Don Ho, developer of the popular Notepad++ text editor:
People will tell me again to not mix politics with software/business. Doing so surely impacts the popularity of Notepad++: talking about politics is exactly what software and commercial companies generally try to avoid. The problem is, if we don’t deal with politics, politics will deal with us. We can choose to not act when people are being oppressed, but when it’s our turn to be oppressed, it will be too late and there will be no one for us. You don’t need to be Uyghur or a Muslim to act, you need only to be a human and have empathy for our fellow humans.
This was a risky move, and as detailed by The Verge, the entirely expected happened: lots and lots of coordinated Chinese spam messages, as well as DDoS attacks.
At least Hu has more guts than Apple, the NBA, and Blizzard combined.
And will there be a Zionist or a BDS edition?
Which side of the Kasmir crisis?
Or Brexit?
The problem with becoming political is there will always be many who will see it hypocritical that you pick just ONE conflict, and not others.
What about the USA 2020 election? MAGA v.s. Orange Man Bad edition?
Whataboutism, look it up.
Johann Chua,
A “whatabout” argument might be weak, but just labeling it as such does NOT imply that it is. Sometimes it’s used as a distraction away from the topic, and to be sure we see some very bad cases of this these days. But other times there’s a perfectly valid point to be made about comparing the relative merits of differing viewpoints, which can enhance understanding and add important context to the original topic. Just saying “whataboutism” is not really sufficient and doesn’t really have the same weight as calling out a “straw man” or “ad hominem”, which are more egregious instances of a weak argument in and of themselves.
So, I’m tempted to call a simple rebuttal that says nothing more than “whataboutism” a “whataboutism callout fallacy” because such a rebuttal can be rhetorically weak in and of itself. So don’t get into the habit of using “whataboutism” as a complete rebuttal.
Anyways, regarding Notepad++ being political, I’m not a fan of it myself since I personally don’t want my text editor to be an endorsement of a political view. Say this were to catch on and start a trend for software developers to be pressured into taking a firm political affiliation. This may seems silly, but like the unfortunate taco truck company I linked to in another post, twitter can be extremely quick to hang people and companies who don’t comply.
On the one hand, I can understand calls to boycott companies that have elected to do the bidding of unpopular agencies. For example:
https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ice-contract-draws-criticism-calls-for-boycott-2018-6/
But on the other hand I think there’s a danger of mob mentality on social media getting way out of hand to the point where people and companies get slandered for not taking a position on the issue du jour. “Company X has not criticized Y, they are Y-sympathizers!” And if Company X refuses to publicly condemn Y, simply because Y has no direct relation to their business, it can become a PR nightmare.
You could always use VIm for Windows if you don’t want any political endorsement/activism on you software…
….ah, wait, they have that Uganda Charityware license. See? Political engagement.
And also, you seem to miss the entire point here. It’s not about “Company X has not criticized Y”.
– Blizzard BANNED a team of heartstone pro players based on it’s opinion about this China crysis(and others);
– Apple BANNED apps that would help protesters to organize and defend agains police(HKmap.live). Tim Cook did some “fancy words” to try to explain why Apple did that
– NBA is denying access to games for those that merely simpathize with the China issue, while China is cutting it’s money flow for tweets (that got quickly deleted – google “Daryl Morey china” and see for yourself) cause it was considered “offensive” to China. Another words game from Morey to minimize the impact of his real opinion.
Their business clearly has direct relation to China businesses/government, but they prefer to remain complacent than doing something to avoid losing money. And this is where people like the Notepad++ creator do some little acts like this well known protest nickname tradition already explained below by another OSAlert reader. It’s not the first time this developer act this way, neither will be the last.
I dont see the entire “Developers creating a protest trend” as bad as things already are today.
nwildner,
Not only didn’t I miss the point, I specifically addressed it in the post you responded to. It’s one thing to criticize a company over it’s direct involvement, but it’s another to criticize it for not being political. My point is this: If it becomes normal and expected for products to be politically affiliated, then there will be increasing social pressure to berate companies that don’t take a political stance. Being neutral becomes synonymous with being guilty in the eyes of the mobs. We’re not there yet, but I’d rather we didn’t get to close to this line.
> The problem with becoming political is there will always be many who will see it hypocritical that you pick just ONE conflict, and not others.
And I fail to see why: Don Ho is the author, they get to pick what the software (and its colateral) is about. That’s the prerogative of an author (and in case of collaboratively developed software: the maintainer, with whom the co-developers can take it up if desired).
