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Toxicity in Hyprland
(drewdevault.com)
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this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2024
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That wasn't my point, whether someone should use it or not. It was more that I don't understand a decision to reject this software for this reason. There is no question that this person is reactionary.
Personally, I don't want to support a project, whether as a user or some sort of contributor, if such a project is ran by a dangerous person whose actions are harmful and threaten the safety of trans people (for example). Similar to the event of PolyMC's hostile takeover by a reactionary, I worry about my safety of using a program if it is ran by someone with malicious perspectives and ideas.
In my opinion, the community has an obligation to condemn reactionaries within their community and by all means protect all of their members, through any means necessary. If reactionaries are given multiple chances to redeem themselves and still reject the demands of the community, they deserve to be removed by the community. The community shall fill the void of any valuable lost products created by reactionary individuals if necessary.
I wouldn't want to support such a project with donations or by working on the program code. I couldn't participate in such an environment. I just don't see any connection between the finished program and the reactionary attitude of the project owner that it might pose a threat to the safety of certain people.
The issue with the community is one thing and how it should be dealt with, i.e. through exclusion etc. - But apparently there are people who wanted to use this software because it's good, but now don't because of that. So they're hoping for a fork or that someone will take it over quickly. That still doesn't make sense to me. If someone does feel uncomfortable using it, OK. But apart from that, I don't see any concrete effects on anything if you continue to use this software. Nor how the use itself supports the project or poses a threat to anyone.
For my part, I have no problem using software that was or is developed by someone who is reactionary. If the reactionary thinking is not reflected in the code (how also?), it is no different to me than importing the different dependencies in my own code, where I don't even know if the persons which developed it are not reactionary after all. It is one thing how to react to such folks but thats not what I am talking about
But I am happy to learn and I could also be totaly wrong with my point.
To be honest, I may not have the best answer for this. One thing to consider is that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism, and that boycotting products, companies, and individuals is not going to solve the problem of capitalism and its symptoms. We have to do what we can to survive. I am not going to condemn people who still want to use Hyprland. In a socialist society, I believe my earlier statement would be applicable. However, I would consider the open source community as antagonistic to the capitalist system, and it is a part of our society that is need of rooting out its reactionary elements where possible and most effective. Just as a party needs to have its members accountable for their reactionary actions, the open source community must collectively do likewise. I believe FDO made the appropriate choice of removing this individual from their community. I believe the Hyprland project may likely suffer through this alone as the dev cannot contribute to the important projects Hyprland depends on. People using Hyprland don't need to immediately abandon it for now, but I suspect a fork of Hyprland with a better team may be necessary at some point in the future depending on if and how the original project devolves.
PolyMC's hostile takeover lead to the fork of Prism Launcher, which has become the surviving project as the majority of devs were kicked out and moved to the new project. In the case of Hyprland, a protest fork would require a separate team dedicated to the project, which of course would be less certain to succeed, but may be feasible as it isn't a large project such as the Linux kernel.
I believe efforts to such a fork would be beneficial, but resolving these issues with forks to isolate from reactionary devs will not actually solve the actual source of the problem, which is the far-right propaganda, media, culture, etc. enabled and enforced by capitalism. So yes, exclusion of reactionaries is a band-aid solution (sometimes more harmful than helpful in some cases), and people should use the tools that help them survive in this capitalist society. I just personally like to boycott some of the most abusive and dangerous companies and individuals when I can, and I believe we should condemn reactionaries for dangerous and bigoted behavior (and have them face the consequences of their actions) as it important for unifying the working class and protecting minorities. We need to root out racism, sexism, etc. as it inhibits the working class from working together and realizing their true enemy.