

Ask HN: Are there any tools you don't use/support for ethical reasons? - Netsec

Just wondering if anyone eschews something like the recent React Native release on the grounds of opposing Facebook corporate policy (on patents, press baronage, or what have you)?<p>I will admit to using what I think are the best tools, even when I worry about where they&#x27;re coming from. I&#x27;m split though if this is necessarily bad.<p>Sure I&#x27;m supporting Facebook (who does bad things) but I&#x27;m also supporting Facebook open-sourcing their code (which is a good thing).<p>Thoughts?
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MichaelCrawford
There are a lot of otherwise appealing jobs that I don't apply to for ethical
reasons. For example I have experience with C++ quantitative investment work,
but I won't do it anymore as I came to regard it as immoral - that kind of
code is used by those who understand finance, to take money from those who
don't.

~~~
solve
Careful believing whenever HN / Reddit tells you something is bad.

It's a similar group behavior to how towns can form a hate for the opposing
town's soccer team. In that case, it can get so carried away as to lead to
physical violence between the groups. This is the same level of backing as
there is for some of the things Reddit and HN are constantly repeating that
they hate. Pure emotion, basically.

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ArtDev
Anything from Walmart Labs. I just can't bring myself to use any of their
open-source projects. I know it is a separate entity, but it just makes the
code.. smell bad.

~~~
MichaelCrawford
I won't even set foot in a walmart store anymore, not since it won the gender-
discrimination lawsuit that was pressed by its female employees.

~~~
thejrk
_slow clap_

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maxharris
I am dead serious when I say this: for ethical reasons, I avoid pretty much
anything that's licensed under the GPL.

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maxber
Google updated its algorithm, but still s*cks. I'm also using
[https://swisscows.com](https://swisscows.com). It provides great results,
it's more secure, doesn’t store tracking cookies or user queries.

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proveanegative
The opposite question would be as, if not more, interesting: are there tools
that you use or support out of a sense of moral obligation?

~~~
maxharris
Yes:

iojs

llvm

clang

ghc

v8

react

meteor

Mac OS X

~~~
proveanegative
I am curious why you feel morally obligated to use OS X, React and Meteor.
Your other comment mentions avoiding the GPL but I am unaware of GPL-licensed
competitors to React or Meteor, so I assume it's a different reason than with
Clang vs GCC.

~~~
maxharris
My reason is that I want to use the best available tool I can get my hands on,
so that I can do right by the people that use my software (provide them with
the new features and support they want, as quickly and cost-effectively as is
possible).

GPL advocates say that doing right by my users amounts to providing them with
100% of the source code of the applications that I and any collaborators
write.

Most of my users are not technical, and could not care less about the source
code behind the apps they use. They just want something that's easy to use and
reliable.

Some people see this very differently than I do, but my take is that being
moral means doing right by and for yourself first, where "yourself" includes
concern for the specific people and things that are important in your life.
For people you don't know personally, the right attitude is benevolence
(unless and until a particular person gives you a good reason to avoid them.)

Maybe some people say that I could live by that standard with the GPL, but my
own judgement is that I (as well as the people and things that I care about)
am far better off without being encumbered by it in the slightest.

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some_furry
For compiled software, pretty much anything that isn't GPL is a no-go for me.

For non-compiled software (e.g. Javascript, PHP, Python, Perl, Shell), license
doesn't matter to me since I can just see the damn code. Unless it's
obfuscated.

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pc2g4d
Google Charts. Not comfortable sending my data through them because I don't
trust them.

~~~
FractalNerve
I also stopped using any of Google's services, because their products are made
so smart, that when you realize why it's free, you've already given up too
much of your data into the wrong hands.

Enabling the location services on your phone in example, asks you only once to
"increase" the precision by using using cellular, gps and nearby WiFi SSIDs.
That's because Google lost a lawsuit for illegaly collecting a database of all
SSIDs. Now they let you do it.

But think about it, how can they improve the precision of your phone's
location services, when GPS + Celular already are accurate within 1-2m? I mean
nearby SSID's won't magically give you military precision and more precision
than what you have with GPS+celular alone is not even required.

I'm using [https://swisscows.ch](https://swisscows.ch) instead of
[http://google.com](http://google.com), because it's more secure, faster, less
personalized, equally strong in features and provides me with more accurate
results than duckduckgo.com + it has semantic filtering tiles that I really
started liking.

