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Hey, I made this. It uses OpenAI voices for Hans and others, which some found too robotic. The topic on my mind around this was: in the large, like MJ or Woody Allen, it's hard to make a call on the art vs. artist. But in the small, it's much easier because people aren't divided into domains. It's all mixed together. And if you can't work with people, if you can't be a team player you limit your abilities. ReiserFS4…
Some part of me always assumes people are innocent. I think I just see too much of myself in others and when they commit some act I never would it seems genuinely outside reality. I remember vividly being a very tech-involved twenty year old, extremely excited about Reiser4 when this all came to light and thinking "There's no way he did it! They don't even have a body, they don't even know she is dead" right up until…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A jerk is one thing; a murderer is something else.
If a murderer creates a file system/energy source/mouse trap that is effectively better than all of the alternatives, and generates value to the world, what he did in his personal life is effectively moot. There is no ethics problem involved in choosing the best solution to a problem, when that solution exists.
Which gladly rarely happens, so often you still have sufficient choice. Now, if it turns out Euler sabotaged some bridges and caused deaths, you'd still have a hard time avoiding using e.
But for software? It's usually rather easy to find alternatives. And ReiserFS never was an exception here.
Some part of me always assumes people are innocent. I think I just see too much of myself in others and when they commit some act I never would it seems genuinely outside reality. I remember vividly being a very tech-involved twenty year old, extremely excited about Reiser4 when this all came to light and thinking "There's no way he did it! They don't even have a body, they don't even know she is dead" right up until…
Or, likely, they choose not to think
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A jerk is one thing; a murderer is something else.
If a murderer creates a file system/energy source/mouse trap that is effectively better than all of the alternatives, and generates value to the world, what he did in his personal life is effectively moot. There is no ethics problem involved in choosing the best solution to a problem, when that solution exists.
You may think you’re choosing a technology, and nothing further. But others may see your decision as a broader endorsement.
Are they right to do so? Don’t know. Maybe not.
But it is a real effect. The quandary is therefore ethical.
I'm very glad there is a transcript so I didn't have to listen to it. It seems like in this case ReiserFS is being deprecated and removed because it is no longer used and not because of who the creator is? https://www.phoronix.com/news/ReiserFS-Deprecate-Remove-2025 If so, then this isn't really about separating the art from the artist?
My takeaway was that Han's problems were intrinsically tied to the both the architecture and code in ways that made it difficult for others to contribute and fix. The artist's influence on the art caused its ultimate demise.
ReiserFS is named after the author, which is an oddity among file systems or open source projects in general. I wonder if it would have seen further development if it had been named something else.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
So once a jerk artist is dead and can no longer benefit from their work, it becomes easier to consume their art without moral concern?
Yes, literally. Same argument applies to limited copyright terms. Though I'd say it would be with less concern, not completely without it.