You are absolutely right that this whole issue goes far beyond Brendan Eich and Mozilla. I also largely agree that our communication on the official channels has been disappointing.
However, if I understand you correctly, when you write about "being able to exercise free speech without losing one's job", I believe that you are being misinformed. Brendan Eich was not fired. Not by the Mozilla community, nor by the Board. Brendan Eich was the object of a wide-reaching internet campaign set up largely by OKCupid as a marketing ploy. In the course of this campaign, tens of thousands of signed a petition demanding his resignation. A boycott of Firefox was organized. At least one of the Mozillians who supported Brendan received apparently serious death threats. As you can see on our blogs (http://planet.mozilla.org – you'll have to scroll back a little), Brendan Eich was actually supported by most of the community, including the paid staff. However, Brendan felt that this whole controversy was endangering the Mozilla mission and he decided to leave the company of his own accord – and, according to my sources, against the wishes of the Board of Directors. Not only that, but Brendan is still, quite officially, part of the Mozilla Project with a key role. So if you believe in Free Speech, as I understand it, we really need your help. We need to get the word out, to the public, to inform them of what has really happened, and to tell them that are still fighting the good fight. Best regards, David On 4/7/14 12:38 PM, [email protected] wrote: > Adam, I respect your temperance and wanting to look at a bigger picture. > However, I see a different big picture and take issue with some statements: > > "Perhaps Mozilla did fall short of defending him, but that does not mean that > everyone at Mozilla approves of what happened or how it happened, nor does it > mean that Mozilla has become a political organization--that is, one oriented > toward issues other than the freedom and openness of the Internet." > > I vehemently disagree. Baker's words after the resignation, completely > abandoning Eich and throwing him under the bus, reveal that Mozilla cares > more about allowing gays to marry than it does about people being able to > support even mainstream political causes privately without getting hounded > from their jobs. > > It was utterly spineless, nauseating, and insulting. > > This whole thing infuriates me. I uninstalled Firefox, a browser I've used > for many years. I'm typing this on another browser I don't like quite as > much, but at least I know my search revenue (small as it is) won't be > supporting such a blatantly hypocritical, pro-free-speech-phony organization. > > "Let us all learn from the mistakes and continue moving forward toward the > goals we share with Mozilla" > > Tell that to Mitchell Baker. Her doublespeak, hypocritical, spineless > apology to the internet mob shows she has learned nothing. I can't just > forgive an organization headed by a woman who uses her official position to, > ultimately, encourage blacklisting. > > Mozilla is supposed to be for open internet. Free speech should take > precedence over gay marriage, plain and simple. > > You might be surprised to know that I actually DO support gay marriage - to > the extent that I myself have even donated to it in the past. Will that make > me have to lose my job one day? Only if people accept internet mob rule, and > that precedent has been set by Baker's caving and most Mozillans' lack of > support for Eich. > > This whole issue has gone far beyond Eich and Mozilla. To many, like me, it > is about being able to exercise free speech without losing one's job. This > is absolutely critical to a civil, cooperative, and free society. > > Mozilla is now a de facto gay-rights organization first and foremost. There > is nothing wrong with that, as long as it is represented as such. But it no > longer has to do with promoting free speech. That will be a common > perception, and Mozilla did it to itself. > > As a long-time supporter, I feel betrayed... but nowhere nearly as betrayed > as Eich probably feels. > > > On Monday, April 7, 2014 12:19:46 AM UTC-7, Adam Porter wrote: >> I've already posted a thread here criticizing Mozilla for what I think was a >> failure to adequately support and defend Brendan Eich. >> >> >> >> Having said that, I don't think that uninstalling Firefox is the answer. >> Perhaps Mozilla did fall short of defending him, but that does not mean that >> everyone at Mozilla approves of what happened or how it happened, nor does >> it mean that Mozilla has become a political organization--that is, one >> oriented toward issues other than the freedom and openness of the Internet. >> >> >> >> I haven't expressed my position on gay marriage, because just as Brendan >> said, it should be irrelevant here. I understand the feeling that Mozilla >> has taken a position on it, but I don't think that being inclusive in the >> workplace necessarily means supporting either position *as an organization.* >> >> >> >> People are rejecting Mozilla for the sake of free speech and an open society >> in which one may exercise his right to free speech without fear of reprisal >> from society's over-exercising its own right to free speech. This is >> understandable and a worthy goal, however I don't think dumping Mozilla >> helps it. >> >> >> >> While Mozilla as a whole may bear some of the blame, the vast majority rests >> on those who dropped the match and fanned the flames. Even if there was no >> master plan, it was effectively orchestrated in a cunning way: discord was >> sowed, a mob was stirred, and then the claim could be legitimately made that >> Eich could no longer lead effectively (though whether that would have >> remained the case in the future is debatable). Eich is not the only victim >> here: Mozilla is also, as are all those who support a free and open society >> and Internet. >> >> >> >> I think much of the post-resignation anti-Firefox reaction comes from those >> who see it merely as a product of a corporation, rather than as a Free >> Software project of a symbiotic relationship between Mozilla and the larger >> community. This is understandable: probably the vast majority of Firefox >> users don't even know what Free Software is. >> >> >> >> Let's face the facts: were it not for Firefox and Mozilla, the Internet and >> Web we have today would probably not be as open as they are. Despite the >> majority of its funding coming from Google (which is also a competitor with >> Chrome), Mozilla is the most independent browser vendor, and the one that >> most explicitly supports openness and freedom. >> >> >> >> Thankfully, being Free Software, Firefox could be forked and keep going >> under new leadership even if Mozilla were to disappear tomorrow (though with >> an enormous deficit in expertise). >> >> >> >> But even so, we need Mozilla and Firefox. So does the Internet. So does >> the world. Without it, we have Google/Chrome, MS/IE, and Apple/Safari--all >> multi-billion-dollar mega-corporations whose primary goals are >> profit-oriented. >> >> >> >> Mozilla made some mistakes here. Okay. But one of the things demonstrated >> by this situation is that Mozilla is not a monolithic organization. Let us >> all learn from the mistakes and continue moving forward toward the goals we >> share with Mozilla: a free and open Internet. >> >> >> >> As it is said, to err is human, but to forgive is divine. This situation >> was caused by failing to forgive. Let us not perpetuate this nature in >> kind--let us choose the better path forward and lead by example. > > _______________________________________________ > governance mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/governance > -- David Rajchenbach-Teller, PhD Performance Team, Mozilla _______________________________________________ governance mailing list [email protected] https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/governance
