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Context: Jack Dorsey is giving a talk and Drew DeVault is organizing a protest against that https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/20/2025-01-20-FOSDEM-protest.html ht

Context: Jack Dorsey is giving a talk and Drew DeVault is organizing a protest against that https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/20/2025-01-20-FOSDEM-protest.html https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/20/2025-01-20-FOSDEM-protest...

niels_bom 2y ago
Here’s the talk description: https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-4507-infusing-open-source-culture-into-company-dna-a-conversation-with-jack-dorsey-and-manik-surtani-block-s-head-of-open-source/ https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-4507-infu...
abetusk 2y ago
Some more information: Jack Dorsey's slot at FOSDEM 25: https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-4507-infusing-open-source-culture-into-company-dna-a-conversation-with-jack-dorsey-and-manik-surtani-block-s-head-of-open-source/ https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-4507-infu... Block's GitHub: https://github.com/block https://github.com/block Selections from Drew DeVault's post: """ ... we do not object to the need for sponsors generally at FOSDEM ... we do object specifically to Jack Dorsey and Block, Inc. being selected as sponsors and especially as speakers. ... Our purpose is to peacefully disrupt Dorsey’s talk, and only Dorsey’s talk ... ... His complicity, along with his present-day activities at Block, Inc. and the priorities of the company that he represents as CEO — its irresponsible climate policy, $120M in fines for enabling consumer fraud, and the layoffs of another 1,000 employees in 2024 despite posting record profits on $5B in revenue — are enough of a threat to our community and its ethos to raise alarm at his participation in FOSDEM. """ I'm a little at a loss for context. A shallow reading is that DeVault's contention is that Dorsey sold Twitter and is now involved in many cryptocurrency focused companies. Is this too reductive of a reading? As far as I can tell, a significant portion of Block's codebase, as well as other sibling organizations, are FOSS.
- pantalaimon 2y ago
  His main objection seems to stem from the fact that Jack Dorsey's net worth is $5.6 billion.
  - belter 2y ago
    His main objection is that FOSDEM is not CNBC. Should not be endorsing pretense of interviews, that are just marketing pitches.
  - dao- 2y ago
    > His main objection seems to stem from the fact that Jack Dorsey's net worth is $5.6 billion. Fair. You do not become a billionaire without being a massive POS.
  - abetusk 2y ago
    I thought this was a pithy remark but it looks like it's actually pretty close to the truth. From a recent post by DeVault [0] titled "No billionaires at FOSDEM" (thanks to belter [1]): """ In my view, billionaires are not welcome at FOSDEM. """ [0] https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares-at-FOSDEM-please.html https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares... [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42778478 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42778478
teddyh 2y ago
Seems there is a conflict brewing. TFA says: > As such, if a peaceful protest were to take place during the talk in question, we will not take action, provided the protest is indeed peaceful and does not disrupt the proceedings. However, the link you gave explicitly states: “Our purpose is to peacefully disrupt Dorsey’s talk”. I think I side with the FOSDEM organizers here; I am not OK with disrupting anyone’s talk. Protests are fine, actual disruptions are not.
- elpocko 2y ago
  Right. Because protests (however stupid they are) should be silent and easy to ignore, they should not disrupt anything or inconvenience anyone.
  - apopapo 2y ago
    Protesting should be about raising awareness of disagreement on a topic. It does not have to be disruptive to reach that objective.
    - FollowingTheDao 2y ago
      Sometimes it does, but that's when protest turns into civil disobedience. Martin Luther King was arrested 29 times and then he was shot.
  - jdietrich 2y ago
    Protesters do not have an untrammelled right to be disruptive; others in society do not have an obligation to facilitate or tolerate that disruption. If you want to stand outside the venue and shout, that's your prerogative. If you want to come inside the venue and cause disruption, then the organisers have the right to throw you out. Strictly speaking, what we're discussing is direct action rather than protest. The aim of these protesters is not merely to make a public display of their disapproval, but to take active steps to prevent something from happening, i.e. to prevent a talk from taking place by "occupying" the stage. The participants in that action may feel morally justified and may indeed be morally justified, but that doesn't negate the consequences of their actions. Giving anyone impunity to break whatever rule they like if they feel it's justified is a very short path to anarchy.
sneak 2y ago
Oh, wow. I have come to expect nonsensical silliness from him but this is a new level of ridiculous posturing. Disrupting a talk simply because you don’t like AI or fintech is, for lack of a better term, lame. A payment processor isn’t responsible for the climate emergency, and a company isn’t evil for having a wealthy founder or having to do layoffs. His upset is misplaced.
- raverbashing 2y ago
  Honestly it's past time we recognized a lot of open source orgs and participants have an adulting problem
  - floating-io 2y ago
    That's not at all limited to open source orgs and participants I've found. Seems to be a large percentage of the world these days, really...
- swiftcoder 2y ago
  > a company isn’t evil for ... having to do layoffs "have to" is carrying a lot of water for the fintech with >5 billion in revenue
rurban 2y ago
Drew is just ridicolous. Dorsey is the least of our problems. I'll be even there this year. But not interested in this event
- gunian 2y ago
  In the words of my former manager "one of the good ones" there's levels to the barons
belter 2y ago
This is better to understand the context of the protest ""No billionaires at FOSDEM" - https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares-at-FOSDEM-please.html https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares... Also these are the recommended actions: "To maintain the peaceful nature of our protest and minimize the disruption to FOSDEM generally, we ask participants to strictly adhere to the following instructions: Do not touch anyone else, or anyone else’s property, for any reason. Do not engage in intimidation. Remain quiet and peaceful throughout the demonstration. When the protest ends, disperse peacefully and in a timely manner. Leave the room the way you found it. "

niels_bom 2y ago

Here’s the talk description: https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-4507-infusing-open-source-culture-into-company-dna-a-conversation-with-jack-dorsey-and-manik-surtani-block-s-head-of-open-source/ https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-4507-infu...

