this was originally posted as a thread to bluesky, but tweaked here to better fit fedi's microblogging style. please nudge me if there's formatting errors here! been a while since i've done this.
framework sponsoring right wing-led open-source projectsrecent remarks from framework's CEO, nirav patel, are incredibly disappointing, and reflect a recurring theme that i'm seeing in tech: embracing, in both vocal and financial support, right-wing bigots and fascists with the excuse of "they make good tech":
their recent support has been handed to vaxry's hyprland, a linux desktop environment happily nurturing a toxic, transphobic community; and omarchy, a linux distro run by DHH, a racist, right-wing conspiracy theorist.
i don't expect framework has looked through every statement vaxry and DHH have made, but it doesn't hurt to run some background on the people you're sponsoring.
this frustrating trend of "apolitical tech acceleration" continues to be, in practice, little more than a weak excuse for embracing contributors who go out of their way to make marginalised groups feel unwelcome in the space. it's antithetical to open-source values. it's embarrassing.
we're seeing it on bluesky, too, where it's deemed perfectly okay to shelter demonstrable bad actors because "they haven't done anything wrong here".
the nazi bar analogy continues to ring. deafeningly.
the people don't want a nazi bar. what will you do if all the good people leave?
i will again highlight that the marginalised groups made unwelcome by these stances are queer folks and people of colour. almost every framework customer i know is queer. i can't think of a user base more committed to their mission. i can't think of a worse crowd to so foolishly alienate.
i write this post out of frustration and disappointment. i hoped that nirav would take a stronger stance on this issue, but instead he's gone hands-off: "it's hard to have a nuanced discussion". to be clear, i don't believe that framework are transphobic or racist- i believe they're apathetic.
on one hand, i totally understand creating a "big tent" for developer partnerships. but these actions paint a very concerning picture. should you really be sponsoring devs who push great replacement theory? to leaders who laugh at the idea of a basic code of conduct? is this really worth it?
personally, i wouldn't want my money, in any capacity, to fund the support and endorsement of people who want people like me dead, or worse. i'm seeing many reports of people pulling their support of framework indefinitely after this news. the most burned are likely pulling out permanently.
i still believe in nirav and the framework team's mission. but i'll go elsewhere if this is where our money ultimately leads. i really, really hope they reconsider. keep your "big tent" if you must, but please set some boundaries.
@snugglybun it's been a while! i would have officially shut down my matrix server some time early this year after a long period of inactivity, if i recall correctly. the inactivity itself was due to a lack of folks on the platform that i couldn't already reach easier via discord.
in any case, a full migration towards matrix would also require migrating my friend group and college group, and ideally some of the communities i'm involved in also having a presence there. a very big ask!
@snugglybun neat! so basically "the stuff that sucked before still sucks (arguably more) now, but we have a lot of new stuff that sucks a lot less".
i used to host my own server (i believe conduit?) but found my use of it vs. discord made maintenance more of a needless chore. cinny and fluffychat were already my choice of client app, and i recall my only issues were lack of compatibility with some server APIs (conduit did also have a really poorly-documented administration API iirc)
i might look into making an account with blahaj.zone or federated.nexus for the sake of getting involved again!
@ari@arimelody.space