Former developer at software company deletes his code to protest its ties to ICE
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Re: Former developer at software company deletes his code to protest its ties to ICE
#2The technicals of the story are interesting around the software supply chain.
I’m put off by the statement: “I want to be clear that this decision is not about contract value—it is about maintaining a consistent and fair business approach in these volatile times,” he wrote. “I do not believe that it is appropriate, practical, or within our mission to examine specific government projects with the purpose of selecting which U.S. agencies we should or should not do business.”
I hear about practicality all the time at my office and sometimes it’s real and sometimes it’s laziness. This sounds like a little of both but also profit motivated (not saying that’s wrong for a for-profit company).
Interested in your options on code of ethics and the above.
Re: Former developer at software company deletes his code to protest its ties to ICE
#3I expect that, to be ethically consistent, this developer will also return all salary or payments he received while creating this now-deleted code.
I think leaving a job is a better protest than doing damage to your employer. And perhaps for his next contract, he might insert a clause limiting what his code can be used for. In limiting the utility of the code he sells, I expect he'd be taking a lesser pay rate for it.
Re: Former developer at software company deletes his code to protest its ties to ICE
#4I expect that, to be ethically consistent, this developer will also return all salary or payments he received while creating this now-deleted code. I think leaving a job is a better protest than doing damage to your employer. And perhaps for his next contract, he might insert a clause limiting what his code can be used for. In limiting the utility of the code he sells, I expect he'd be taking a lesser pay rate for it…
If you read the article, the developer already was not working for Chef. Chef was/is relying on OSS components which the former develop pulled from the open repository. -edit for clarity.
Re: Former developer at software company deletes his code to protest its ties to ICE
#5I expect that, to be ethically consistent, this developer will also return all salary or payments he received while creating this now-deleted code. I think leaving a job is a better protest than doing damage to your employer. And perhaps for his next contract, he might insert a clause limiting what his code can be used for. In limiting the utility of the code he sells, I expect he'd be taking a lesser pay rate for it…
If you read the article, the developer already was not working for Chef. Chef was/is relying on OSS components which the former develop pulled from the open repository. -edit for clarity.
Thanks, I overlooked that somehow. (pre-morning tea over here :) )
I haven't read many OSS licenses. Can't someone just publish an 'unethical' fork and life goes on?
Re: Former developer at software company deletes his code to protest its ties to ICE
#6I expect that, to be ethically consistent, this developer will also return all salary or payments he received while creating this now-deleted code. I think leaving a job is a better protest than doing damage to your employer. And perhaps for his next contract, he might insert a clause limiting what his code can be used for. In limiting the utility of the code he sells, I expect he'd be taking a lesser pay rate for it…
If you read the article, the developer already was not working for Chef. Chef was/is relying on OSS components which the former develop pulled from the open repository. -edit for clarity.
That’s something that wasn’t particularly clear to me from the article, but some browsing around GitHub cleared it up.
Chef now has the repo ‘forked’ in to their GitHub account: https://github.com/chef/chef-sugar
Re: Former developer at software company deletes his code to protest its ties to ICE
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you read the article, the developer already was not working for Chef. Chef was/is relying on OSS components which the former develop pulled from the open repository. -edit for clarity.
Thanks, I overlooked that somehow. (pre-morning tea over here :) ) I haven't read many OSS licenses. Can't someone just publish an 'unethical' fork and life goes on?
Interesting approach. Makes me wonder if you authored a component and extended a license to say that “use of this code must abide by [inert relevant code of ethics]”, could you enforce that?
Re: Former developer at software company deletes his code to protest its ties to ICE
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks, I overlooked that somehow. (pre-morning tea over here :) ) I haven't read many OSS licenses. Can't someone just publish an 'unethical' fork and life goes on?
Interesting approach. Makes me wonder if you authored a component and extended a license to say that “use of this code must abide by [inert relevant code of ethics]”, could you enforce that?
Such licenses exist, and yes. But it wouldn’t apply retroactively.
Re: Former developer at software company deletes his code to protest its ties to ICE
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you read the article, the developer already was not working for Chef. Chef was/is relying on OSS components which the former develop pulled from the open repository. -edit for clarity.
Thanks, I overlooked that somehow. (pre-morning tea over here :) ) I haven't read many OSS licenses. Can't someone just publish an 'unethical' fork and life goes on?
I believe it would depend on the license which the original piece of software was released under.
Re: Former developer at software company deletes his code to protest its ties to ICE
#10The technicals of the story are interesting around the software supply chain. I’m put off by the statement: “I want to be clear that this decision is not about contract value—it is about maintaining a consistent and fair business approach in these volatile times,” he wrote. “I do not believe that it is appropriate, practical, or within our mission to examine specific government projects with the purpose of selecting…
It's definitely impractical to say you won't do business with anyone who does things you don't endorse. Imagine an electrician trying to demand a certification that the buildings he works on will host only ethical tenants. You just can't run a company that way; even people who do meet your ethical standards won't do business with you.
If you think that ICE is so uniquely bad that they specifically need to be boycotted, that makes sense. Without inviting any debate on whether it's true, it's a consistent position that can be reasonably applied.