4 ms·

I sure hope not. The definition of evil is too subject to interpretation.

ccn0p 4y ago
Exactly my first thought. With a libertarian hat on, of course anyone can do anything with whatever they create. That's someone's right. But to call it "open source" with some license that attempts to define morality? Good luck with that.
giraffe_lady 4y ago
one of the examples given in the article is torture.
- happyopossum 4y ago
  That’s an example, not a limitation on the definition of the word ‘evil’.
- didgetmaster 4y ago
- mjfl 4y ago
  another could be genital mutilation, or giving puberty blocking hormones to children.
prox 4y ago
Are you serious? There might be some grey areas but ethics and morality is a lot more developed than that.
- snapetom 4y ago
  Yes, OP is serious. I have to ask if you're serious. There was an extensive interview with an Australian ISIS recruiter in The Atlantic (I think) several years ago. The guy wholeheartedly believed he was doing good, and felt sadness and compassion for Muslims outside the caliphate because they weren't getting into heaven. What if he was also a developer and forbade you from using his software because you weren't using it for his definition of good?
  - prox 4y ago
    I think we are looking at this from different angles. Certain persons might not have a clue on right/wrong and/or simply lack a moral compass. That doesn’t mean there is a whole field of study on ethics and morality, from which I am viewing this.
dleslie 4y ago
Indeed, private property is a good example. To some, protecting private property ownership is an evil. To others, undermining private property is an evil.
- elcritch 4y ago
  Another aspect would be copyright protections. Depending on the circumstance people have widely varying ideas of whether copyright protection is good or bad. If my Linux distro includes some “do no evil” license what if they decide my anti-copyright program is evil? Or vice-versa? Making a living as an indie game developer, perhaps one would be more inclined to view copyright protection as “good”. A decade later someone trying to archive the same indie devs game which made a big impact on their own childhood and copyright becomes “bad”.
  - dleslie 4y ago
    As a game developer, going on over two decades now, I have _complicated_ feelings about copyright. ;)
2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago
Right. I'm the good guy and will gladly help build autonomous killer robots for my government.

Exactly my first thought. With a libertarian hat on, of course anyone can do anything with whatever they create. That's someone's right. But to call it "open source" with some license that attempts to define morality? Good luck with that.

giraffe_lady 4y ago

one of the examples given in the article is torture.

happyopossum 4y ago
That’s an example, not a limitation on the definition of the word ‘evil’.
didgetmaster 4y ago
mjfl 4y ago
another could be genital mutilation, or giving puberty blocking hormones to children.

prox 4y ago

Are you serious? There might be some grey areas but ethics and morality is a lot more developed than that.

snapetom 4y ago
Yes, OP is serious. I have to ask if you're serious. There was an extensive interview with an Australian ISIS recruiter in The Atlantic (I think) several years ago. The guy wholeheartedly believed he was doing good, and felt sadness and compassion for Muslims outside the caliphate because they weren't getting into heaven. What if he was also a developer and forbade you from using his software because you weren't using it for his definition of good?
- prox 4y ago
  I think we are looking at this from different angles. Certain persons might not have a clue on right/wrong and/or simply lack a moral compass. That doesn’t mean there is a whole field of study on ethics and morality, from which I am viewing this.

dleslie 4y ago

Indeed, private property is a good example. To some, protecting private property ownership is an evil. To others, undermining private property is an evil.

elcritch 4y ago
Another aspect would be copyright protections. Depending on the circumstance people have widely varying ideas of whether copyright protection is good or bad. If my Linux distro includes some “do no evil” license what if they decide my anti-copyright program is evil? Or vice-versa? Making a living as an indie game developer, perhaps one would be more inclined to view copyright protection as “good”. A decade later someone trying to archive the same indie devs game which made a big impact on their own childhood and copyright becomes “bad”.
- dleslie 4y ago
  As a game developer, going on over two decades now, I have _complicated_ feelings about copyright. ;)

2OEH8eoCRo0 4y ago

Right. I'm the good guy and will gladly help build autonomous killer robots for my government.