Hi there,
this is my first post on this forum and I’m not too sure if my posting here is wanted and I didn’t see an obvious “read this first” post, so feel free to give me a pointer if it’s not.
I wanted to make five short remarks, as someone who has been a longtime Gnome user.
First: I think Gnome is a fantastic project. I use the Gnome DE daily and it has served me exceptionally well over the years. You all have accomplished this before LLMs, probably with a lot of work, studying, discussions, headaches and probaby with too little appreciation (thank you!). I think the primary value proposition of LLMs and their salesman is one of productivity. For whom do you have to be productive? Because I can tell you right now that you don’t have to be productive for me. More than anyhing I want Gnome to stay human. No shiny new feature or app is going to change that.
Second: some people in this thread have explicitly mentioned Gnome being a safe haven. I don’t know all the flags but I’m incredibly delighted that they’re here. I want them to stay here.
Third: I’ve been a supporter of Pika & Friend of Gnome until recently (and I’m hoping I can resume to be one very soon). I’m sure nobody can live off my 10 bucks but I want this money to go to people not into the fascist AI industrial complex. I don’t want this to sound like an entitled “I’m taking my business elsewhere”. But there’s a reason why I have been donating and it is primarily rooted in what Gnome represents not what specific value I receive from it.
Fourth: I’ve been putting it off but I’m a sofware developer myself and the quality and thoughtfulness of Gnome and it’s ecosystem has long encouraged me to become a contributor in some capacity. I would love for someone to mentor me at some point and to do that with a wholehearted consensus that we both do this for ourselves and Gnome as a whole.
Fifth: this is a bit of a downer. I have friends who consider themselves and who I’ve considered thoughtful with regard to environmentalism, inclusiveness, workers rights, free software, solidarity movements, etc. LLMs have forced my to realize that a lot of my friends don’t seem to take much offense at the environmental harm, the attack on labour and purpose, the disintegration of what we consider to be truthful, the complete lack of accountability, the disrespect of our time, the blatent theft of our work, or many of the other (to many of us) seemlingly obvious red lines. I’m grieving what I thought to be real and which has unveiled itself to be an illusion. I don’t want to grieve Gnome.
With all the love for your work & dedication
Konrad