KDE should rather act then just "strike" (Re: Should KDE join the (Digital) Global Climate Strike this friday?)

[Martin Steigerwald]

Hi!

Thomas Pfeiffer - 19.09.19, 15:04:41 CEST: 
> On 19.09.19 13:52, Friedrich W. H. Kossebau wrote:
> > Am Mittwoch, 18. September 2019, 18:01:18 CEST schrieb 
cahfofpai at tuta.io:
> >> Hello to all members of the KDE community,
> >> 
> >> this friday (september the 20th) will be a big day in climate
> >> protests and hopefully also in human history: People in more than
> >> 3500 places worldwide are joining the Global Climate Strike to
> >> draw attention to the rising climate crisis.
> >> 
> >> The question I want to ask you is: Should KDE join this protests
> >> and show solidarity with the people engaging for this very
> >> important topic?> 
> > If KDE (as organization) found this topic important, it should
> > rather have it on its agenda every day, instead of just signaling
> > one day the year "oh yes, so important topic, we also agree
> > someone(tm) should fix this!!1!" , and the rest of the year
> > continue using flights also for KDE activities ("it's quicker &
> > less expensive, sorry") or buy that new device because it is more
> > powerful ("I could not stand the old one, sorry").
> > 
> > I would find it ridiculous and would be embarrassed to see someone
> > doing this in my name (as active contributor to KDE software
> > projects), when it's not backed by official applied policies. You
> > are actually harming the strike, and shadowing those people who are
> > not just signaling, but serious by what they do.
> 
> As a very active member of the climate movement in several
> organizations, my time spent there being the main reason why I didn't
> run for another board term, I disagree.
> 
> Of course KDE needs to care about our own environmental impact, which
> is why we have the ongoing discussion about an environmental policy
> (it's currently happening on the KDE e.V. members list because we
> first thought about a KDE e.V. policy), and yes, we should do even
> more.
> 
> However, that should not keep us from participating in this campaign.
> Promoting the Global Climate Strike today through our channels (it has
> to be today, since the strike is tomorrow!) could in itself have an
> effect. This is not about a grand gesture, this is about informing
> our audience about the strike.
>
> Since I am deep in the "climate bubble", Friday the 20th of September
> has been red in my calendar for months and I've been hearing about it
> every day since then.
> Outside of that bubble, however, apparently it's by far not well known
> enough.

I believe both approaches do not contradict each other.

KDE community can promote the climate strike through their channels on a 
rather short term and still work a on long term approach or commitment.

I'd love to see us do both. KDE is already a truly awesome community. 
And one can argue not to engage into "political" stuff as a free software 
community, but this is much more than "political" stuff. This is a topic 
that affects all living beings on Earth. For me it would be a remarkable 
step for a free software based community to stand up for sustainability.

20th is marked in my calendar since a long time.  I certainly will go to 
the local demonstration. And it will not be the first demonstration I 
have been to. For me it is not fair to leave all the necessary work to 
facilitate necessary, long overdue changes to our youngest generation. 
Those young people deserve our support and commitment. They deserve the 
action that is needed. And I believe there are quite some of that 
generation with KDE already anyway, for example due to the various 
student programs.

Strong action to reduce the human influence on the climate, ideally back 
to zero, and to remember a more loving relationship with mother earth 
and all the living beings on her will also decide about the future of 
KDE, both as a community and as a collection of wonderful software which 
can be used for all kinds of good causes.

So I am committed to do the best I can, even when it can be overwhelming 
at times. I know I will be there and contribute as best I can to this 
good cause. No matter how the community decision turns out to be.

Thank you all for bringing this up here.

Best,
-- 
Martin