Drop Dropbox • Hacker News Board

Re: Drop Dropbox

#101

Post by timdiggerm » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 2:30 PM UTC

ekianjo wrote: post #46

bicx wrote: post #8

Unless a company is actively hurting people, I'm going to choose what I use based on the quality of the product, not on a board member's past. Maybe they determined that a hardened political voice would balance them out in the boardroom. Maybe they need someone there to play the devil's advocate in an industry that can be extraordinarily narcissistic.

> Unless a company is actively hurting people, I'm going to choose what I use based on the quality of the product, not on a board member's past Seems like it did not work so well with Mozilla recently. And that guy there did not kill anyone either, even indirectly.

Maybe you're replying to a reasonable person who continued to use Firefox.

Re: Drop Dropbox

#102

Post by equalarrow » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 2:30 PM UTC

dctoedt wrote: post #70

I'm as anti-war as the next guy; we military veterans tend to be more so than most, and I've gotten even more so as I've gotten older. Still, there are those who appreciate that: (A) political leaders aren't supermen and -women. Like all of us, they have to make the best decisions they can with the limited information available to them at the time; (A1) [ADDED:] the signal-to-noise ratio can be problematic; the avail…

H) Or, you start something like the PNAC and bide your time..

Re: Drop Dropbox

#103

Post by mcv » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 2:30 PM UTC

tomasien wrote: post #52

Dropping Mozilla because Eich is anti-gay-marriage made sense to me because Mozilla is the beacon of open source. Mozilla belongs to us in a very personal way, many of us have contributed code to Firefox personally. But Condi Rice joining a completely private Dropbox as a board member - this is a non-issue. I'm as strongly anti-Bush administration and anti-war in general (especially the Iraq War - good grief) as anyo…

It's not about partisanship, it's about whether your data is safe. Of course maybe data can never be safe in the hands of a US company, but I put significantly less trust in a company that hires someone who supported all the violations by various secret services, than in one that fights those violations.

Re: Drop Dropbox

#104

Post by cottonseed » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 2:30 PM UTC

antonius wrote: post #4

When looking to grow our board, we sought out a leader who could help us expand our global footprint. Condoleezza sure left a global footprint in the Middle East alright. Hate do this Dropbox, but time for me to move on. Edit: Suggestions for a Dropbox substitute?

I've switched to BTsync until a compelling open option appears (hopefully soon).

Re: Drop Dropbox

#105

Post by sdegutis » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 2:30 PM UTC

tomasien wrote: post #52

Dropping Mozilla because Eich is anti-gay-marriage made sense to me because Mozilla is the beacon of open source. Mozilla belongs to us in a very personal way, many of us have contributed code to Firefox personally. But Condi Rice joining a completely private Dropbox as a board member - this is a non-issue. I'm as strongly anti-Bush administration and anti-war in general (especially the Iraq War - good grief) as anyo…

Can't we just keep software and politics separate? Do we really need to divide ourselves in yet another area because of differences of opinion?

Re: Drop Dropbox

#106

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 2:30 PM UTC

mcv wrote: post #83

jpwagner wrote: post #50

I don't get this kind of stuff. I'm sure it's based on good intentions, but this will just lead to MORE nepotism and less transparency because the price of negative press is that much greater. It feels similar to the hit on the Mozilla guy, which really rubbed me the wrong way. For all I know he clubs baby seals in his free time, but nobody bothered to investigate the truth until it was too late. One individual or gr…

To me, this feels totally different from the Eich case. His political beliefs has nothing to do with Mozilla's product. However, giving someone who approves of wiretaps an important position in a company that people trust with their data, seems like an unbelievably bad idea. It's not just about whether someone in the company has an opinion I find despicable, it's about whether my own data is still safe.

[deleted]

Re: Drop Dropbox

#107

Post by lcfg » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 2:31 PM UTC

antonius wrote: post #4

When looking to grow our board, we sought out a leader who could help us expand our global footprint. Condoleezza sure left a global footprint in the Middle East alright. Hate do this Dropbox, but time for me to move on. Edit: Suggestions for a Dropbox substitute?

You might like Wuala: http://wuala.com/en/pricing/

Re: Drop Dropbox

#108

Post by joshstrange » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 2:31 PM UTC

dzink wrote: post #81

A board member does not decide on features or dig into your account to look for your political preferences. I can think of a dozen reasons why they would have invited her and all of them would be good for the company and good for users: - advise on security matters and help keep the NSA out of my files. - get government business for Dropbox thus maybe reducing bureaucracy for citizens and small business owners alike…

>> advise on security matters and help keep the NSA out of my files

What about her past makes you think she would have this position? I'd argue if the options are "Help protect your data from the NSA" or "Hand over your data to the NSA" that she would be much more in favor of giving your data to the NSA.

Re: Drop Dropbox

#109

Post by frabcus » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 2:31 PM UTC

tomasien wrote: post #52

Dropping Mozilla because Eich is anti-gay-marriage made sense to me because Mozilla is the beacon of open source. Mozilla belongs to us in a very personal way, many of us have contributed code to Firefox personally. But Condi Rice joining a completely private Dropbox as a board member - this is a non-issue. I'm as strongly anti-Bush administration and anti-war in general (especially the Iraq War - good grief) as anyo…

This sounds like holding non-profits to higher standards than corporates. That seems a strange and grossly unfair thing to do, ultimately counterproductive to the very purpose of non-profits.

Of course, when it comes to their core values you have to hold non-profits to high standards - e.g. Mozilla on the open web.

But when it comes to things unrelated to their mission... Why should they be any more perfect than a for-profit corporation!

I like people holding organizations to high standards, its fantastic. But please, hold all of them to high standards - both for-profits and non-profits.

Re: Drop Dropbox

#110

Post by mattzito » Thu, Apr 10, 2014, 2:31 PM UTC

mcv wrote: post #83

jpwagner wrote: post #50

I don't get this kind of stuff. I'm sure it's based on good intentions, but this will just lead to MORE nepotism and less transparency because the price of negative press is that much greater. It feels similar to the hit on the Mozilla guy, which really rubbed me the wrong way. For all I know he clubs baby seals in his free time, but nobody bothered to investigate the truth until it was too late. One individual or gr…

To me, this feels totally different from the Eich case. His political beliefs has nothing to do with Mozilla's product. However, giving someone who approves of wiretaps an important position in a company that people trust with their data, seems like an unbelievably bad idea. It's not just about whether someone in the company has an opinion I find despicable, it's about whether my own data is still safe.

She's an independent board member. She does not have the ability, in practice, to do anything other than vote on compensation and various other corporate policies.

And if all it takes to get dropbox execs to turn over data is fiscal threats from a board member who is a former government employee, then they were going to give up long before Condi shows up on the board.

EDIT: and I just want to be clear. If you just don't like the idea of having someone who was involved with the war in Iraq/Afghanistan on the board of a company, you're entitled to your opinion (though I think it's pretty hard to be secretary of state or any other position of power in the govenrment without being involved in something evil).

But I find the idea that somehow Condi's presence on the board an indicator that they'll disclose my data to the government borderline ludicrous.