I love the town. I love the concept. I love the people who make it possible.
However, there's something wrong with it.
And no, before you ask, this is not me leaving again. I'm still here! I'm still part of the town, I think.
But there is a critical flaw.
The town is built on the premise that our code will, forever, be open sourced. It will be free. However, I don't see how this applies to the non-code work we have done. The things we write. The things we work on. The advice we provide, out of our own compassion.
Sadly, this exemption is apparently not the case.
I am unsure whether this is a general consensus among town people, or just the abusive, hegemonic beliefs of an individual, but the subsequent environment that has been cultivated is not one of personal freedom, where we come together to make something beautiful. It is one of tyranny. Of single-minded thought. Of a lack of compassion.
We are required, by the "rules" of the town, which are not even set in writing, to make everything open source. To have all our work, all the labours of our love, open for everyone to see. Even if a mistake is to be made, something truly personal is uploaded, we are required to keep it up.
Even if something that you worked hard for, that you literally put in hours writing, that you want to be used correctly, can be downloaded and used, at the dismay and disapproval of its original writer.
This is the crux of the issue I believe lies at the centre of the town. There is a culture of assimilation, not collaboration.
And this culture persists, to the point where if I change the visibility of my repo, and simply make another which has all the added code alongside the actual code used to run the website, apparently that makes me not a part of the town anymore.
So I have a question for the town, or should I say the town's dictator. Where is the common sense?
In a town, where the ideals of FOSS, personal freedom, anti-corporate jingo, etc. are so freely and openly spread, how can one possibly consider themselves an emancipator, a democrat for free thought and collaboration when they themselves diminish the rights of their colleagues?
I have followed through, and separated my website into two repositories. And so, I have a final message.
To the person who prides himself with being "free and open source"(which is hypocritical since, your website is so badly made you can't access most of the things).
To the person who controls the town like a child playing in their doll house.
To the freedom fanatic, who goes on and on about how free his website is, while ensnaring others like a snake.
To the democrat, who asserts himself like a dictator.
What are you gonna do about it?
