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Comment by rmrfstar | Hacker News Reader

Do you really want to live in a world where software is politicized to the point that FOSS devs are maintaining shit-lists of undesirables barred from using basic tools?

It won't end well, and the adverse effects will disproportionately impact people without power, not the large companies you have in mind.

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Yeah, I guess it can be abused easily, but again... how can we as code monkeys fight these power hungry practices that keep dragging us backward ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That's the logic that gave us the PATRIOT Act, the full consequences of which have yet to be understood.

I'm not from the US so I have no idea what's the history of the PATRIOT Act, but I get the concept, it's just F*ed up and we cant do shit about it

Created after the 9/11 plane hijackings, people were scared.

“Never let a good crisis go to waste“ comes to mind.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act#History

As code monkeys? Nothing that isn’t just changing the terrain.

As humans, do the politics.

By refusing to work for whoever employs these practices. Open Source code and their licenses are better left open; "they" will always need to hire someone who can use it. Just be prepared to say no to some good money when the time comes.

Politics is just getting what you want.

Software is already political. Commercial software traditionally does this through direct and indirect lobbying efforts. The DMCA didn't just spontaneously appear out of thin air. There must be action-for-action retaliation.

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