There was no "year of debate".
You came to the mailing list and announced it for the first time as a finalized decision already,
without any prior debate with the original team.
The "board" you cited as the body which allegedly discussed it did neither join the mailing list discussion,
nor were you willing to hand out their contact info.
It's all public for anyone to see on the mailing list archive:
https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...
- https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5534...
- https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5534...
Gee, I can't imagine how that mailing list could ever be toxic.
And that repurposing the name would cause lots of damage.
Incorrect, I raised the issue with the lead maintainer over a year prior to that announcement.
> You came to the mailing list and declared it as a finalized decision.
As the project's architect I'm entitled to make decisions about the project's future direction.
> It's all public for anyone to see on the mailing list archive:
> https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...
I stand by every word I said in that mailing list thread.
The previous lead maintainer, Steve, voiced their frustration with your decision here:
https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...
To which you sent a brash reply, which sounds like you don't know Steve's position in the community:
https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...
To which the current lead maintainer, Arne, said he agrees with the sentiment of Steve:
https://www.mail-archive.com/devl@freenetproject.org/msg5526...
So if you discussed this with Arne for a year, then why does he agree with the frustration of Steve?
And even if the discussion with Arne happened, it still was a backroom decision:
Two people are not representative on a project with plenty of developers and an active community.
> As the project's architect I'm entitled to make decisions about the project's future direction.
A sense of entitlement is not a leadership quality.
A leadership quality would be to admit a mistake:
That repurposing the name was not only bad for the original project,
but also for the new one (because these discussions will haunt it forever),
and to then rename the new project to a fresh name which no other software used before.
they were saying they debated with themselves,
before making the decision.