
GitHub Coders to Microsoft: Cut Ties with ICE or We'll Move Our Projects - mikece
https://gizmodo.com/github-coders-to-microsoft-cut-ties-with-ice-or-well-t-1827032609
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mikece
I am curious though: how many people hosting projects at GitHub were totally
fine with Microsoft buying GitHub but now that the news of working with ICE
has come out _THAT_ is a reason to move elsewhere?

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smt88
According to the article, it's about 60. At least, that's the number of
maintainers who signed the letter.

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partycoder
Microsoft was in PRISM according to Snowden, so also have ties to the NSA.

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megaman22
So were they all. Nobody has clean hands. Kvetching and raising a stink about
it is so, so, so very effective.

If morality is of ultimate importance, we're going to have to go back to the
days of projects hosting their own infrastructure. I'm not sure that's a bad
thing, in the long run.

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partycoder
In this mentality, if a mob 1000 people attacks you, it's completely OK
because everyone is doing it.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_responsibility](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_responsibility)

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gremlinsinc
If you're doing something wrong, or using power over them to make life
miserable for somebody else, then yes. Usurping power by forming a mob is very
much okay. If it weren't, the revolutionary war would never have taken place.

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AngeloAnolin
Just puzzled what would really be the impact from a business perspective if
those coders move their projects out? Will it damage Github’s reputation that
would turn into a mass exodus of people using their service?

I think a fair set of governance on the ICE relationship that MS has alongside
conformity from the developers / project maintainers can be achieved in this
scenario.

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gremlinsinc
I think before the dust settles a lot of people will be on gitlab instead of
github. I've copied all my history/distros over there and have been using it
more recently. I'm finding I like it a lot better anyways I especially like
the 'groups' feature.

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dvfjsdhgfv
Why are all these stories flagged? Can't we discuss the issue in a civilized
way? There are quite a few developers on the list of signees, and this socio-
technological issue is definitely pertinent to HN. Can we please stop with
this childish "I don't like it so I flag it" attitude?

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lazharichir
I mean, Microsoft is not a charity so if they deem okay to do business with
ICE, good for them. And if it is so shocking to X, Y, or Z (the signees and
others), then they should totally move elsewhere.

Threatening a company is a good weapon for consumers but leaving the company
to go elsewhere would be a tad more impactful.

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mankash666
Because if Compnay XYZ disagrees with your politics, you should punish them?

The same agency, ICE, does LOADS of good work, protecting America and it's
citizens. Much like Microsoft (or any company)- that offers useful, widely
deployed products.

Supporting GitHub/MSFT or doing business with them doesn't have to come with
an implied liking of ICE.

Just like one may dislike in-laws while loving a spouse. You don't have to
divorce your spouse to prove your dislike of the inlaws

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nollbit
”Because if Compnay XYZ disagrees with your politics, you should punish them?”

If a company implicitly assists in putting little children in camps, then yes,
it’s ok to “punish” them by not giving them your business.

“Just like one may dislike in-laws while loving a spouse. You don't have to
divorce your spouse to prove your dislike of the inlaws”

Similarly, if my in-laws were racists and my wife didn’t think that there were
anything wrong with that, then yes, divorce would be an option.

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chrisco255
Except they didn't. What's the more likely story: that Microsoft entered a
multi-year contract with the US government and policies around the border
recently changed or that Microsoft was complicit in US government policy and
therefore responsible for all of their actions by association? Such a flat way
of looking at the three dimensional, shades-of-grey world we live in...

