Thanksgiving - no donation this year

[POSIX.1]

What questions do you think I should ask?

dgoodkin, if I were you, I would use the FreeBSD forums to push projects forward, especially those that need prioritization or those that are struggling to make progress but are important. There are quite a few of those.

The FreeBSD forums aren't just for newbies who want to install RELEASE-15 on some poorly supported laptop for the first time. There are quite a few people here who have many years of experience with FreeBSD. Don't let some complaining here irritate you, because there are people who would be willing to do something if you asked them for some kind of cooperation. That could be at least as valuable as asking for donations.

If I were you, I would ask the forum administrators to set up a separate “Foundation” sub forum where Foundation-related matters can be discussed, Foundation staff can be found, and relevant issues can be discussed. I would suggest, for example, a sub-forum in the top section “The FreeBSD Forums” with relevant subcategories such as “Foundation News,” “Projects,” “We need your help,” etc. Think about it a little and come up with some more good ideas.

I think this is far more effective than hoping for emails to info@foundation and only engaging in dialogue with a few individuals without a broader feedback. I mean, nothing is more suitable and efficient than using the official FreeBSD forums with the domain FreeBSD.org directly.

You could specifically ask for funding, collaboration, or feedback for individual projects here in the FreeBSD forums. These would be relevant questions you could ask here. And I think you'll make faster and more efficient progress with urgent projects here.

I would very much welcome a constructive dialogue that would help us all move forward.

 

[POSIX.1]

dgoodkin one week later

When a dialog stalls I like to mention that every behavior is a form of communication.
It is impossible not to communicate because you cannot not-behave.
Even if communication is being avoided, that is a form of communication.

 

[dgoodkin]

dgoodkin one week later

When a dialog stalls I like to mention that every behavior is a form of communication.
It is impossible not to communicate because you cannot not-behave.
Even if communication is being avoided, that is a form of communication.

My apologies. It might help if I set up email notifications so I know when someone tags me. I appreciate your suggestions, especially some of the sub-forum ideas, and will explore how the Foundation can become more engaged in the forums in the new year. Please note that the annual community survey, which the Core Team and Foundation send out in the spring, is an excellent place for the community to provide its feedback. We use that information to understand which projects we should support, where we can provide assistance, and hear concerns and challenges. Even though we do this once / year, we can compare the responses to previous years to understand if things have improved. Now off to setting up my email notifications!

 

[POSIX.1]

Please note that the annual community survey, which the Core Team and Foundation send out in the spring, is an excellent place for the community to provide its feedback.

dgoodkin I noted the surveys since they started.

Why is the Detailed Report of Findings of the 2025 Community Survey not so promoted to read here like the call to take part?

This year's results are particularly interesting. Did you forget to give us a link here on the FreeBSD forums when the results were published?
Here it is:

https://freebsdfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/FreeBSD-2025-Community-Survey-Report-Final.pdf

 

[ralphbsz]

Why is the Detailed Report of Findings of the 2025 Community Survey not so promoted to read here like the call to take part?

The survey and its results were discussed here. I don't remember whether "the foundation" (meaning staff) ever posted it directly, but I remember starting a thread to talk about it. Most of the discussion in that context was between the "Make FreeBSD another desktop OS that is easy to install and use, and optimized for sitting in a coffee shop with a laptop" and "give it the power to serve". I think people know what side I come down on.

This year's results are particularly interesting.

They absolutely are. As is the direction the funding of new development by the foundation is taking. Note that mentioning those two things next to each other doesn't imply that they are connected.

 

[dgoodkin]

The survey and its results were discussed here. I don't remember whether "the foundation" (meaning staff) ever posted it directly, but I remember starting a thread to talk about it. Most of the discussion in that context was between the "Make FreeBSD another desktop OS that is easy to install and use, and optimized for sitting in a coffee shop with a laptop" and "give it the power to serve". I think people know what side I come down on.


They absolutely are. As is the direction the funding of new development by the foundation is taking. Note that mentioning those two things next to each other doesn't imply that they are connected.

Thanks for sharing it back in September. I just learned that our blogs and reports are directly posted here: https://forums.freebsd.org/forums/blogs-and-newsfeeds.50/. Since the survey results were posted on a webpage rather than a blog post, they were not uploaded to the forum.

 

[Jose]

The survey and its results were discussed here.

They definitely were because I remember being angry about slides 45 and 46, where the bullet points at the top of the slide absolutely contradict the actual data presented in the slide

There are differences in other sources though – especially newer users who more likely to turn to IM, AI or Reddit
and less likely to use mailing list posts or source code.

And

As with getting help, newer users seem less inclined to use traditional sources like mailing lists, newsletters, or the
FBSD Journal -- preferring Reddit, social media, and YouTube to stay up to date.

Look at the data, and you'll see the Forum way outperforms all those alternative means of communications for all users, regardless of how long they've been using Freebsd.

It does make me wonder why the Foundation considers us a red-headed stepchild.