
Libreboot: Open Letter to the Free Software Community - jff
https://libreboot.org/#open-letter-to-the-free-software-community
======
jordigh
This is a nice statement to hear. I have had some IRC conversations with some
of the involved people, and the whole affair was rather unpleasant.

I hope things really are quieting down, and I'm really excited over the
possibility of disabling ME. Being unable to get rid of hardware backdoors is
essentially why I haven't bought a new laptop in ten years. Remarkably, my
ten-year old Inspiron 1420 dellbuntu still works great, and it's delightful to
be able to still buy parts for it, but I'm starting to feel the desire for
newer hardware.

~~~
Tharkun
You would think that there enough geeks out there who are aware of the issues
with Intel ME to do something about. But after this time the best we have is a
nasty hack that can kind of disable it.

Don't we have the numbers (and quite frankly the money) to solve this issue at
the root? Why can't we (the broader tech community) sell a laptop aimed
principally at ourselves. Without Intel ME. Without closed-source firmware. No
binary blobs.

Pardon the rant. I'll go back to being naive in silence.

~~~
userbinator
_Don 't we have the numbers (and quite frankly the money) to solve this issue
at the root?_

Consider that there's a probably not-small team at Intel responsible for
designing and implementing ME. All of them have decided, either explicitly or
implicitly, to willingly follow the company plan and keep ME secret. How many
of those would, if there were no negative consequence to themselves, defect
and leak _everything_ they knew about it (including the critical private
keys)? As it is, a handful doing it would be sued into oblivion, but if
_everyone_ working on ME somehow decided to defect, it wouldn't be easy to
stop them.

Just like with those who work on designing and implementing DRM and other
anti-user features, I've always wondered: do these people genuinely believe
that they are an overall good and actively promote/advocate for them, or do
they personally oppose, but take the job because of some other factors and
decide not to stand up for themselves due to the consequences? I mean, if I
were forced to work on such things, I would likely not make them so strong and
maybe even introduce some weaknesses, because I am fundamentally opposed to
it.

~~~
nmjohn
> including the critical private keys

If anyone actually has access to those keys in a manner in which they could be
leaked, that is... utterly terrifying. Like the private keys for root CAs,
they likely are under strict access controls making exfiltration quite
difficult (hopefully impossible barring multiple levels of process breakdown)

~~~
userbinator
For a first attempt at an ME-less system it would suffice to have them sign a
firmware that completely disables it, and while I don't think I've ever heard
of a CA leaking its private keys, there are plenty of instances where CAs have
issued "rogue" certificates. (Who knows, maybe the NSA has already gotten
Intel to sign their own backdoored version...)

 _multiple levels of process breakdown_

...which is exactly the "everyone working on ME decides to defect" situation I
mentioned.

------
josteink
> I hope that any damage I caused to the community is not permanent.

While I believe Leah is honest about realizing her mistakes, I fear this part
is unreasonably optimistic.

Libreboot as a project has clearly been tainted all across the internet, and
we all know how long these things persist when they've first been given a
chance to take hold.

I'd love free firmware though so let's hope whatever stains remain won't be
too damaging for these projects as a whole (coreboot, librecore and
libreboot).

~~~
aanm1988
The fact that reason was able to take hold and get things back on track
actually gives me more hope for this project.

Hopefully this be a lesson to others as well.

~~~
pluma
I think that the other contributors actually held out long enough to let her
come to her senses speaks for the project. They seem to be invested enough to
actually spend six months seeing the project be dragged through the mud and
still come back and work with her.

~~~
Chaebixi
Didn't the other contributors leave to join a fork?

[https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Librecor...](https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Librecore-
Formation)

[http://librecore.info/](http://librecore.info/)

~~~
pluma
I was specifically referring to the contributors that didn't leave. The open
letter was penned by someone other than Leah, so no matter how many have left,
some of them seem to have stayed.

------
ajarmst
I guess I'm officially part of the greybeards now. This sort of thing just
makes me feel tired. I know it's naive to want your engineering projects to
come without politics and drama (hell, I'm less than a decade junior to
Stallman, I was _there_ for some of the reasons politics came in), but part of
me is all "just fork the damn code and let's move on".

~~~
ivanbakel
I think it's naive to believe there's something that comes politics-free at
all. Engineers can be keen to get stuff done without political disputes, but
from personal experience, that mostly just means not challenging anything
taken for granted.

I think the very existence of the FSF is proof of the fact that you can't take
politics out of even basic engineering questions. The real assumption is that
anything apolitical is doing something more than pandering to your views.