abetusk 2y ago

Some more information: Jack Dorsey's slot at FOSDEM 25: https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-4507-infusing-open-source-culture-into-company-dna-a-conversation-with-jack-dorsey-and-manik-surtani-block-s-head-of-open-source/ https://fosdem.org/2025/schedule/event/fosdem-2025-4507-infu... Block's GitHub: https://github.com/block https://github.com/block Selections from Drew DeVault's post: """ ... we do not object to the need for sponsors generally at FOSDEM ... we do object specifically to Jack Dorsey and Block, Inc. being selected as sponsors and especially as speakers. ... Our purpose is to peacefully disrupt Dorsey’s talk, and only Dorsey’s talk ... ... His complicity, along with his present-day activities at Block, Inc. and the priorities of the company that he represents as CEO — its irresponsible climate policy, $120M in fines for enabling consumer fraud, and the layoffs of another 1,000 employees in 2024 despite posting record profits on $5B in revenue — are enough of a threat to our community and its ethos to raise alarm at his participation in FOSDEM. """ I'm a little at a loss for context. A shallow reading is that DeVault's contention is that Dorsey sold Twitter and is now involved in many cryptocurrency focused companies. Is this too reductive of a reading? As far as I can tell, a significant portion of Block's codebase, as well as other sibling organizations, are FOSS.

pantalaimon 2y ago
His main objection seems to stem from the fact that Jack Dorsey's net worth is $5.6 billion.
- belter 2y ago
  His main objection is that FOSDEM is not CNBC. Should not be endorsing pretense of interviews, that are just marketing pitches.
- dao- 2y ago
  > His main objection seems to stem from the fact that Jack Dorsey's net worth is $5.6 billion. Fair. You do not become a billionaire without being a massive POS.
- abetusk 2y ago
  I thought this was a pithy remark but it looks like it's actually pretty close to the truth. From a recent post by DeVault [0] titled "No billionaires at FOSDEM" (thanks to belter [1]): """ In my view, billionaires are not welcome at FOSDEM. """ [0] https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares-at-FOSDEM-please.html https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares... [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42778478 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42778478

teddyh 2y ago

Seems there is a conflict brewing. TFA says: > As such, if a peaceful protest were to take place during the talk in question, we will not take action, provided the protest is indeed peaceful and does not disrupt the proceedings. However, the link you gave explicitly states: “Our purpose is to peacefully disrupt Dorsey’s talk”. I think I side with the FOSDEM organizers here; I am not OK with disrupting anyone’s talk. Protests are fine, actual disruptions are not.

elpocko 2y ago
Right. Because protests (however stupid they are) should be silent and easy to ignore, they should not disrupt anything or inconvenience anyone.
- apopapo 2y ago
  Protesting should be about raising awareness of disagreement on a topic. It does not have to be disruptive to reach that objective.
  - FollowingTheDao 2y ago
    Sometimes it does, but that's when protest turns into civil disobedience. Martin Luther King was arrested 29 times and then he was shot.
- jdietrich 2y ago
  Protesters do not have an untrammelled right to be disruptive; others in society do not have an obligation to facilitate or tolerate that disruption. If you want to stand outside the venue and shout, that's your prerogative. If you want to come inside the venue and cause disruption, then the organisers have the right to throw you out. Strictly speaking, what we're discussing is direct action rather than protest. The aim of these protesters is not merely to make a public display of their disapproval, but to take active steps to prevent something from happening, i.e. to prevent a talk from taking place by "occupying" the stage. The participants in that action may feel morally justified and may indeed be morally justified, but that doesn't negate the consequences of their actions. Giving anyone impunity to break whatever rule they like if they feel it's justified is a very short path to anarchy.

sneak 2y ago

Oh, wow. I have come to expect nonsensical silliness from him but this is a new level of ridiculous posturing. Disrupting a talk simply because you don’t like AI or fintech is, for lack of a better term, lame. A payment processor isn’t responsible for the climate emergency, and a company isn’t evil for having a wealthy founder or having to do layoffs. His upset is misplaced.

raverbashing 2y ago
Honestly it's past time we recognized a lot of open source orgs and participants have an adulting problem
- floating-io 2y ago
  That's not at all limited to open source orgs and participants I've found. Seems to be a large percentage of the world these days, really...
swiftcoder 2y ago
> a company isn’t evil for ... having to do layoffs "have to" is carrying a lot of water for the fintech with >5 billion in revenue

rurban 2y ago

Drew is just ridicolous. Dorsey is the least of our problems. I'll be even there this year. But not interested in this event

gunian 2y ago
In the words of my former manager "one of the good ones" there's levels to the barons

belter 2y ago

This is better to understand the context of the protest ""No billionaires at FOSDEM" - https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares-at-FOSDEM-please.html https://drewdevault.com/2025/01/16/2025-01-16-No-Billionares... Also these are the recommended actions: "To maintain the peaceful nature of our protest and minimize the disruption to FOSDEM generally, we ask participants to strictly adhere to the following instructions: Do not touch anyone else, or anyone else’s property, for any reason. Do not engage in intimidation. Remain quiet and peaceful throughout the demonstration. When the protest ends, disperse peacefully and in a timely manner. Leave the room the way you found it. "