I'm Sad Brendan Eich Had to Step Down as Mozilla CEO

Maybe we're not getting the whole story, and perhaps this was as much an internal political struggle as an external protest against his Prop 8 contribution?

Eich has often been abrasive when commenting on HN to the point of personally insulting some posters here, perhaps he made political enemies inside Mozilla as well, and they used this external protest as a convenient excuse to make life very difficult for him inside Mozilla such that he felt it better to leave.

I personally, even though I've had disagreements with him, and even though I don't support his views on gay marriage, am saddened by him leaving Mozilla. He is the Steve Jobs or Larry Page of Mozilla, the passionate defender of the organization and its goals. Is there someone of equal standing who can visibly lead the community at Mozilla?

Someone needs to fight for the Web, I don't think his personal contribution to Prop 8 merits complete ostracism from the other good work he has done.

I'm really starting to dislike our society, because gone are the days when you could have your own opinions and viewpoints. It may not be illegal to disagree with the majority, but you will be shamed/boycotted/treated poorly to the extreme for it.

I don't agree with the guy, but who cares? That's what an opinion is, and unless he donated company money to this cause, which he didn't, I really don't think society should be allowed to judge him, as a professional, based on his personally held beliefs. I don't know about everyone else, but I tend (more like strictly do) keep my personal beliefs and work life completely separate.

How many soldiers died to give us the freedom of choice, only to wind up with it being a complete illusion. You're allowed to believe something, only if no one on the planet knows that you in fact do.

This is what politics are fundamentally about ~ people organizing to enact changes they feel are right in opposition to those with other opinions. There's no use in arguing that people who operate within businesses are somehow immune from politics. Just as he has a right to have his own opinion and to speak on the subject freely and openly, the rest of us have the opportunity to disagree and organize against him for his beliefs, whether in the sphere of the economy or not.

Shaming, Social Media, and the Impact of Online Power

http://laurahudson.tumblr.com/post/56458456777/shaming-socia...

Its a sad cliche about the engineer who fails socially.