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The following archive was created by hippie-mail 7.98617-22 on Sat Apr 10 1999 - 01:17:38
Ben Laurie (ben@algroup.co.uk)
Thu, 24 Dec 1998 22:45:30 +0000
Sameer Parekh wrote:
>
> [Note that I've trimmed down the cc-list, per the Reply-To in my original
> message]
>
> Ben's comments usually do not merit response, but the folks in the OpenSSL
> project thought it would be wise if I responded to his claims.
>
> First, I think I need to explain why Ben made his announcement. Ben
> announced that he was creating a project because he learned through a
> breach of confidence that Ralf, Mark, and Paul were planning on creating an
> open source project to maintain SSLeay because they were concerned that
> Eric was no longer publically maintaining the code.
I categorically deny that. All I knew, less than 24 hours before the
announcement, was that Ralf had a mailing list to "discuss the future of
SSLeay" - I also knew that he had not seen fit to tell me about the
list. My decision to work on SSLeay was taken long before I was aware of
this list, and until the OpenSSL announcement I didn't know who was on
it (other than Ralf). Until I heard about that list I had _no inkling_
that anyone else had any plans, and even then, all I knew was that Ralf
and possibly others would be interested. I had no intention of
preventing his, or anyone else's, participation, as I thought I made
quite clear in my announcement.
It would seem that this "breach of confidence" to which you refer was
considerably smaller than you think it was, or I would have been better
informed.
> I guess he was upset
> that he had nothing of value to contribute, so decided that rather than
> letting Ralf, Mark, and Paul do their thing, he would announce his project
> in order to claim some credit.
In fact, the situation is quite different. I've looked at the changes
file for OpenSSL, and it represents no more than I have already done for
SSLeay. Bad guess.
I expect to get credit in the usual way - by doing stuff, not by
posturing.
> Ben's opinion of C2Net's record with open source does not concern me. I am
> certain that everyone else in the community is well aware of C2Net's
> actions and record in the open source community and can come to their own
> proper conclusions in this area without worrying about what Ben thinks. I
> beleive that actions speak louder than words.
So do I. To take an example - this version of SSLeay you have just
released - how long has that been in C2's possession? Why was it not
released before now?
> It is probably clear to everyone except Ben that C2Net does not control
> this project. However, I should state that fact anyway, for clarification
> purposes. C2Net does not control this project. It is expected that Ralf,
> who has no formal relationship with C2Net, will be taking the leadership
> position in this project. I personally am not a member of the group,
> because I obviously am unable to contribute -- I'm a US citizen.
Having spoken to Ralf, I now understand that C2Net doesn't control the
project, however, it seems less than clear from the announcement that
this is the case. Incidentally, Ralf has led me to believe that this
project will be leaderless, in the same way that the Apache Group is.
> The only reason I made the announcement is because C2Net is contributing
> the initial bits of code for the OpenSSL project. Therefore Ralf, Mark, and
> Paul contacted me about announcing the project.
>
> I really hate public bickering. It's counterproductive, useless, and only
> serves to degrade the reputations of the people involved in the bickering.
At least we agree on one thing.
> However, as I stated earlier, I was asked to make these corrections by the
> OpenSSL Project.
>
> The OpenSSL project welcomes everyone's contributions, including Ben's.
> The OpenSSL Project will be managed with the open Apache/FreeBSD-style
> model. It will not be managed using the "benevolent dictator" models used
> by Linux and SSLeay.
> I hope that this is the last bit of bickering required and that everyone
> can contribute to the project with a true sense of open source community.
If you can stick to the truth we can stop bickering. Even better, if you
had contacted me before announcing, we could probably have avoided any
public bickering at all.
However, it seems that both sides have managed to get the wrong end of
the stick at times in this matter, so I'm willing to forgive and forget
if you are.
Cheers,
Ben.
BTW, have a great Xmas, everyone. Even Sameer. :-)
-- Ben Laurie |Phone: +44 (181) 735 0686| Apache Group member Freelance Consultant |Fax: +44 (181) 735 0689|http://www.apache.org/ and Technical Director|Email: ben@algroup.co.uk | A.L. Digital Ltd, |Apache-SSL author http://www.apache-ssl.org/ London, England. |"Apache: TDG" http://www.ora.com/catalog/apache/
The following archive was created by hippie-mail 7.98617-22 on Sat Apr 10 1999 - 01:17:38