✧✦Catherine✦✧May 1, 2024

many of you have seen me speak out against Thiel companies participating in Rust and NixOS development, but I don't think I ever clearly said why

as anyone who has opened and read my bio will know, I'm fine with the existence and use of weapons. no, what I have the problem with is imperialism; and Palantir and Andruil, and their acceptance, is currently the means by which it's capturing our communities

Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧May 1, 2024

I would say that I have a dream about open-source work bringing people together across borders and regardless of nationality, except that I don't, because I do open-source work

it's not a dream. it's a statement of intent, achieved by force if necessary.

a threat, if you will: lie in bed with Thiel or his ilk, and this will happen to you, too

Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧

if you build useful tools, it is inevitable that they will be used as tools of war. I don't know of any specific instance, but I would be extremely surprised if none of my work ever was; in any case it's a question of when, not if

so when that happens, what will you do? i don't think this particular corner of the craft collectively has an answer to this question, but i know what mine is, right now at least.

May 1, 2024 at 2:50pmWeb
Show threadDan HultonMay 1, 2024

@whitequark If I make screwdrivers, I may not realistically be able to prevent bomb makers from buying those screwdrivers and making bombs with them, sure.

But at a MINIMUM, I'm sure as fuck not going to accept funding or input from the bomb makers to try to ensure that there are "better screwdrivers for making bombs with" in the world. That bar shouldn't be too high.

In short, I agree with you and support your decisions.

Show threadmadison taylorMay 1, 2024
@whitequark https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2024/04/29/who-is-supplying-russias-arms-industry “Russia is increasingly using lower-grade equipment, partly because it has depleted stocks of more advanced systems. This means that Russian arms manufacturers are seeking technology that is also used for civilian purposes, the flow of which is harder to restrict in international supply chains.”
Who is supplying Russia’s arms industry?

New research traces the origin of crucial imports

The Economist
Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧May 1, 2024
@tomoyo I am more familiar with this than you could possibly imagine, yes
Show threadmadison taylorMay 1, 2024
@whitequark (pretend I attached a “yepp” to my earlier reply :)
Show threadAlaric Snell-PymMay 2, 2024

@whitequark I once found out a database engine component I wrote for doing substring searches against vast databases was used by intelligence services in some regime that routinely kills journalists and dissidents (can't remember which one)

I wasn't pleased

But, I didn't write it FOR them, and I didn't hold the rights so I couldn't do anything to stop them after I found out. So I can't blame myself.

But I still feel bad about it 😞

Show thread✧✦Catherine✦✧May 2, 2024
@kitten_tech yeah. it's hard.