🚀 go-pugleaf

(I don't speak for the FSF; I offer here my perceptions as an FSF
employee of four and a half years.)

The FSF is careful not to give extra credit to Cygnus.  We don't, for
example, recommend them in any way over other vendors of support.  The
charge of (metaphorical) nepotism is something we are quite careful to
avoid in any competition between Cygnus and one of its competitors,
large or small.

Happily, there has never been a case in which two potential external
maintainers came to blows over which the FSF should recognize.  If
that happened and Cygnus was one of them, it seems pretty clear to me
that any decision made would be on the basis of who did a better job,
not who was a closer friend.

The FSF has always been grateful for the assistance all its
volunteers, including Cygnus, have given in making the GNU project a
success.  This gratitude is independent of, and implies no approval
of, other business activities the volunteer in question might engage
in.

Sometimes the goals of the FSF differ from those of volunteers that
maintain packages.  Sometimes this happens with Cygnus.  (For example,
I and most of the FSF staff are not happy about the non-disclosure
agreements that Cygnus signs.)  But such a disagreement doesn't
prevent us from working together, and the FSF never works with someone
in a way that would represent a comprimise of the FSF's principles.
(Note well: the FSF's principles are not defined by some vague
"freedom of access to information" idea or "don't profit from
software".  Both are quite false representations of the FSF's
principles.)

Sometimes the FSF isn't happy with the manner a particular volunteer
does releases.  Sometimes this happens with Cygnus.  Such diversity in
methods usually stems from a difference in the objectives between the
FSF and the volunteer concerned.  This is solved by the obvious step
of negotiation with the volunteer concerned, and has never been a very
serious problem.

The FSF generally would rather third parties didn't distribute GNU
software in ways that compete with the FSF's own sales.  (Of course,
such distribution is not illegal; we'd just rather it didn't happen.)
So the FSF is glad that companies like Cygnus don't enter into direct
competition to sell tapes and CD-ROMs.  (The FSF encourages all of
you, when purchasing GNU software from third-parties, to make sure
there is a specific guarantee that they will give a certain amount of
money to support free software development.)

The fact that Cygnus makes some software available to customers, but
doesn't make it (immediately) a part of the main FSF distribution, is
totally irrelevant.  This is no different from any volunteer who
happens to give working copies of the software to their friends but
only makes releases more occasionally.  The fact that Cygnus charges
for friendship is not relevant.

The FSF does give thanks specifically to Cygnus Support in the GNU's
Bulletin.  We do not, however, distinguish them from the many other
volunteers and organizations that offer help to the GNU Project.  We
thank quite a few people, including universities and several
proprietary software companies--on the basis of their contributions to
the Project.

--
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the        |
continent, a part of the main.  Any man's death diminishes me, because   -+-
I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom       |
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.                                        |