Keeping KDE Apolitical

Mon Nov 3 21:51:16 GMT 2025

> Even still, I don't agree that being "apolitical" in your definition is a unquestionable goodm I would like to ask you to question why you think being "apolitical" is a good thing. 
> --
> Margaret "Mae" Miller (she/her)

Because picking a side will naturally result in the exclusion of people not on that side. Promoting a culture of conformity where there is a chilling effect on range of people's speech and expression. You end up like GNOME where there is a clear political majority of a particular school of thought in the management and development of the project. That in of itself is not a bad thing, but it is when any it gets to the point where anything critical or contrary to their world view will end up getting drowned out and result in your character assassination by getting branded a nazi. This is the exact kind of activity that I would like to see the KDE community avoid for the foreseeable future by acknowledging that people participating will have political views and are free to express themselves as such. But KDE Plasma as an organisation and project must strive to remain apolitical to cater to many demographics as possible. That will simply not be the case if people continue to speak on behalf of KDE Plasma in their capacity as an employee or contributor to share their political theoretic. 

As some have previously pointed out there, is a time and place for political activism but KDE Plasma should not be one such place. Inclusion is built into the very ethos of free and open source software, so there should be no need for involving identity politics or culture wars any further than it already has.

On Nov 2, 2025 at 10:56 PM, Margaret Miller <mmiller at wanderingwires.net> wrote:Even still, I don't agree that being "apolitical" in your definition is a
unquestionable goodm I would like to ask you to question why you think being
"apolitical" is a good thing. 
--
Margaret "Mae" Miller (she/her)

Nov 2, 2025, 14:52 by rtroy at ScienceTools.com:

>
> On Sun, 2 Nov 2025, Margaret Miller wrote:
>
>>
>> No. I love KDE precisely because they're not falling for this "apolitical"
nonsense that only ever is used to benefit the far right and push out
marginalized people.
>>
>
> Hmmm...
>
> With respect, I'd like to ask you to adjust how you assert stuff like that.
>
> You're not wrong, Margaret, in stating that there are many instances in
modern times, especially in the USA and parts of Western Europe (perhaps
elsewhere) that very partisan and political things are done in the name of
being "apolitical." However, someone else's improper use of our common language
shouldn't be a reason for us to redefine words and twist things. That is, how
you phrased your defense of the marginalized was itself falling into a
linguistic trap. I agree with "Slopsec" we all stay out of it.
>
> I believe "Slopsec's" articulation was the more accurate: We can and should
defend being apolitical in KDE and avoid it in ourselves when dealing with
unrelated subjects. And let us not try and redefine the word apolitical or buy
into other people's false definitions. Slopsec asked we keep politics out of
this venue and I agree, and defending those who need defending as you propose
isn't, in my view, political.
>
> Word-hijacking has long been, unfortunately, "a thing" in humanity and it's
both insidious and corrosive and is intended, most times, to either divide, or
convince one of false narratives. A simple but obvious example would be the
likes of Nancy Pelosi (among many others) who try and call themselves "left"
just because they're not where current Republicans are, when anyone of my
generation would call them out as 1980's style Republicans. It's an attempt to
redefine the word for their own political purposes and I say we not buy into
it. Apolitical means NOT political. And defending against bullying as you
propose isn't a political act, it's an act born of good morals.
>
> In any event, ABSOLUTELY, Margaret, DEFEND those who need defending, like the
marginalized. Lets just try and not talk past one another, please.
>
> I hope I haven't just whacked a hornet's nest!
>
> Regards,
> Richard
>
> P.S. You can read MY basic political affiliations in my signature line as it
articulates the who and what I pledge allegiance to.  RT
>
>>
>> --
>> Margaret "Mae" Miller (she/her)
>>
>> Nov 2, 2025, 14:09 by anonymous.viewer at mailfence.com:
>>
>>> Hello everyone,
>>>
>>> Something concerning that was brought to my attention compelled me to
compose my thoughts. For the sake of maintaining a healthy community with a
diverse array of people from different backgrounds, I would like to implore
that you please keep KDE Plasma apolitical. It should not be used as a platform
for character assassination or the badjacketing of people and organisations for
political views which may differ from your own. There could be about half a
dozen of reasons why KDE Plasma may have wished to abstain from interacting on
X/Twitter and each of them likely to be valid from a purely technical or
utilitarian prospective. Instead, an employee of KDE Plasma for promotion and
communication asserted their own politics and spoke on behalf of KDE Plasma as
a whole in a statement when addressing why KDE Plasma has stopped posting to
X.
>>>
>>> I don't think this is something that should be tolerated in our community,
as the politicisation of projects and hobbies only serves to sow division which
leads to ostracism and exclusion rather than inclusion. Hobbies should be
politically neutral as to remain inclusive for all people from different walks
of life. The founding ethos of the free and open source community ensured that
nobody was excluded or marginalised for their immutable traits or beliefs as
they did not matter or would've otherwise impacted a person's ability to
participate. These very founding principles are being threatened by those who
that assert their politics into the hobbies and projects where it has no
business being. The free and open source movement is political in nature, yes.
However, there should be absolutely no room for identity politics and culture
wars which distract from the very purpose of our hobby. Creating, maintaining
and iterating on software and public infrastructure that anyone may free
>>>
> ly use for the betterment of humanity.
>
>>>
>>> I've left my thoughts here in good faith as a user of KDE Plasma and
welcome any discussion or feedback.
>>>
>>> Thank you all for your time and cheers for reading.
>>>
>>> —Slopsec
>>>
>>> --
>>> Sent with https://mailfence.com
>>> Secure and private email
>>>
>
> --
> Richard Troy, Chief Scientist
> Science Tools Corporation
> 510-717-6942
> rtroy at ScienceTools.com, http://ScienceTools.com/
>
> I pledge allegiance to We, The People, to mutual peace and harmony, and
> to the natural Earth and biosphere upon which We, The People, depend.
>

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