Six days ago, upgradeable laptop maker Framework tried to convince its fractious user community to live in a “big tent” after a Debian developer objected to the company’s sponsorship of Hyprland and its social media promotion of Omarchy, with both projects associated with politically polarizing viewpoints.
Antoine Beaupré, aka anarcat, demanded that Framework clarify its political position with regard to these two projects.
Hyprland, a Wayland compositor, is led by a “toxic and hateful community,” Beaupré observed, and Omarchy, a Linux distribution, comes from David Heinemeier Hansson (aka DHH), a controversial figure in the Ruby and Linux communities.
I don’t support the views of the endorsed projects, but surely a better reaction would be to suggest alternatives instead of just screaming for outright dismissal? I keep reading that “omarchy is just a bunch of scripts” and “hyperland is just one tiling window manager”. If that’s the case, there probably are better alternatives no? Or if it’s as easy as described why not fork it?
Complaining without an alternative or a solution is not productive, IMO
FTFY
And yeah, Framework is one of the few manufacturers designing specifically for Linux compatibility and repairability, and omarchy/hyprland Devs are apparently shitty people. If you think they shouldn’t be associated, suggest a different project not run by (possibly) literal Nazis instead of foaming at the mouth and screaming incoherently… doesn’t seem that difficult.
This is the biggest issue with niche communities: purity tests. They can’t unite under one goal and have productive discussions. They are more focused on being correct (their interpretation of correct) and shutting out the incorrect than getting closer to a goal. Sometimes incorrect can be as little as choosing the wrong utility and other times it can be much bigger but they all spark the same amount of ire.
Is it a purity test to not financially support trans people being harassed by Hyprland mods? To not support a figure who supports ethnic cleaning in England?
It’s one thing for people to just not philosophically buy into people being trans, or even have opinions on trans sports, without mistreating other people, but active harassment shouldn’t be endorsed. And I don’t know how someone justifies ethnic cleansing.
Not everything is a purity test, and at this point, I feel that likening something to that just means there’s a good likelihood that the person hasn’t done their research or is dogwhistling. Either way, the Overton Window has now moved so far right that people don’t blink an eye at calling it “purity testing” to expect an organization not to financially support openly white supremacists.
Yep, here we go. I’m a nazi now 🙄 This is exactly how you edge people out. You’re just the another flavor of “everything I don’t like is wOkE” but instead “everything I don’t like jNaZi!”.
Nobody’s in the middle. There’s no nuance. You’re either on my side or you’re an enemy. Life’s just that simple.
I firmly believe there are ways of being a centrist without being a Nazi. Hell, I believe you can be a pre-Trump-era Republican without being a Nazi. But there are also fascists who self-identify in these factions, and they benefit from the smokescreen of the “Everyone I don’t like is a Nazi” fallacy of argument. There is nuance. I can’t help but feel that you’re projecting.
Ethnic cleansing and its supporters are definitionally fascists though, and I don’t believe organizations should support those people. And David Heinemeier Hansson, like the Nazis, is a fascist. And I find it suspect and disturbing that people are referring to that as purity-testing.
If your default is equating “centrist” to “nazi”, then I wonder what kind of experiences you had but it’s so far from mine that it’s pointless to continue this.
Not my default, but okay, you’re clearly bad faith. I’m done. Goodbye.
I don’t think we should work with scum like DHH and vaxry just because some asshole lib might accuse us of purity tests
If “not working with people who are maniacs who want you dead” is a purity test I’m dusting off my Inquisition book
The entire ecosystem is full of purity tests. You don’t have a CoC? Must be a Nazi! Don’t use the right license? Probably a capitalist! You use systemd? Must be a Apple insider! You don’t use systemd? Fuck off you troglodyte. Oh my you said “no politics”? Definitely a lib! What’s that 🏳️🌈 flag? OMG what a woke commie.
Everyone draws the line somewhere else. Just because you draw it at DHH doesn’t mean you’re better.