[FFmpeg-devel] [RFC] dormant git accounts

[Michael Niedermayer]

Hi

On Tue, Nov 12, 2024 at 10:38:09PM +0000, Kieran Kunhya via ffmpeg-devel wrote:
> On Tue, 12 Nov 2024, 21:03 Michael Niedermayer, <michael at niedermayer.cc>
> wrote:
> 
> > On Tue, Nov 12, 2024 at 05:32:40PM +0000, Derek Buitenhuis wrote:
> > > On 11/12/2024 5:07 PM, James Almer wrote:
> > > > I personally don't agree with giving the domain/trademark to the
> > general
> > > > assembly, as some have argued. It's just not safe at all.
> > >
> > > Sorry, I didn't necessarily mean giving it ot the GA. I mean having it
> > in a
> > > better state than being held hostage by someone who hasn't been around
> > in 20
> > > years and only talks to one person.
> > >
> >
> > > It essentially gives that one person the ability to hold the whole
> > project hostage.
> >
> > This statement is true for every case where a person holds a trademark or
> > domain
> > Its also true for every legal entity holding them, as said legal entity is
> > generally
> > controlled by one person at some level.
> >
> 
> It's possible to have entities where no single person is in control.

which then have a single person applying their decission. Again a single
person who holds the password for the domain registrar.

One can stack more and more complexity to battle all this. But to
go back to the start. The domain and trademark owner has not abused his
power ever in the whole lifetime of the project. Some people maybe
dont trust anyone they have not personally met, but that is unsolvable
unless you limit the size of the community, there will always be
community members who never met.


> 
> Most importantly though, if one person is in control, it's documented and
> legally required to be on the public record.

In the past the community preferred not to publically list individuals so as to
make the project and its members harder to attack.

Also everyone in the community knows who owns the domain and trademark.

thx

[...]

-- 
Michael     GnuPG fingerprint: 9FF2128B147EF6730BADF133611EC787040B0FAB

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a
revolutionary act. -- George Orwell
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