News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Developers join call for GitHub to cancel its ICE contract by aalleavitch on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @12:44PM (#21704634)
Pretending you have nothing to do with the consequences of your actions doesn't make it so. Saying you're "apolitical" only means that you bury your head in the sand regarding the very real political consequences of your operations.
Re:Developers join call for GitHub to cancel its ICE contract by psymal on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @12:59PM (#21704843)
So it's impossible to design a politically neutral organisation? Depressing.
Re:Developers join call for GitHub to cancel its ICE contract by aalleavitch on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @01:03PM (#21704905)
"Politically neutral" is a nonsense concept. You can make a politically flexible organization, you can make an organization that tries to operate orthogonally to the existing political powers in the world, but if you do something that has a real effect on the world, some component of that effect is by nature political. You can try to balance yourself in the overton window, but even that is a decisively centrist position.
Re:Developers join call for GitHub to cancel its ICE contract by LiNeXT on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @02:25PM (#21705955)
> but if you do something that has a real effect on the world, some component of that effect is by nature political

No.

Re:Developers join call for GitHub to cancel its ICE contract by LiNeXT on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @12:48PM (#21704691)
Claiming that everything is political doesn't make it so.
Re:Developers join call for GitHub to cancel its ICE contract by aalleavitch on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @12:51PM (#21704725)
And claiming that something is apolitical doesn't make it so. Are you going to present an actual argument?

The reality of the world is that no company operates in a vacuum. If a political organization gains power it wouldn't have had because you willingly entered into a contract with it, you are absolutely responsible for that. Pretending otherwise is just trying to absolve yourself of the real harm that you have done.

Re:Developers join call for GitHub to cancel its ICE contract by LiNeXT on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @01:12PM (#21705047)
It's software. What you or anyone else does with it is your own responsibility.
Re:Developers join call for GitHub to cancel its ICE contract by aalleavitch on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @01:17PM (#21705123)
"Look, I don't explode the atomic bombs I just make and sell them"?

If people were more cognizant of the effects the things they made put out into the world, we'd be living in a better one. Claiming you have no responsibility doesn't absolve you of anything.