Michael was the only person actually paid by OpenMRS. We’re all volunteers. We’re all dedicated to OpenMRS, and I doubt most of the people who have chosen to leave, did so easily but felt it was the only recourse. Our issues are with the way the project is currently being run. More details below.
Except here’s the thing: issues HAVE been raised in the past and what lead Michael to leave was the fact that he kept saying what was wrong, and nobody listened to him. He’s been trying and yes, people leaving is about personal issues, and the issues are with people in leadership who are not taking any action. I’m trying very hard to not get to the point where I feel like being here is like tying myself to a sinking ship. In fact he actually has a long document outlining the problems within the Community Management team from the OpenMRS Camp in 2015 – and people acted like that whole thing ever existed. This is the kind of stuff that is causing people to leave. The document is 4 pages long and has detailed answers. There is NOTHING damaging the community and if there is damage, the blame lies with the “ineffective leaders.” – I’m sorry to blunt and direct but I’m trying hard to not make this community die. It’s not an either/or thing. People in the field still use and rely on OpenMRS. People like to be heard, and those who have left, they can choose to speak if they so choose, have done so because of that.
Who knows, maybe we could be like Node.js/io.js and come back together…or it might not happen. Nobody has a crystal ball. Forks happen, this isn’t the first Open Source project to have internal politics lead to a fork and it certainly will not be the last. Maybe Michael leaving will be enough to force you all to take action, maybe not…I’m not so sure myself.
In case people forgot about that document I mentioned, here’s a topic about it:
The motivation to fork is because of the utter lack of transparency, poor leadership and, not being listened to, I should also point out that the Mozilla Public License has no restriction on forking, in fact it’s allowed. Why everybody is so threatened by this is beyond my comprehension. It’s not damaging – and it wouldn’t have happened if people listened and implemented changes when the problems were pointed out. Nobody did that. I don’t think at this point and time, that people will stay with OpenMRS, at least not until leadership actually does something versus having conference call after conference call and reviewing document upon document. No action being taken is an “irrevocable action” (your words). Forking is continuing the community’s work. It’s not as black and white as you’re making it seem.