Re: A Follow Up to My Original Note Re The Future of Boost

From: Andrey Semashev (andrey.semashev_at_[hidden])
Date: 2024-08-01 22:24:15

On 8/1/24 16:16, Vinnie Falco wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 1, 2024 at 5:12 AM Andrey Semashev via Boost
> <boost_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> 
>> I cannot be sure that his devotion to Boost won't change
>> in the future or that he won't try to transform Boost into
>> something that is not accepted by the wider Boost community.
> 
> The Alliance would be administering:
> 
> * The boost.org domain
> * Related cloud services
> 
> The Alliance cannot "transform Boost" with this any more than the
> Foundation could. We do not control the GitHub organization or the
> library repositories. The new website has been licensed under the BSL
> and donated. The idea that control of the domain equates to control
> over Boost is not a serious one.

I disagree. The list above is incomplete, there are also the logo (with
the currently controversial terms of use), the website, social network
accounts, the mailing list and all related infrastructure. You yourself
admitted it is becoming increasingly difficult to pick people who are
not affiliated with The C++ Alliance to fill important roles, such as
review managers and reviewers. Given that you alone are funding the
Alliance, I'd say you have a pretty strong leverage on it, and by
extension on Boost.

>> Regarding The C++ Alliance organization, its mission statement
>> (https://cppalliance.org/#mission) doesn't even mention Boost.
> 
> Mission statements don't really mean much. They aren't legally
> enforceable and they can be changed at any time. The behavior over
> time is more reflective of intent than verbal postures. We could
> update the Alliance mission statement if you want...

Mission statement is a declaration of intended goals of the
organization. I assume it should be taken into account in the decision
making process within the organization. And while not legally
enforceable externally, it may be enforceable internally, if internal
regulations are defined accordingly.

In any case, since I'm not a member of The C++ Alliance, it doesn't
really matter what I want. Mission statement is what you, the Alliance,
want. I'm just comparing the declared goals of the two orgs.