People are free to disagree, or to theme their own software MAGA or Zionist or Brexit-remainer style. The main issue is probably that many of those complaining have no software of their own that they could theme.
pgeorgi,
Yes it is his prerogative. I really don’t have a problem with his personal opinions, however I think affiliating products with political endorsements sets a bad precedent for the software industry and I’d rather not have the industry go that way (see my other post).
I have no problem with this, Don Ho is free to pick and choose his battles just like we are free to pick and choose our software. What is important to some is not important to others.
I realize some have a significant problem with the concept of freedom, in that they only tolerate freedom if it is not a personal inconvenience!
I use Notepad++ because it’s a great piece of software, not because I have an opinion or affinity on the author’s political views.
There is some irony in that many political posts on this issue or others like it will originate from users clad in sweat shop produced clothing and shoes typing on slave labor manufactured phones, tablets and other devices built in horrific polluting conditions which are happily NIMBY!
I’m of two minds about it. Take the “suckless” software and its authors. The software itself is objectively performant, well written, and (I feel) necessary in an era of ever more bloated and redundant Free software projects. However, the authors have been outed as Holocaust denying white supremacists, and as much as I enjoy using Surf and dwm, I feel conflicted that I’m using a product written by a group I’m in 100% opposition to politically and morally. I feel that because I use and enjoy the software, I’m somehow supporting a stance I’m wholly opposed to. Then again, the suckless guys don’t talk about their politics through their software release announcements like Mr. Ho does; in fact, their positions only came out through social media posts unrelated to their work.
As for Notepad++, I happen to agree with its author in most of his political stances, so I don’t feel “bad” for using his software and again, it’s objectively good software, so there’s no conflict in my mind. I also don’t disparage him using his software as his soap box, but I can see where some would draw the line at that action.
It’s there Morgan, the price of true freedom, the world cannot have it both ways! You’re free to agree, free to disagree, free to choose, the true evil is really suppression of truth. See Donald, China, Putin, ISIS, Saudi, Turkey, Brexit, EU, et. al! The pain is always hiding in the shadows.
That’s the price of freedom, not all will out but all must out!
Which is ironic for in the software industry, so many hours a week are dedicated to VPN and security to ensure privacy!
Is security always to be coincident with privacy and secrecy?
That’s just crazy. What does the ideologies of the authors have to do with the quality of the software? What does you using the software have to do with the authors’ ideological stances? Perhaps all this self-virtuesignalling made some sense if you had to pay for the software — but it does not if it is about a free download and basically using the app anonymously.
On a similar note, this story about a taco truck serving ICE employees outside of a detention center came up the other day…
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/29/us/ice-taco-truck-trnd/index.html
I’m not sure if context is needed, but it is not unusual here for food trucks to pop up in high traffic areas (ie around businesses districts) to cater to employees stepping out for lunch.
I feel bad for the business owner, who wasn’t making any sort of political statement. And yet by serving the “wrong crowd” he became embroiled in a political mess by both sides. People are vindictive.
Well, the owner chose to step into the discussion in his first attempt at apologizing to raging lunch mobs. Therefore there is no need to feel bad for the pathetic company. The next time better state political neutrality as the first thing and not only when all other excuses have been exhausted.
sj87,
Pathetic for apologizing to the mobs on social media? I don’t know if you realize it, but these twitter mobs can make or break a small business. That’s a very tough spot. You’ve got no skin in the game, so it’s rather convenient for you to just brush off the effects of mob justice, but if it were your business being targeted, then it would keep you up at night too and I see no reason to deny that it’s a problem.
Note that this isn’t the first time Notepad++ releases have been named after political activism:
Notepad++ 7.6.2 Gilet Jaune Edition
Notepad++ 6.7.4 – Je suis Charlie edition
Notepad++ 6.6.4 – Tiananmen June Fourth Incident Edition
And all of Sourceforge got blocked in China in 2008, apparently due to Notepad++ having a Boycott Beijing 2008 banner on their site, too.
“At least Hu has more guts than Apple, the NBA, and Blizzard combined”
Easy to be brave when one got nothing to lose. I shouldn’t need to write this but…
… remember that the quote above was from someone that falsely accused someone for defending child rape as he either couldn’t read or understand simple text.
Apple and the NBA both stand to lose millions if they tick off the Chinese. The author of Notepad++ doesn’t.
Greed has trumped human rights once again. Sad state of the world we live in.
Sadly I can’t seem to download it. I guess the site is getting hammered
Ok. The author is purposefully annoying Beijing. At first glance I figured he put in a Uyghur language pack so they could use the app. China is going to do what they want to with the Uyghurs. I doubt this initiative will achieve much. The BBC website has already highlighted the injustices being dealt to this ethnic group months before this new version of Notepad++. Just my two cents.
