilliant code.  I can't be the only one getting the warm fuzzies
at the prospect of an mlycontrol(8). :-)

Only thing I'm sorry to hear is that Mike's not a superhuman.  Fortunately,
the new Spider Man movie's just been released here in South Africa, so I
think I'll cope. :-)

Ciao,
Sheldon.



From: Joerg Micheel
Subject: Re: It's not fun anymore. (Mike resigns from core)
Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 07:34:41 +1200

On Wed, May 08, 2002 at 06:29:10PM +0200, Sheldon Hearn wrote:
> On Wed, 08 May 2002 10:00:12 -0400, Robert Watson wrote:
> 
> > Well, I think I speak for everyone in the project when I say that we're
> > sorry to hear that you are resigning from the core team, [...]
> 
> Nope, you don't speak for me.  I'm thrilled that Mike's leaving the core
> team.  His heart's obviously not in it any more, so the fact that he has
> all the right skills for being useful on core doesn't mean anything any
> more.

It sounds like it is people like you who have been giving Mike a hard
time. It also appears that you haven't learned a iota from this whole
incident. Honestly, I would have rather you had kept your mouth shut
and listened, this is not the time to spread your evil ink, but sit down
and ponder about what went wrong here.

I am not impressed.
	Joerg



From: Coleman Kane
Subject: Re: It's not fun anymore. (Mike resigns from core)
Date: Wed, 8 May 2002 17:02:15 -0400

Who knows, perhaps between Mike and Jordan leaving and the atmosphere that
surrounds all of this trouble, it may bring up leadership from some of the
younger community to actually do something real nice for the project. I first
started working on the project about three or so years ago, got commit status
actually recommended by Mike of all people and have been helping out in my 
spare time (between school and work). I started using the OS back when 2.2.8
came out and fell in love with it instantly, which I sure is true of many
others soon after their initial install of FreeBSD. Heck, at UC we changed the
Linux Users' Group to the Free OS Users' group due to the number of staunch
BSD advocates and users who were active members. Anyway, I don't really 
believe the whole 'FreeBSD is dead' crap that has been circulating, with the
quickly growing user base and the increase in developer support this is a
setback for the group, but it will live on, at least as long as there is a
significant community backing it up. When we all vote for Core this time, it
will be for a new set of representatives for the group. Perhaps this time it
will bring together new faces and ideas for the future of the project.

Anyway Mike, it was great to have a developer of your caliber on the core team,
but I can identify with the problems that arise when procedural and political
work begins to conflict with the coding work that one is working on. Hope you
haven't been too turned off to the point of dropping out alltogether. Try not
to let the personal attacks get to you.

Thats my 2 cents, 

--
coleman kane



From: Jordan Hubbard
Subject: Re: It's not fun anymore. (Mike resigns from core) 
Date: Wed, 08 May 2002 17:20:34 -0700

> Anyway, I don't really believe the whole 'FreeBSD is dead' crap that
> has been circulating, with the quickly growing user base and the
> increase in developer support this is a setback for the group, but
> it will live on, at least as long as there is a significant
> community backing it up. When we all vote for Core this time, it
> will be for a new set of representatives for the group. Perhaps this
> time it will bring together new faces and ideas for the future of
> the project.

I'm quite glad to hear you say that, frankly.  I think that if FreeBSD
is to succeed in the much longer-term, it needs to transcend its "old
guard" beginnings and transition to being governed by a new and
entirely more youthful set of folks, it perhaps being a maxim for the
future that if you've been in core before then you don't qualify, no
hard feelings or offense meant.

Of course, I also expect the old guard to fight this tooth and nail
with lots of dire predictions as to what will happen if anyone under
30 gets into core or why only a long and hoary track-record truly
qualifies one for the job.  As an old guardsman myself, I say ``bah!''
to that sort of self-serving "logic" since we've already proven over
the last two rounds that experienced people are more than capable of
making mistakes or being blind to all the relevant signs and portents
when things are going off the rails.  Even if it came with a penalty
of inexperience and beginner's mistakes, I wouldn't mind the fresh
energy and enthusiasm that a totally new slate would bring.  It's not
like those of us in 1992 were entirely blessed with loads of
experience at doing this when we started and look what we managed to
create.

- Jordan



From: Brian T.Schellenberger
Subject: Re: It's not fun anymore. (Mike resigns from core)
Date: Wed, 8 May 2002 22:37:08 -0400

Well, I for one would hope that there would neither be a wholesale turnover, 
becuase experience is a valuable teacher; nor ossification, because new blood 
brings in fresh energy and ideas.

Having people drop out when it's not fun anymore seems about right, as long 
as there is some effort to replace those who drop out with those who will 
counterbalance the loss and not pounce on it as a chance to pad out 
membership with the qualities already prevelent among those who would be the 
"winners" if it were a purge.

Thus, it would be best to replace Mike with somebody as ANTI-process as 
possible since an over-reliance on process is what drove him from core; if 
somebody resigns due to an overly chaotic environment, then adding somebody 
as PRO-process as possible would probably be called for.

Not sure if that makes any sense to anybody else, and naturally I have no 
right to talk since I've never contributed much, blah blah blah.



From: Jordan Hubbard
Subject: Re: It's not fun anymore. (Mike resigns from core) 
Date: Wed, 08 May 2002 23:16:06 -0700

> Well, I for one would hope that there would neither be a wholesale turnover, 
> becuase experience is a valuable teacher; nor ossification, because new blood
> brings in fresh energy and ideas.

Well, given that this is now a democracy, I guess that's all for the
committers to decide.  I've merely spoken my piece regarding what I
hope they'll choose and what I'll certainly be biased in favor of when
presented with the next slate for election.