~~~
ryan-allen
Keeping politics out of work is just simple professionalism.

Sure, be an activist, but keep it out of work and do it on your own time.

~~~
wz1000
Free software is explicitly a political movement.

It is a mistake to assume everything done within work hours is apolitical.

~~~
infodroid
The problem here isn't the politics, it's the mission creep. Libreboot has
clear techno-political goals, to free our hardware from the shackles of BIOS
and UEFI.

It wasn't created to serve as a vehicle to protest a case of alleged sexual
discrimination against a friend in a different project.

There are many ways to protest at perceived injustice, but I don't think
derailing a volunteer project to do that is good for the movement as a whole.

------
jandrese
IMHO all of this personal drama is a sideshow compared to the inability to
support modern Intel or AMD hardware. I know they're working on enabling ARM
Chromebooks now, but without support for Intel or AMD it's hard to see how
this project isn't dead in the water.

~~~
azrazalea
You act like that is the project's fault though.

The whole point of libreboot is to be a purely free software alternative and
they can't do that with modern AMD/Intel.

Sure, that means the project will never be mainstream but it doesn't mean it
is dead in the water.

~~~
simcop2387
There's been some hacks recently that have managed to nerf the ME on
sandy/ivybridge. It's still a blob but it disables a lot of the other
functionality so there's hope for newer hardware.

------
gcb0
> At this point, it doesn’t matter. Indeed, it is unlikely that Libreboot will
> ever rejoin GNU, but feuding in an already fragmented community helps
> nobody.

how is this not paradoxical/delusional?

oh boy, here we go again. An apology full of grandiose but still standing on
the previous stubborn point. That is not how apologies work.

~~~
red023
Exactly what I was thinking. Admitting it was all BS, yet still sticking with
it. Probably already making stuff up like that they where indeed biased
against "her" because - micro aggression's showed it in their faces or
whatever they come up with these days.

~~~
icebraining
Nobody "admitted it was all BS". All was said was that the reaction was poor.

~~~
red023
To me saying "maybe, maybe not". "substance abuse" "gender dysphoria" "sorry
sorry sorry" tel me that is was all BS. To me it was admitted between the
lines.

------
lucb1e
This is a message one rarely gets to read and I'm happy to see it: rather than
having an endless flamewar and a person being put out of the project, at least
from the project's side people are just moving on and the number one priority
is simply the project. These things drag on way too long too often.

This is the first and only thing I read about what apparently happened, so I
might miss some details, but the basic message I'm seeing is "actions
regretted, won't happen again, also more people have access now, let's get
this thing back on track".

------
itsmemattchung
Because I'm unfamiliar with the project, can someone provide some context as
to what happened ?

~~~
pluma
It's pretty much there in the letter.

Leah had exclusive control of libreboot. Leah is transgender. The FSF fired
someone who happened to be transgender. Leah accused the FSF of doing it
because they were transgender. Leah pulled libreboot out of the FSF, burned
various bridges by calling people names and retained exclusive control of
libreboot, making statements in the project's name.

Apparently she changed her mind and libreboot has transitioned into a more
democratic project and she's sorry for what she did and cites personal issues
which the letter spells out as gender dysphoria and substance abuse.

A quick googling shows that both the FSF and Leah have mostly refrained from
naming names when talking about who got fired but Leah explicitly called out
individual members of the FSF (which she apologises for in the letter,
indicating she no longer thinks her accusations hold any water). There are
also various posts from libreboot contributors complaining about Leah having
effectively locked them out of the project and apparently the entire ordeal
didn't exactly result in quality software releases (which is to be expected).

tl;dr: maintainer with exclusive access has personal problems, lashes out
against FSF, takes project hostage, works personal problems out over the next
six months, hands control over project to the other contributors and repents.

~~~
azrazalea
> indicating she no longer thinks her accusations hold any water

This is the only thing in your summary I disagree with. From my reading of the
issue and knowledge from following it I think Leah still very much believes in
her accusations. She just has realized that at this point even if she's right
nothing positive is going to happen and realizes she handled the whole
situation awfully so is apologizing for that.

I didn't read anything that suggested that she didn't think the accusations
were true anymore.

