Dan GillmorSeen on Bluesky:
Guy explains to CEO of Signal (messaging) that it's going to add "AI" to the service. She says no. He insists, not knowing or caring who he's talking down to.
Darwin Woodka
Jeremy Kahn
Asta [AMP]@trochee @darwinwoodka @dangillmor does he think "non-profit" means people aren't paid? because it seems like he thinks developers aren't paid in non-profits. is this part of his "better insight" than the president of the company?
this guy is basically a poster child of what Zitron calls the Business Idiot
@trochee @dangillmor @darwinwoodka I was debating whether he was just trying to be a troll for attention or whether he's really convinced he knows better than Meredith Whittaker (because of his gender, I assume). The idea that it can't be a non-profit because... developers have to get paid? really sealed the deal.
Irenes (many)@aud @trochee @dangillmor @darwinwoodka right, like, speaking as an executive of a much smaller non-profit, sure, non-profits exist within capitalism and at the pleasure of the state, but the transparency rules are still a meaningful protection. Signal seeks grassroots funding (we couldn't immediately find a report on how much of their funding is individual small donors), which is also important.
@aud @trochee @dangillmor @darwinwoodka also, like, frankly Meredith is awesome and understands what's at stake with all this stuff and isn't someone who would go back on her word
@ireneista @trochee @dangillmor @darwinwoodka I'm always Cautious Kittens when it comes to people at the head of stuff (positions of authority can be corrupting! It's a whole thing), but Signal w/ Meredith in charge is so much better than what it would have been with Moxie. I was just linking her awesome article on the intertwinted history of computing and slave labour to some "no politics in tech!!!111" doofus earlier. I wish I could meet her but yes, she definitely seems awesome and if she isn't the real deal, then she has certainly spent a lot of personal time and money on doing the kind of work "the real deal" would do, which would be a confusing thing to do if she weren't.