The co-founders of ProtonMail were caught providing multiple inaccurate statements about their business practices in that thread, and couldn't deny any of the facts stated by the co-founder of PIA[1].
Focus on the facts. Not the messenger. Secondly, I admire your love of this discussion [1].
1. You are the user in question that is a co-founder for PIA.
2. You are a direct competitor to Proton*
3. "Messengers", especially in the position of founder of the competitor, have significant bias.
4. You have a fiduciary reason for them to fail.
5. user protonmail has noted significant harassment regarding this issue
It's neither religion, nor politics. It's tech. You don't need to believe in anything you cannot verify yourself. I have checked most of the statements provided by the co-founder of PIA, and found none of them to be false, even if he sometimes crossed the line of a civil discussion.
As was listed, there are plenty of good reasons to learn about the messenger, just like how looking up my comment history will show my propensity for calling this argument out. You know my ulterior motives and where I'm coming from.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17261149 -- need to have "showdead" enabled in profile
EDIT: I'm sure the competition is intense and I'm not sure I would be able to rise above it myself but I think you need to be aware of what it looks like.
They bring shame to our industry, and further, shame to our cause.
I will stand up against them everyday regardless of what kind of repercussions come to me. That’s what it means to protect people’s privacy.
Cheers!
[0]: Plus, it was raised by a competitor, Private Internet Access, so it makes it even more difficult to get the facts straight.