~~~
RangerScience
I didn't get that.

What I got was that she thinks her prior actions, although incorrectly
reasoned, were still reasoned.

It's almost but importantly not identical to "Based on what I knew at the
time, I was correct. Based on what I now know, I was incorrect" \- except that
part of the "what I knew" was how herself was functioning.

As a child, I always used to hate the phrase "that's just an excuse". I'd do
something my parents didn't like, they'd ask why, I'd answer, they'd reply -
that's just an excuse. It's not, it's the causal reason [that I could
identify].

She saying she did things based on actual reasons. She's also saying that
those reasons, in hindsight, were wrong, and that those resulting actions were
wrong. She's accurately reporting the emotional states at the relevant times.
This is a good thing.

------
infodroid
I don't know why free software projects are so dominated by personnel issues,
I wish they weren't.

~~~
CriticalSection
Having worked for corporate software projects and for free software projects,
I can't say that free software projects are dominated by personnel issues any
more than corporate software projects.

The main difference is things tend to happen out in the open for free software
projects, and things happen behind closed doors within corporations. So it
just seems like there is more drama, because issues are hashed out in public,
things are not swept under the rug.

~~~
praptak
If personal issues create problems in a corporate project, people get fired.
This alone creates a chilling effect - people put up with a lot of crap before
they make the problems public, see Uber or any other story about a toxic
workplace.

~~~
infodroid
The chilling effect seems only true for toxic environments. Yet most
workplaces are not toxic in the way that you might imagine Uber to be. There
are many tech companies (large and small) that are pro-active about creating a
good environment. Also, the workplace makes you think twice about bad
behavior, because it has real consequences like losing your job, unlike on the
internet. See also cookiecaper's comment.

------
dijit
I hate to be cynical but I've been trained to pass politico-speak and Leahs
apology is only that she attacked individuals. Her apology is devoid of
stating that she believes the FSF did the right thing or absolve them of any
wrong-doing regarding termination of that employee regardless of their gender.

To a very cynical person (which I am being for the sake of this comment) it
sounds like "I won, I did the damage I wanted; but now my project is hurting
and this is damage control."

EDIT: Someone is bitter.

~~~
andrewguenther
This seems like a pretty unreasonable conclusion to draw. We don't know what
happened with the FSF, and I think that Leah is entitled to her own view. Her
resulting behavior was what caused damage, and she's apologized for that.

~~~
dijit
But she's not going back on her forcibly removing the project from the FSF.

It's platitudes without that. She "punished" them successfully.

------
CodeWriter23
I think they are naive to leave Leah in any kind of position within this
project. I'm not saying she is a government operative, but activist projects
like this that seek to end the potential for electronic eavesdropping via the
IME are going to be at least spied upon, if not disrupted. And stirring up a
bunch of crazy drama is a known controlled opposition technique. Like I said,
I am not accusing Leah of being such, and I have no knowledge to make such an
assessment of her. I just know that in my line of activism, someone acts a
fool like that, they're out. Period.

~~~
tux3
That sounds like a double-edged sword, since by those rules an Evil Attacker
Organization™ could now get rid of key people by stirring up enough drama
around them.

~~~
Chaebixi
> That sounds like a double-edged sword, since by those rules an Evil Attacker
> Organization™ could now get rid of key people by stirring up enough _drama
> around them_ [emphasis mine].

I don't think it is. It's one thing to have drama around you, but it's quite
another to be the source or instigator of it. Leah Rowe is clearly the latter.

~~~
swsieber
Was, not is. I believe that's an important distinction.

~~~
DashRattlesnake
> Was, not is. I believe that's an important distinction.

It is, but it's yet to be seen if this kind of dramatic behavior is behind the
project's leader. It was all very dramatic and still very fresh. An apology is
only the first step towards making it past-tense.

~~~
CodeWriter23
There is also the reality that recovery from addiction doesn't always take on
the first try.

------
castle-bravo
A wise man once told me: "no politics at work". As time goes on, the value of
that advice becomes more and more certain.

There's no reason that libreboot needs to be a political project. There are
enough reasons to want our firmware to be free. We rely on our machines for
our work, for our art, for our lives.

~~~
icebraining
_There are enough reasons to want our firmware to be free. We rely on our
machines for our work, for our art, for our lives._

That's a political position as well.

You can't avoid taking political positions in a public social environment, all
you're doing is silently accepting the existing position.

