In the past most threats against the Foundation have been idle (imo), but even now I get a very bad feeling in my stomach about this. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing the BF forums get DDoS'd, defaced, among other things. Given the poor standing of other notable members (see: Peter Vessenes), the future of the Foundation is very fragile. Yes they pay Gavin, but that's only because we accept their changes and update our software. If we stop doing that and fork QT, the need for them diminishes quickly. It would be in their benefit to remember that.
the Foundation who has claimed to champion the fungibility of the protocol.
You know you can simply create a github account and start contributing? (right here:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin, behold the Fork button) Like many others in this community you make it sound like forking the code is some grandiose act of rebellion. But it's simply how open source works.
No need to BF member, or go through a secret core dev initiation ritual.
Seriously, we can use more active contributors for Bitcoind/-qt. Get involved! Stop complaining, start coding (or as Erik Hughes wrote in his manifesto in 1993: Cypherpunks write code). Forking the code is not a threat to anyone. Don't confuse it with forking the blockchain.
Well said.
Developers should also be positive to alternative clients.