4 ms·

A Request to Terminate ENOG

123 points by greyface- 5y ago

nathanyz 5y ago
I feel like this is a masterpiece of emotional IQ. Knowing when you may be in a position where you cannot properly represent the intentions of a role and resigning with this kind of grace and thoughtful words is something any leader anywhere should read for inspiration.
- bombcar 5y ago
  This is also an effective “fu” to the leadership of the country - basically “I was asked to work for peace whilst war was being prepared and am betrayed”.
- smoyer 5y ago
  Agreed! ... At the same time, it's sad to see someone who's obviously passionate about their field recognize that their reputation has been degraded/eliminated strictly due to affiliation (in this case, citizenship).
  - throwoutway 5y ago
    > recognize that their reputation has been degraded/eliminated strictly due to affiliation (in this case, citizenship). Involuntary Citizenship should not eliminate one’s reputation. That’s absurd. If that was the case, everyone’s reputation should be devoid. No government is perfect, especially not an authoritarian government. And we all have ancestors who have done terrible things
- waste_monk 5y ago
  While I agree, I have to say it's sad that personal integrity has become so rare that seeing someone exercise it is a notable occurrence rather than the baseline expected of every functioning adult.
dark-star 5y ago
This could be interpreted as someone wanting to shut down ENOG without a vote, while a majority of board members are busy surviving and have more important things to worry about than voting on a Working Group. I don't think it is a good idea to use the war as excuse to skip a democratic voting process within the ENOG board. If ENOG has been "dead" since 2014 (as was claimed in the thread), there's no reason the termination could not wait another couple months.
- tehjoker 5y ago
  That was my thought reading this as well. Abandoning democratic process for such a substantial move is too hasty. Additionally, his statement may be true if the Russian government would have reason to mess with the group, but the way he put it is likely to exacerbate xenophobia against Russian citizens. Imagine if Americans had to step down because of the Iraq war. It would be best to step down without saying that if that's how he feels (or be more explicit in an anti-war stance).
  - kmeisthax 5y ago
    If there was a network operators group that encompassed both America and Iraq pre-war it would make sense that you couldn't represent both sides. Furthermore, he can't necessarily be explicit in an anti-war stance, because it is illegal for Russians to acknowledge that the war even exists. Russia went hard on censorship relating to their invasion of Ukraine. And there's no particular reason why Russia wouldn't want control over NOGs - the Internet is a war-fighting domain, and denying it to your enemy is a meaningful victory.
    - dottedmag 5y ago
      NOG is a community: people who discuss things and organize events once in a while. "Control" over NOG is not very meaningful, anyone is free to leave.
- fennecfoxen 5y ago
  The opportunity is still open in theory, if enough of the remaining members survive, and the vote is arranged. It won’t really have anything to do with the director or vice director of the group at that point, though.
jabwl 5y ago
Proven 5y ago

123 points by greyface- 5y ago

I feel like this is a masterpiece of emotional IQ. Knowing when you may be in a position where you cannot properly represent the intentions of a role and resigning with this kind of grace and thoughtful words is something any leader anywhere should read for inspiration.

bombcar 5y ago
This is also an effective “fu” to the leadership of the country - basically “I was asked to work for peace whilst war was being prepared and am betrayed”.
smoyer 5y ago
Agreed! ... At the same time, it's sad to see someone who's obviously passionate about their field recognize that their reputation has been degraded/eliminated strictly due to affiliation (in this case, citizenship).
- throwoutway 5y ago
  > recognize that their reputation has been degraded/eliminated strictly due to affiliation (in this case, citizenship). Involuntary Citizenship should not eliminate one’s reputation. That’s absurd. If that was the case, everyone’s reputation should be devoid. No government is perfect, especially not an authoritarian government. And we all have ancestors who have done terrible things
waste_monk 5y ago
While I agree, I have to say it's sad that personal integrity has become so rare that seeing someone exercise it is a notable occurrence rather than the baseline expected of every functioning adult.

dark-star 5y ago

This could be interpreted as someone wanting to shut down ENOG without a vote, while a majority of board members are busy surviving and have more important things to worry about than voting on a Working Group. I don't think it is a good idea to use the war as excuse to skip a democratic voting process within the ENOG board. If ENOG has been "dead" since 2014 (as was claimed in the thread), there's no reason the termination could not wait another couple months.

tehjoker 5y ago
That was my thought reading this as well. Abandoning democratic process for such a substantial move is too hasty. Additionally, his statement may be true if the Russian government would have reason to mess with the group, but the way he put it is likely to exacerbate xenophobia against Russian citizens. Imagine if Americans had to step down because of the Iraq war. It would be best to step down without saying that if that's how he feels (or be more explicit in an anti-war stance).
- kmeisthax 5y ago
  If there was a network operators group that encompassed both America and Iraq pre-war it would make sense that you couldn't represent both sides. Furthermore, he can't necessarily be explicit in an anti-war stance, because it is illegal for Russians to acknowledge that the war even exists. Russia went hard on censorship relating to their invasion of Ukraine. And there's no particular reason why Russia wouldn't want control over NOGs - the Internet is a war-fighting domain, and denying it to your enemy is a meaningful victory.
  - dottedmag 5y ago
    NOG is a community: people who discuss things and organize events once in a while. "Control" over NOG is not very meaningful, anyone is free to leave.
fennecfoxen 5y ago
The opportunity is still open in theory, if enough of the remaining members survive, and the vote is arranged. It won’t really have anything to do with the director or vice director of the group at that point, though.

jabwl 5y ago

Proven 5y ago