~~~
ticviking
Or declaring that this is not the time and space for those discussions.

~~~
icebraining
You don't need discussions; distributing code is a political action by itself.
The project is inherently political. Limiting discussions is just a power
play.

------
gravypod
Any news on that X220 support mentioned? I have, and use, an X220 for all of
my personal computing. How would one flash this and what would improve/break?

I've heard things about different mini PCIe cards working after flashing to
different types of BIOSs.

~~~
owenversteeg
Yeah, I have an X230T (X230, tablet version.) How likely is it that any X220
supported stuff would work on the X230?

~~~
gravypod
Funily enough I have an X230T too and I'd like to switch over to that. I cant
get my battery life on my X230T to match my X220 at all. Any tips for this?

I can't wait to have a note-taking pen tablet laptop thing, battery life is
just a big factor for me. I'm a college student and need to be able to run my
laptop from 8AM to 12PM. X220 works great for that. X230T is not there yet for
me.

------
pdimitar
I am very proud of all sides that are involved. The letter was very on point
when stating "The world of free software is shrinking and under attack".

All of us doing OSS must absolutely forgot any personal differences and work
towards the cause -- and never forget the cause. There are strongly
opinionated people, there are bigots, there are paid trolls, there are sexists
and racists -- like in all human groups. In the end though, we still must come
together.

------
hackuser
> With all of this in mind, were the allegations against the Free Software
> Foundation true? Perhaps. Perhaps not. At this point, it doesn’t matter.

It may matter very much to the person who was fired.

------
zokier
What is the relevance of libreboot anymore? Why not just focus instead on
librecore?

------
peterwwillis
Does anyone in the free software community really care about all this? Did
this really need a press release?

------
Hydraulix989
It looks like this got hit with the HN effect. Does anybody have a mirror?

------
romanovcode
So turns out they need GNU after all?

------
ailideex
can I get TLDR on all the drama ?

~~~
romanovcode
\- FSF fires underperforming and problematic employee who happen to be
transgender

\- Libreboot exists FSF and publicly denounces it believing that firing was
based because of the transgender a la discrimination

\- Community gets divided, Libreboot doesn't get as much help/code/growth as
before

\- Libeboot realised it made a huge mistake (but doesn't admit it), wants
things the way they were

------
calebgilbert
Without going into specifics that would surely prove to be incendiary to some,
this whole thing makes me feel like some portion of the world has completely
lost it. If you feel differently than me or hostile towards me for saying so,
that is your right, but I wanted to have at least one comment on here for
posterity for anyone else who feels the way I do so that they do not feel
alone.

------
calebgilbert
This is very telling to me that I get down voted for _having_ a differing
worldview opinion. Social justice for all unless they disagree with you, eh.

~~~
gizmo686
I can't speak to why others downvoted you. However, your comment says nothing.
I have no idea what you think about this; but I do know that your comment adds
nothing to the conversation.

~~~
calebgilbert
gizmo686 - For you this may be true. I don't think you can speak for everyone
that comes to this thread though. I've said as much as I feel comfortable and
safe to say given how hostile the internet and 'discussion' about certain
subjects have become in general.

~~~
albedoa
You attributed the downvotes to having a different opinion, but in this very
comment you admit to being intentionally vague.

Maybe you should instead attribute the downvoting to the very good reason you
gave us.

~~~
calebgilbert
Yeah, well I ended up with more upvotes than downvotes in the end. So
apparently your 'very good reason' was not widely shared. Thanks for trolling
anyway. Can alway count on the internet to provide plenty of them.

~~~
albedoa
Ah, glad your cognitive biases turned out to be right in the end!

------
sillysaurus3
_Finally, on a personal note, she was at the time struggling with gender
dysphoria and substance abuse. Since then, she has been managing these issues.
She agrees that her behaviour was rash and is determined to find a unifying
solution._

Is it really necessary to air this in public? Did you get her permission?

~~~
AdmiralAsshat
To be honest the "substance abuse" parts explains alot more about her behavior
than the gender dysphoria. During the incident period there were a number of
level-headed supporters of the project trying to dial it back, and it's as
though she would double down at every opportunity.

~~~
Sunset
> she would double down at every opportunity.

People with this kind of personal politics ALWAYS double down.

