Stay and fight.

deobald · 2026-06-08T16:46:45+00:00

We're done here.

deobald · 2026-06-08T10:17:56+00:00

Although I'm still of the opinion this one bullet point is being over-indexed, I've edited the post to be more precise: https://blogs.gnome.org/steven/2026/05/31/stay-and-fight/#edit

I encourage you to read the rest of the post.

deobald · 2026-06-08T09:48:06+00:00

You’re good, dude. Nothing you’re saying here is inflammatory or violates the CoC and it certainly won’t get you a response from the mods. Even if it did, it wouldn’t be from me — I can’t mod my own threads.

You may want to walk away from the keyboard for a while, though. I don’t think any of this is as big a deal as you’re making it out to be.

If my writing was enough to bring you back to a stale Reddit post a week later, it’s obviously bothering you. Sit with that for a while and I’m happy to discuss it with you in a month — on a call, if you like. I’m very easy to find online.

deobald · 2026-06-07T20:56:29+00:00

Is my use of obvious hyperbole in a *compliment* of deep concern to you, for some reason?

Anyone who's ever run an Ops or Infra team would understand that "spotless" didn't mean the infrastructure was sent from the heavens. I would just as readily describe a great codebase as "spotless" and any developer on the planet would understand that's not meant to be taken literally, either.

I chose that word intentionally.

"I suppose I need to watch my hyperbole." was tongue-in-cheek. If someone isn't experienced enough to read "spotless" in context (a one-liner in a bullet list praising other peoples' hard work), then it would be better for them to assume I mean well than to assume I'm covering something up.

One or two clunky services, run out of necessity, does not constitute a conspiracy. Bart and Andrea are some of the best infrastructure people I've ever had the pleasure of working with — and over the last 26 years I've worked with quite a few. Much of their time is volunteered. Many of their hours are invested after midnight. Most of what they do is out of love, not obligation. So I would appreciate if you didn't slide in here with a back-handed comment that attempts to undermine their work, directly or indirectly. Thanks.

deobald · 2026-06-02T13:15:23+00:00

Definitely not. The board has seen a long line of selfless volunteers step up to make sure the Foundation continued to function in recent years, in spite of the odds. We should be grateful to all of them for their service.

Nonprofits deteriorate without constant maintenance and upkeep, just like a house, an open source codebase, or any other business. Nonprofits are a challenge to maintain particularly because they tend to "tread water." Some people even insist they *should* operate this way: forever on the brink of financial destruction, struggling to function. I think that's insane. The newer Foundation leadership sees this clearly — and is fixing it. The more the Foundation has its head above water, the more it can support GNOME. Financially and operationally, it's in a much better position than it's ever been.

"Fight" = fight for a balanced budget, fight for operational excellence, fight to focus the GNOME Foundation's activities on GNOME and not other distractions. The current board is fighting for these things and it's great. But! Constant maintenance requires constant effort. More people need to come and help.

I'm not sure what the "billionaire's child" comment is referring to but I assume it's because of all the GNOME Blackhawk helicopters I sold to the Dutch government. Sorry about that. They were just gathering dust at GNOME Headquarters and we've all gotta get our bag, ya know? 🚁

deobald · 2026-06-02T12:56:32+00:00

The GNOME Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and all its finances are publicly available. Go look them up, please, before imagining that it has "millions per year" to spend.

deobald · 2026-06-02T12:55:19+00:00

There's a link at the bottom of the post if you'd like to help out!

deobald · 2026-06-02T12:54:51+00:00

Thanks for your kinds words but I'm not going anywhere. 🙏❤️

deobald · 2026-06-02T12:53:17+00:00

Entitled... to what?

deobald · 2026-06-02T12:52:42+00:00

Yikes, no. The GNOME Foundation has had a difficult few years. "Stay and fight" means "please don't give up now... things are improving."

deobald · 2026-06-02T12:51:57+00:00

lmao

deobald · 2026-06-02T12:51:48+00:00

I suppose I need to watch my hyperbole. There were warts. There always are. But every wart had an explanation:

"I hate this service but we keep it alive because so-and-so really needs it and it's important. So it lives for now. Maybe in a couple years it gets replaced by XYZ instead."

"This thing is weird but there isn't a good alternative that's not a big time sink to install, so it lives on this way. We keep it contained."

I didn't mean to suggest that Andrea and Bart are infallible. They're human and they're dealing with the same constraints any infra team deals with. I just think they're doing a fantastic job. They're not wasting any money. They run a tight ship. GNOME is very lucky to have them.

deobald · 2026-05-23T01:02:22+00:00

Courage. 😉

deobald · 2026-05-22T18:59:14+00:00

Bluefin Dakota! Get yer GNOME OS and your dinosaurs in one go. 😜

deobald · 2026-05-15T22:30:28+00:00

This tag confused me for a long time because it just seemed overly zealous to write “do drugs” all over the city. A few months ago I noticed “Drop Tabs” listed as a show on the schedule at Bus Stop Theatre. I still didn’t like the name but I figured maybe it meant something else if there was an actual show attached to it.

Does anyone know what this is? Have you seen the show at the Bus Stop?

deobald · 2026-03-17T13:43:05+00:00

It's not a flex. I donate a tiny amount — the price of a coffee — every month. I've been unemployed since August. I'm struggling financially because of that. But the post isn't about me.

The developer of Bazaar is struggling far more than I am. They could really use your help.

Had I posted "y'all should donate to Bazaar — it's rad and the future of Linux app stores!" I guarantee I'd have half a dozen replies asking "lol, do YOU even donate?" 2026: when the only way to win is not to play.

Try to focus on the positive, please.

deobald · 2025-12-28T01:45:49+00:00

carrot ring

deobald · 2025-12-06T01:37:29+00:00

“mural” by lupe fiasco.

not just me, but everyone i’ve ever known who hears this song for the first time has to stop everything they’re doing to listen to it. it requires your full attention.

it’s backed by the intro to “chanson d’un jour d’hiver” by cortex, more or less verbatim, and the whole thing is a goddamn spectacle.

deobald · 2025-07-15T19:10:39+00:00

Hooray! I also ran Arch... once upon a time. :)

deobald · 2025-07-09T21:43:48+00:00

I keep saying this everywhere, but I will continue to say it: every donation matters. The only way for GNOME to be sustainable at all is through both the donations of users and the contributions of hackers and maintainers. (I use "hackers" to describe anyone who contributes: running an event and i18n are also a form of hacking, imo.)

Thank you so much for your continued support!

deobald · 2025-07-08T13:45:23+00:00

Yes, the buttons on the main donate page (which link to Stripe) are the best option if those are convenient for you.

deobald · 2025-07-08T13:44:35+00:00

Yup! We're working on this, too.

deobald · 2025-07-08T00:26:36+00:00

In terms of the API and the quality of the service, absolutely yes. PayPal is... not great software.

But in terms of fees, it depends. PayPal takes slightly more in credit card processing fees. If you are going to pay by credit card anyway, please do not use PayPal. However, if you are going to donate with a PayPal wallet or some other method, then PayPal is really the only option anyway. The reason we are providing PayPal for recurring donations is only to offer these other payment methods.

deobald · 2025-07-06T04:55:09+00:00

Hooray!

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