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"As a community, we must look beyond geopolitical conflicts" Is this even a problem? People in most FOSS projects does not seem to care at all about nationalit

"As a community, we must look beyond geopolitical conflicts" Is this even a problem? People in most FOSS projects does not seem to care at all about nationality, race and etnicity. I think most people don't care at all about 'geopolitics' in the first place. It is some pissing contest for the elite. And even if they did, any user can be anonymous, and many projects accept pseudo-anonymous contributions.

homebrewer 2y ago
Well, it depends. Several nginx core developers were laid off in 2022 for no fault of their own. Then we have examples like this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35137213 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35137213 I also wouldn't say it's all roses, some of my Russian and Jewish friends have felt very uncomfortable participating in FOSS projects during the past couple of years, although it has cooled off somewhat recently. (I have many in both countries for historical reasons.) It's easy to think there is no discrimination when you're not on the receiving side of it -- some significant minorities in the US should know this very well.
- hdjjhhvvhga 2y ago
  > I also wouldn't say it's all roses, some of my Russian and Jewish friends have felt very uncomfortable participating in FOSS projects during the past couple of years Yeah, this is something I often argue about with my colleagues. They claim that Russians brought it upon themselves, that they should oppose Putin etc. These arguments are ridiculous when you dig deeper, as an individual in Russia, whether a powerful one like Navalny once or almost unknown like the pianist hero Pavel Kushnir, you mean nothing. You will disappear just like that and nobody will even say a word. Of course when you start advocating the war online and spread putinist propaganda, that's another question. But normal Russians are normal people like you and me, if anything they are more hostages of this terrible situation than Westerners.
  - hkpack 2y ago
    > But normal Russians are normal people like you and me, if anything they are more hostages of this terrible situation than Westerners. By any chance, did you have conversations with Russians recently where they feel like they can speak freely? The vast majority of them support if not Putin himself, then the idea of restoring Russian Empire through the force one way or another. A lot of them blame "west" for all their problems and a sizeable portion still feel that collapse of the west with its values is the thing to be desired. Hiring or working with Russian is a liability for any company for practical reason - from espionage to causing major tensions in the periods of world instability or just when person will "come out" on social media with their views and beliefs.
    - hdjjhhvvhga 2y ago
      Unfortunately I know one such a person, they repeat the same bs that you can hear from Mearsheimer (that Putin had "no choice", that the war is only because of NATO, that Russia is just defending itself against American aggression, etc.). It's hard to discuss it at all because the basic axioms are completely different for them.
joshdavham 2y ago
> Is this even a problem? Nope it’s not! I’m a little befuddled as to why this article was even written. I’ve collaborated with a bunch of Chinese devs and we never feel that politics are relevant or are suspicious of each other. We’re just a bunch of nerds hacking on projects across a large timezone.
michaelt 2y ago
> People in most FOSS projects does not seem to care at all about nationality, race and etnicity. Largely true - but have your parser report "ERROR: Expected T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM" and see how the user/contributor community reacts :)

homebrewer 2y ago

Well, it depends. Several nginx core developers were laid off in 2022 for no fault of their own. Then we have examples like this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35137213 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35137213 I also wouldn't say it's all roses, some of my Russian and Jewish friends have felt very uncomfortable participating in FOSS projects during the past couple of years, although it has cooled off somewhat recently. (I have many in both countries for historical reasons.) It's easy to think there is no discrimination when you're not on the receiving side of it -- some significant minorities in the US should know this very well.

hdjjhhvvhga 2y ago
> I also wouldn't say it's all roses, some of my Russian and Jewish friends have felt very uncomfortable participating in FOSS projects during the past couple of years Yeah, this is something I often argue about with my colleagues. They claim that Russians brought it upon themselves, that they should oppose Putin etc. These arguments are ridiculous when you dig deeper, as an individual in Russia, whether a powerful one like Navalny once or almost unknown like the pianist hero Pavel Kushnir, you mean nothing. You will disappear just like that and nobody will even say a word. Of course when you start advocating the war online and spread putinist propaganda, that's another question. But normal Russians are normal people like you and me, if anything they are more hostages of this terrible situation than Westerners.
- hkpack 2y ago
  > But normal Russians are normal people like you and me, if anything they are more hostages of this terrible situation than Westerners. By any chance, did you have conversations with Russians recently where they feel like they can speak freely? The vast majority of them support if not Putin himself, then the idea of restoring Russian Empire through the force one way or another. A lot of them blame "west" for all their problems and a sizeable portion still feel that collapse of the west with its values is the thing to be desired. Hiring or working with Russian is a liability for any company for practical reason - from espionage to causing major tensions in the periods of world instability or just when person will "come out" on social media with their views and beliefs.
  - hdjjhhvvhga 2y ago
    Unfortunately I know one such a person, they repeat the same bs that you can hear from Mearsheimer (that Putin had "no choice", that the war is only because of NATO, that Russia is just defending itself against American aggression, etc.). It's hard to discuss it at all because the basic axioms are completely different for them.

joshdavham 2y ago

> Is this even a problem? Nope it’s not! I’m a little befuddled as to why this article was even written. I’ve collaborated with a bunch of Chinese devs and we never feel that politics are relevant or are suspicious of each other. We’re just a bunch of nerds hacking on projects across a large timezone.

michaelt 2y ago

> People in most FOSS projects does not seem to care at all about nationality, race and etnicity. Largely true - but have your parser report "ERROR: Expected T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM" and see how the user/contributor community reacts :)