this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2023

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Update from Lemmy after the Reddit blackout (From the Lemmy Developer) (join-lemmy.org)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/lemmyworld

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Good read, gives me a lot of hope for this project.

I look forward to an exciting future with all of you.

(Also- hopefully this wasn't posted already)

https://join-lemmy.org/news/2023-06-17_-_Update_from_Lemmy_after_the_Reddit_blackout

This was written by the Lemmy devs.

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[–] spirit 91 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (60 children)

Update 3: @[email protected] did state that they (singular) disagree that a genocide is taking place.

Update 2: My conclusion

@[email protected], one of the developer of Lemmy, is a "tankie" who refuted the Uyghurs genocide.
@[email protected] is also an admin of and funds the website Lemmygrad.ml.

Update: So I dug around a little deeper, and found that

@[email protected] is /u/parentis_shotgun on Reddit. Source: https://archive.is/Ky9vd
/u/parentis_shotgun moderates some subreddits, including r/InformedTankie, r/asktankies, r/GunZedong. Source: https://www.reddit.com/user/parentis_shotgun
/u/parentis_shotgun got banned from r/socialism for "refuting the 'China is genociding Uyghurs'". Source: https://archive.is/CwFZC
/u/parentis_shotgun then launched lemmy. Source: https://archive.is/132fW
@[email protected], one of the admin of lemmygrad.ml, referred to themself as @[email protected] in a post on lemmygrad. They also claimed that they built Lemmy. It seems like @[email protected] changed their username. Source: https://archive.is/LlzKb
At this point, I am convinced that the admin @[email protected] is @[email protected].
Another admin over lemmygrad.ml said that Lemmygrad is paid by @[email protected], while another mod said that @[email protected] is funded by the NED. Source: https://archive.is/G5Dh7
What is the NED? I have no idea, but Google suggests that could be The National Endowment for Democracy (NED), an independent, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world.
Lemmy was also funded by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission’s Next Generation Internet programme. Source: https://nlnet.nl/project/Lemmy/

On another topic, there are rumors circulating that we are fascists or supported genocide. These claims are completely false, and like most viral twitter threads, are coming from a single Mastodon user on a personal vendetta who didn’t provide any sources. Such slander doesn’t deserve any response and is best left ignored.

Previous discussion on the moderation policy on lemmy.ml including response from @[email protected] : Expressing concerns about moderation policy on lemmy.ml
Accusation of a Mastodon user (probably the one they are referring to): https://mstdn.social/@feditips/106835057054633379
Essays from @[email protected]: https://github.com/dessalines/essays/blob/master/socialism_faq.md

Update: More info about @[email protected]

[–] MrFlamey 34 points 1 year ago (5 children)

It's definitely good to have people like you investigating the backgrounds of key developers, as there might be ulterior motives behind them developing open platforms that compete with established Western companies outside of loving the free web and open source. Thank you!

However, I wonder how many opinions we disagree with would be unearthed by doing this kind of research on every core developer of Chrome, Windows, MacOS, Google or whatever. I think you would find a lot if you get people to air their honest opinions. In today's climate, if these people were open about certain opinions they might hold (not saying they do, but statistically it's likely some do) they would just be fired, so it's easy for large corporations to shake damage to their reputation from having certain staff members. For OSS it is a bit harder, since although developers can be pushed out, and software can be forked, it's all open and it's harder to understate the contribution to the source code etc. that such a person could have contributed.

It does kind of suck when you hear that developers working on software you like have wildly different worldviews to your own, but sometimes you have to put things in perspective. Having said that, if this guy is the only developer I might feel less than happy about using Lemmy instead of Reddit.

[–] Otakeb 21 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Personally, I'd rather my open source, decentralized software be developed by a nearly fanatical communist than a slimy entrepreneur/capitalist. Either could try to pull the rug out from under you, but at least one is internally consistent until then...

[–] xzite -2 points 1 year ago

but at least one is internally consistent until then…

Having to do the mental gymnastics required to make China not commit genocide does not suggest internal consistency...

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