I asked Igor:

I'd like to put a bit of context around your announcement about stepping down from the AlmaLinux OS Foundation Board for our coverage in this weekend's Linux Action News. 

Basically, your expanded thoughts on why that move was necessary, and clarification, if this was your intention from the start or something you came to realize was needed? 

Was it hard to let that role go? 


Hi Chris,

The intention from the start was to make it a well-governed and independent organization that will survive the test of time. Knowing the history of CentOS, which never had any org structure behind it - I knew the governance will be very important. I didn't know which form it will take, but it was always the goal. We went back and forth between 501c3 & 501c6. We were afraid of some "evil corporation" taking over the control. I know it might sound funny to some people, as that is how CloudLinux was painted in relation to AlmaLinux.

There was no intention for me to be on the board in the first place. It was more of a necessity. Someone had to do it, and drive the process forward, invite people, talk to lawyers, figure out the next steps. You would be surprised just how few people want that responsibility.

Yet, as time progressed and we got good people on the board and set up processes. At that time, my presence in that position was no longer that important. So, it started to hurt the organizations more than it helped, as critics would come from time to time, and misguidedly claim that AlmaLinux belongs to CloudLinux. So, as CloudLinux, we wanted to demonstrate that we never wanted control of AlmaLinux, we just wanted to give it a good start.

As the result, the decision was very easy to make. I don't have a sentiment that "AlmaLinux" is mine. It is not. I helped to start it, and I will continue helping it flourish. Yet, I will not be done giving it direction. That is the whole point of it being a community-owned organization. It should be the community that decides what is next, what is ok, what is acceptable. 

Today I have absolute certainty about the long-term viability of AlmaLinux. I think benny can do a much better job growing the community (hey, that is her profession after all) than I ever could. The board has Simon - and he can keep the organization aligned with open source ideals much better than I ever could. We have good engineering talent there, and soon, I hope the board will do a round of elections, and elect a few more members from the community to strengthen the board even further. 

Regards,
Igor Seletskiy |  CEO