Can we expect Free Palestine edition?
https://twitter.com/yishaiporat/status/1190689522859880449
Don’t think so.
The cynical bastard in me is going “Whoop-de-doo”. So a programmer has put a political release name on a version of his text editor. The world instantly changed and peace ensued.
What have I done about the Uyghur issue? Less than Notepad++, but the effect is the same. No change in China. Truth is that only large economic interests could sway China, but they have us by the short and curlies, because Chinese money has rendered our economies dependent.
Solution? Good question. Are we willing to collectively boycot China completely (including Western companies with Chinese stakes) and not yield until China implements universal human rights?
Hmmm, I wonder if someone could use this to their advantage? E.g. if I put some messages on my website supporting Uyghurs, Tibetan independence, referring to Taiwan as a country, mentioning Tienanmen Square, joking about Xi Jinping’s adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood, etc, does that mean I’ll stop getting spammed by Chinese registrars running those idiotic “trademark protection” scams?
No. You would probably get “DoSed” by some Chinese hackers.
StephenBeDoper,
+1 Insightful!
Ban chinese scammers by getting yourself banned on their firewall, haha. It’s unlikely to be worth the effort over easier & more precise alternatives, but this deserves props for out of the box thinking
Lovely idea. Put the burden on them to filter themselves out of the Internet.
I’m of a few minds here. One the one hand it is his project and he is free to do whatever he wants with it, including making it political if that’s his choice. What I’m about to say is less about Notepad++ and more in general. Perhaps he has his own personal reasons for choosing this particular conflict to make his stand. Totally cool with that.
I do however question this as a trend especially in a multicultural society. I really do find it hard to see how you mesh this ‘make everything political’ mentality with any notion of multiculturalism. I’ve lived in really tribal countries and cultures. Everything is about taking a side.
For example, I was buying a Sodastream the other day to reduce plastic bottle use and the person I was with got caught off guard because apparently it’s made in Israel. Okay, now you can take that as some kind of political point about Israel/Palestine and they’re doing it for the right reasons. But understand as well, we live among Jews as well. Some portion of them are probably going to take offense to the idea that you’re boycotting Israeli companies. They’re probably just a company making products and employing people. What then? They start boycotting Arab or Muslim country products? Then we’re back to my youth in a very tribal and divided society.
And almost no country is innocent. Today or historically. Even my country of Canada has issues with it’s Indigenous population.
Should people start boycotting Canada now due to our treatment of the Indigenous population? Or let’s boycott Pakistan for it’s treatment of minorities. Or let’s boycott South Africa due to the Xenophobic attacks on migrant workers.
There’s a real danger here that I think people are underestimating. There was a time that things like loyalty and treason were of upmost importance. In most countries you could be executed for treason. That’s how powerful the idea of loyalty is. That means loyalty to your tribe. As more things get political, more things become about loyalty and more things become about taking sides.
How do you square that with the idea of multiculturalism is one that I think is pretty conflict prone?
I’m sure some portion of the Chinese population is offended by this move and will now want to take sides against Notepad++ as IT is now against them.
Now you want everyone to be neighbors with the enemy? That doesn’t sound like an appealing way to organize society. Heck, even regular political divides within the same country often generates substantial hatred and loyalties.
To a large extent, multiculturalism has historically just had a few ways of working
1. Requires separation, as was the case historically with separate areas for people. You’ll often hear as like the Christian quarter of town or whatever. Or in my case parts of India were like that with Hindu/Muslim areas. Yes, it’s not a hard line, but it tends that way.
2. A dominant group. Think like Muslim Spain where Christian and Jews were allowed to live, but they were subordinate to Muslim rule
3. A certain amount of non-caring. Think the Western world post WW2. Yeah, materialism might get a bad rap as being shallow, but it certainly allows for a lot of functioning in a multicultural society. Sometimes a factory/office is just a place of work. We can all go to there and make our money and go home. We get to meet all kinds of people at work too. We all leave our caring at home and go to work and enjoy.
I totally understand this statement.
“The problem is, if we don’t deal with politics, politics will deal with us.”
I just think there’s a real danger to multiculturalism if we take that line.
I just think back to my Sodastream purchase. Sure there’s political issues with Israel/Palestine and settlements.
Yet, the other side is that it was a company just trying to be a company. It employed people and Arabs as well. People worked together side by side and supported their families and went to work.
You make everything political, you lose that.
Now, sure Notepad++ is not exactly a company. But you know, who knows the interactions of people in forums and what not. Now all that is politicized and you can lose the regular interactions of people in it.
Just another side to it.