Monday, September 24th 2018
Linux Community Hit by the Blight of Social Justice Warfare, A Great Purge is Coming
Through the 1990s, Microsoft had become a super-corporation threatening to monopolize all of computing. A band of talented developers got together with lawyers that could fish out loopholes in proprietary licenses, and with some generosity from big software, Linux grew from a scrappy Unix-like OS kernel to the preeminent operating system for enterprises at first, and handheld consumer electronics later. Today it's most popular operating system on the planet. Like every big organization, the Linux Foundation is hit by employee-activism.
Employee-activism is the new unionism. Whereas trade-unions of the old fought for tangible bread-and-butter issues affecting blue-collar folk of the early Industrial era, today's employee-activist is an intellectual predator seeking to maximize their organizational footprint on the backs of other people echoing their political ideas, often through blatant insubordination and disregard for the chain of command. Survival of the fittest has changed to "survival of the loudest." From forcing Linus Torvalds to apologize for speaking his mind in public, to coming up with a new Code of Conduct document, social-justice activism within the Linux Foundation threatens to devolve the culture of meritocracy to a toxic "safe space" prioritizing inclusion of identity rather than skill, as HardOCP comments. A major blow-back from the meritocrats is taking shape.
In a major revision to the license, software developers contributing to the Linux kernel source-code will soon be able to withdraw their contribution, if they are ever cornered by the rest of the community over perceived code-of-conduct violation (i.e. not pandering to identity politics or speaking their minds like Torvalds does). This is big, as many of the older generations of contributors who have made critical contributions without with Linux cannot function, now have a legal recourse, and could reduce the amount of political activism within the community.
Since 2015, identity politicians have been trying to force the Linux Foundation to join the Contributor Covenant, a special Code-of-Conduct agreement that seeks to change the "the predominantly white, straight, and male face of programming." On September 16, the Foundation agreed to implement CC Code of Conduct. Shortly following that, groups of pro-CC developers went on a character-assassination spree of top Linux developers by amplifying and often distorting, their political views (which are irrelevant to the task of programming).
Sources:
Lulz, HardOCP
Employee-activism is the new unionism. Whereas trade-unions of the old fought for tangible bread-and-butter issues affecting blue-collar folk of the early Industrial era, today's employee-activist is an intellectual predator seeking to maximize their organizational footprint on the backs of other people echoing their political ideas, often through blatant insubordination and disregard for the chain of command. Survival of the fittest has changed to "survival of the loudest." From forcing Linus Torvalds to apologize for speaking his mind in public, to coming up with a new Code of Conduct document, social-justice activism within the Linux Foundation threatens to devolve the culture of meritocracy to a toxic "safe space" prioritizing inclusion of identity rather than skill, as HardOCP comments. A major blow-back from the meritocrats is taking shape.
In a major revision to the license, software developers contributing to the Linux kernel source-code will soon be able to withdraw their contribution, if they are ever cornered by the rest of the community over perceived code-of-conduct violation (i.e. not pandering to identity politics or speaking their minds like Torvalds does). This is big, as many of the older generations of contributors who have made critical contributions without with Linux cannot function, now have a legal recourse, and could reduce the amount of political activism within the community.
Since 2015, identity politicians have been trying to force the Linux Foundation to join the Contributor Covenant, a special Code-of-Conduct agreement that seeks to change the "the predominantly white, straight, and male face of programming." On September 16, the Foundation agreed to implement CC Code of Conduct. Shortly following that, groups of pro-CC developers went on a character-assassination spree of top Linux developers by amplifying and often distorting, their political views (which are irrelevant to the task of programming).
653 Comments on Linux Community Hit by the Blight of Social Justice Warfare, A Great Purge is Coming
A republic may be best. TAB as Senate (long term interest), maintainers as House (short term interest), Torvalds is President (project manager), and an external body of arbiters as the Supreme Court (addressing conflict and ethics that makes recommendations if the matter can't be resolved). TAB puts names forward for replacing project manager and maintainers vote on it. Maintainers can likewise vote to force TAB to put someone else forward (impeach current project manager).
It could also take a corporate structure where subsystem managers are the board, project manager is CEO, and maintainers contribute under one or more subsystem managers.Pixar was a computer division of Lucas Films which Apple invested in allowing it to become an independent company.
Seriously.. it's the hallmark of Critical Theory. Instead of Marxism turning it's eye on labor and economy, Critical Theorists see the fundamental problems of society most of all in the realms of media and social influence... and calls to infiltrate them all. They attack any structure that "props up opressors".. It could be College, it could be Tech, it could be Comic books and Star Wars, it could be TV Sitcoms, it could be Apple Pie. Nothing is safe. Everything is suddenly political and a symbol of an accursed world that needs to live up to higher ideals.
In one sense, I actually agree with them. I, in fact, do think the world is accursed and favors injustice. I just don't think they have the solution. I also don't care to change society as drastically or as quickly as they do. If people want to be accursed, so be it. Outside of pedophilia, I'm not going to fight it too much. But if people want to be left alone from SJWs, my advice is to put your foot down immediately... and be happy with being hated for it. Once they get their foot in, you'll soon cease to recognize what it is you valued.
This thread is a mountain when it really should just be a mole hill.
postmeritocracy.org/
...but if we're going there, you'd best read the actual CoC text. It's the only enforceable thing, not the authors goals.
How about we just admit we all have to wait and see and call it a day?
It might as well say: "anything offensive you say can and will be used against you." Also: "we value community over code."