Developer also had a Charlie Hebdo[0] edition[1]. I have been using Notepad++ for over a decade if my memory serves me right and I will continue to use it.

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Hebdo_shooting [1]https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/v674-je-suis-charlie-edit...

It's kind of strange but refreshing, that an open source project mixes their releases with other unrelated issues, using their popularity to spread their word. But I guess, the larger and more known you get, the higher the chance to offend people.

I think there's a point, where this can turn against the project and maybe Notepad++ reached it? It may also change the dynamic while you grow. Just think about how Hacker News would look like today if submissions about political affairs were accepted...

However, I love that the Notepad++ Devs did also show some humor before with a well-known easter egg: Type Random, select the word and hit F1. [1]

[1] https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/blob/...

Remember that vim is a charityware and you are encouraged to donate to Uganda children.

> donate to Uganda children.

Does it count if I donate to a different group that supports Uganda children, but still use vim?

In any case, I applaud the vim devs for promoting this.

Yes, think about it, it would no longer be a safe space for S)W crap and promotion of lies and insane agendas. They speak up against evil, against communism, kudos to them, not that capitalism, (state sanctioned u5ury through central banks) is any better at the end of the day.

> This is a perfect example of what that feature enables. The maintainers can, if they want, just go in and remove all these issue reports.

Why would anyone want that? The author took a public stance against oppression, and all these trolls are demonstrating that he is right.

From the notes:

"People will tell me again to not mix politics with software/business. Doing so surely impacts the popularity of Notepad++: talking about politics is exactly what software and commercial companies generally try to avoid. The problem is, if we don’t deal with politics, politics will deal with us. We can choose to not act when people are being oppressed, but when it’s our turn to be oppressed, it will be too late and there will be no one for us. You don’t need to be Uyghur or a Muslim to act, you need only to be a human and have empathy for our fellow humans."

I have wondered about the following question in roundabout ways, but this note has finally made the phrasing clear to me: if humanity finds a way to weed out the people who speak up for themselves and for others over a long-enough time scale, then what happens to humanity game-theoretically in that scale and on a longer scale? Please feel free to replace “humanity” with “a population” if it helps you think of an answer.

Edit: replaced “in terms of game theory” with “game-theoretically”.

My take on this is that it's not possible on a long enough time scale. If you try to curtail freedom of knowledge and trade, eventually you will get artifacts that will slow down the progress of your society (just look at the Github bans). Look at how hopelessly antiquated "parallel" societies like the ex-GDR, North Korea or Cuba have become.

North Korea still holds out as they completely closed down their population. But if you try to have all the good parts of western society while still limiting intellectual freedom, I think all of this will come apart eventually. Travel from and to China is not severely limited, and eventually there will be an influx and a core cell of Chinese people wanting to have the same freedoms for their country.

Fighting those minds will show the true faces of any authoritarian regime, which in turn will get more people upset. I think in these days of full technical mind control, it will be an interesting excercise in how long a government can keep this critical mass contained and intimidated.

But once they can get some visibility and they hit a weak spot in the regime, it's usually over: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_demonstrations_in_East_...

The human mind is meant to be free. Any dictatorship is actively working at destroying itself.

its great when simple facts can obliterate the propaganda.

Politics isn't about humans, its about power.

Power over humans. No humans, no power.