Post #1114087
2026-03-30 05:41 UTC
Replies (8)
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@bustikiller@mastodon.social 2026-03-30 06:08
@smallcircles to what extent are plants responsible for the oxygen they provide to dictators? I could agree that any FOSS project specifically designed for, let's say, killer robots is ethically bad. But other software that happens to also be used in some questionable project... I don't think it's on us. FOSS brings freedom to the entire world. Maybe without FOSS these projects would need more money to succeed. But also, the rest of us would really have nothing to build on top of.
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@coderjason@mastodon.social 2026-03-30 06:44
@smallcircles Far too simplistic. It seems like the equivalent of asking, are we complicit in destroying the planet by using an electric stove? Let's say I abandon all tech use, & instead merely indulge in abstract higher maths. Complicity remains. How far will we take it? If I merely farm food, am I not complicit, allowing engineers to survive and build the tech? Finding ways to protect our work doesn't address the problem, it just covers our arses with a fig leaf, while leaving front exposed
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@ainali@social.coop 2026-03-30 07:03
@smallcircles why stop with FOSS? Wouldn't the same ethical question apply to anything published publicly available?
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@raboof@merveilles.town 2026-03-30 07:21
@smallcircles it is impossible to do a complex topic justice in a toot, but I think it boils down to: the baddies are huge and well-funded. FOSS makes things cheaper for everyone. Yes, that makes it cheaper for the baddies as well - but it gives team-good a fighting chance at all. So it helps the good more than it helps the bad.
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@simonzerafa@infosec.exchange 2026-03-30 08:38
@smallcircles Unintended consequences are by definition unintended. They are often difficult if not impossible to foresee 😕🤷♂️
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@houba@spore.social 2026-03-30 09:53
@smallcircles The license doesn't offer anything IMHO, the people who want to use tools will do regardless, taking it to a base example: Do we lock the tools away or teach people to use them with respect? beside ethics training some type of enforcement may be required for bad actors, then some level of power is needed to do that, one of the things I see in tech is the lack of collective power, but this is a larger societal problem than just FOSS communities. 1/2
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@artfulrobot@floss.social 2026-03-31 08:21
@smallcircles I feel many specialists suffer from being rewarded too much, neurologically, for engaging in their specialist area. This means we allow that area to crowd out or dismiss other less rewarding thoughts. I think the halo effect of seeing yourself as a good person crowds out exploring your privilege. We don't want to bother ourselves with awkward ethical questions, esp if they would detract us from playing with our toys, feeling clever, earning a living.
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@johannab@cosocial.ca 2026-04-19 14:46
@smallcircles I’ve read down these various branches & have many many thoughts (and little time to pursue them all!) As someone who is “not a coder” but who has been around since the dawn of the www moving in these spaces, I think FOSS has a very unfortunate weak spot in its foundation, that being the idea that “free” implies “without ownership” rather than “equitably shareable”. To be a little more concrete, we are waaay behind on community values and lean very libertarian.