The board of the GNOME Foundation has removed Sonny Piers from the board of directors and all committees, and has also blocked his account on GitLab and the GNOME Discourse project. Sonny was suspended back in May, but this has only been announced now. The decision to remove him was made at a closed meeting, without publishing the voting record and without disclosing the discussions prior to the vote, as well as without informing the community or providing explanations. Formally, the reason given was a complaint regarding a violation of the code of conduct, but this is just a general statement that does not address the essence of the issues that arose.
Participants in the GNOME project have expressed doubts that the actions taken behind closed doors are in accordance with the charter of the GNOME Foundation, particularly without informing the community and ensuring proper transparency in the decision-making processes. Some participants who voted for Sonny believe they should know why he was removed, on what grounds, and who voted for this decision. It is also noted that the manner in which the complaint regarding the code of conduct was handled is atypical and that the complaint was likely used merely as a pretext for Sonny Piers's removal. For instance, questions arise as to why some contributors regularly insult other participants in discussions but are not excluded from the community, whereas one complaint against Sonny sufficed for his removal.
Robert McQueen, president of the GNOME Foundation, explained that this is an unprecedented situation and details are not being disclosed on the advice of legal counsel, to limit the potential legal liability of the GNOME Foundation, as well as to protect those involved in the conflict. It was noted that this year the board has held 15-16 meetings on this matter and has paid significant attention to the decision-making process, attempting to balance legal risks with moral obligations to the community.
The delay in announcing the removal of Sonny is attributed to the intention to eliminate the influence of the decision on the election of the new board of directors and the desire to ensure the decision is confirmed at the first official meeting of the new board. The postponement in publishing the announcement was also affected by the ongoing conflict resolution process, in which the GNOME Foundation acted as a neutral mediator to help the parties involved reach an acceptable solution.
Maintaining confidentiality during the conflict resolution and not disclosing the minutes of the meetings does not constitute a violation, as the charter only defines the general objectives of the Foundation and is not a founding document or dictates the organization's governance processes. For matters that should be addressed privately, California state law allows for non-public information to be excluded from public records.
Sonny Piers released a statement about the incident, mentioning that the process and decision shocked him, but he did not disclose any details in order to protect the individuals involved in the GNOME project, stating only that he does not view the incident as an 'interpersonal conflict'. Sonny also referred to the successful implementation of the proposals he outlined when running for the director position. In addition to GNOME, Sonny has also worked on XMPP and Firefox, and is the author of GNOME applications Workbench, Tangram, and Junction.
Source: opennet.ru
