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What type of software will you refuse to develop for ethical reasons?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: What type of software will you refuse to develop for ethical reasons?

#31

Post by craftkiller »

thesagan wrote: post #26

I won't do any more political propaganda work; Bill Hicks/George Carlin (and my own nagging conscience) got to me on that front. And I won't do webdev for the big tv networks because all I did was build advert and spy apparatus. I'm currently on an active mission to see if it's still possible for me to 1) work in webdev, 2) not hurt people, and 3) make a living. Seems to be easy to get two out of the three, but not a…

TripAdvisor is webdev, pays well, and has a business model that doesn't hurt anyone. When I was working there I frequently told people that I enjoyed working there "because we don't abuse people". I only left to go chase the start up life style, but 10/10 it was a great place to work.

disclaimer: I don't work at TripAdvisor anymore and I am in no way currently affiliated with them, but I am a previous employee.

Re: What type of software will you refuse to develop for ethical reasons?

#34

Post by thesagan »

jogjayr wrote: post #28
thesagan wrote: post #26

I won't do any more political propaganda work; Bill Hicks/George Carlin (and my own nagging conscience) got to me on that front. And I won't do webdev for the big tv networks because all I did was build advert and spy apparatus. I'm currently on an active mission to see if it's still possible for me to 1) work in webdev, 2) not hurt people, and 3) make a living. Seems to be easy to get two out of the three, but not a…

I don't know what specifically in webdev you're looking for but my company is hiring frontend engineers (we're in Campbell, CA but OK with part-time remote). We work in enterprise cloud security and don't hurt people AFAIK :-). My email is my username @gmail.com. Please do reach out if it sounds like something you're interested in.

I really appreciate that! Frontend is up my alley. Saved your info and may contact you in the near future and I'll intro myself. Thanks again. :)

Re: What type of software will you refuse to develop for ethical reasons?

#35

Post by thesagan »

craftkiller wrote: post #31
thesagan wrote: post #26

I won't do any more political propaganda work; Bill Hicks/George Carlin (and my own nagging conscience) got to me on that front. And I won't do webdev for the big tv networks because all I did was build advert and spy apparatus. I'm currently on an active mission to see if it's still possible for me to 1) work in webdev, 2) not hurt people, and 3) make a living. Seems to be easy to get two out of the three, but not a…

TripAdvisor is webdev, pays well, and has a business model that doesn't hurt anyone. When I was working there I frequently told people that I enjoyed working there "because we don't abuse people". I only left to go chase the start up life style, but 10/10 it was a great place to work. disclaimer: I don't work at TripAdvisor anymore and I am in no way currently affiliated with them, but I am a previous employee.

Roger that; I appreciate the intel!

Re: What type of software will you refuse to develop for ethical reasons?

#36

Post by SomeStupidPoint »

I moved out of ad tech, around the time my boss asked me to do something I thought was unethical.

I don't know that I'm out of it forever -- I find few industries a hard "no". Rather, it has to do with the people I'm working with and the exact project. I try not to make things that are addictive or harm the psyche, or that perpetuate social ills. I try not to do things that can be repurposed for those things.

Some industries seem to attract consistently immoral people, though.

Re: What type of software will you refuse to develop for ethical reasons?

#37

Post by soulchild37 »

zem wrote: post #25

apart from the obvious malware, i will not work on drm, surveillance, spam, and anything that depends on addicting people to in-app purchases. i would like not to work at all for companies employing dark patterns, even if i don't work on those parts of the code myself, but realistically i tend to settle for not doing anything sketchy myself, and working for companies that i see as delivering positive value overall.

I work as a full time mobile dev and my primary task is to implement dark design pattern to increase number of in-app purchase made by user, it's agonizing to go to work every day but the salary is quite decent

Re: What type of software will you refuse to develop for ethical reasons?

#40

Post by dragonwriter »

flukus wrote: post #39
cjak wrote: post #38

I do not undertake projects having an immediate or exclusive military application. Beyond that, I pick and choose based on my gut.

Would you make an exception for something purely defensive, like an ICBM interceptor?

ICBM interceptors are (among other things) for neutralizing an enemy's retaliatory deterrence thus enabling the protected party to carry out nuclear first strikes. They are not purely defensive.
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