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(Off topic.) Not only that, but Linus's parents were politically active communists and young Linus was a pioneer (like a boy scout but for communists). His fat
by tarvaina 1y ago
(Off topic.)
Not only that, but Linus's parents were politically active communists and young Linus was a pioneer (like a boy scout but for communists). His father also lived in Moscow for several years on two separate occasions.
- lo_zamoyski 1y ago> Linus was a pioneer Being a Young Pioneer or joining the Komsomol was not officially mandatory, but it functioned as a gatekeeper for any kind of advancement. Party membership operated the same way. So, by themselves, they don't tell you whether the person in question is a communist.
- rauli_ 1y agoNot in Finland which has never been a communist country. His parents were just political activists who forced young Linus to participate in that as well. Linus has said that the experience made him very apolitical person.
- lo_zamoyski 1y agoAh, whoops! I mistook Linus as the name of the Russian developer in question, whose name is actually Denis. (The whole first name thing in software circles kind of irritates me.)
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y agoWell, my use of his first name was kind of a joke. I apologize for the confusion. There's very few folks in software that can be recognized uniquely, by their first name, but he's one.
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y agoI don't think Russia (or China, either) has been truly communist, in a long time. Not sure there are any real communist nations left. It's one of those ideologies that looks good on paper, but falls apart, as soon as humans get added to the soup. Idealists never seem to account for base human nature.
- ii41 1y agoYour parent comment labeled themselves off-topic but I'd say they were still pretty on it, but you're like way too off-topic. The point isn't whether some country or some people are real communists or not, but that an individual shouldn't be harassed for maintaining open source software and can somehow be linked to some rival of the West.
- ChrisMarshallNY 1y agoFair point. But, to be fair, the note about not taking human nature into account, applies everywhere. I think that we've all seen very smart people fail to account for human nature, and things go badly. Open source/free work is very human, and I have found it important to keep human nature in mind, as I work.
- lo_zamoyski 1y agoI agree that ignoring human nature is a bad move. In fact, a recipe for disaster for many reasons. Repress or disrespect it, and it will come back roaring with a vengeance. I also agree that empirically, communism is always a disaster. But I would also say that communism doesn't even look good on paper. It looks terrifying! To naive and frankly clueless young minds with no appreciation of human nature, human society, and so on, a superficial acquaintance with the subject matter might seem nice, as it might play on tropes and juvenile grievances, envies, and sentiments. But an honest look at it by an intellectually properly formed and informed mind will inspire horror. It is a dehumanizing ideology. Now, that doesn't mean our hyperindividualist, capitalistic, and liberal consumerist societies don't have their share of poison. They do, and again, to a good degree because they misconstrue human nature. But communism or even socialism are no solution to these ills. (JPII's "Centesimus Annus"[0], among more academic works by him and others, addresses some of this. People often pay attention to his anti-socialist, anti-communist legacy, but remain unaware of his critical stance toward capitalism and liberalism.) [0] https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_01051991_centesimus-annus.html https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/d...