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Subfictional
subfictional.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2011
Personal blog of Christie Koehler (CK), covering open source community, codes of conduct, inclusive language, and tech industry governance.
What HN saysHN commenters link it for a write-up on Patreon and money services regulation, and for a critique of Drupal governance decisions that one commenter fully agrees with.
22HN people shared it
11linked it in comments
12stories submitted
155story points
7 months agolast shared
2011people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1My theory: Patreon doesn’t want to be a money services business5 people · 64 points · first shared 2017 · 18 comments on HN
- 2On Brendan Eich as CEO of Mozilla4 people · 78 points · first shared 2014 · 73 comments on HN
- 3Thoughts on recent drupal governance decisions2 people · first shared 2017
- 4Language matters stop using guys to address mix gender groups2 people · first shared 2014
- 5Valerie Aurora and a pattern of problematic behavior1 people · 2 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 6Language Matters: Stop Using “Guys” to Address Mix-Gender Groups (2012)1 people · 2 points · first shared 2017 · 2 comments on HN
- 7Codes of Conduct and Censorship in Technical Communities1 people · 2 points · first shared 2011 · discussion on HN
- 8When the Worst Happens (OS Feels 2016)1 people · 2 points · first shared 2016 · discussion on HN
- 9Multiple Sclerosis1 people · 1 points · first shared 2026 · discussion on HN
- 10Free speech and its many meanings1 people · 1 points · first shared 2016 · discussion on HN
- 11What Keeps Me at Mozilla1 people · 1 points · first shared 2012 · discussion on HN
- 12When the Worst Happens (2016)1 people · 1 points · first shared 2020 · discussion on HN
- 13Securing Your On-line Life with a Password Manager and Two-Factor Auth1 people · 1 points · first shared 2012 · discussion on HN
- 1410 years of open source bridge1 people · first shared 2023
What HN people wrote when they linked it
floatingatoll · 2017-12-11
For those following up days later, this is what I think as well. Someone else wrote it up:
https://subfictional.com/my-theory-patreon-doesnt-want-to-be-a-money-s…
netaustin · 2017-03-27
I'm with you 100% here, yeah, and I agree entirely with the points made here [https://subfictional.com/thoughts-on-recent-drupal-governance-decision… But I don't think Dries has the credibility to act in the community's best interest and also in the best interest of Acquia. As an officer of Acquia he has a fiduciary responsibility; his responsibility to Drupal is purely ethical.
I'd argue that Ryan can't really gain from making a claim that Dries is trying to damage his business, because then he's admitting that his business has been damaged without any real recourse. But I do agree that he knows plenty that we don't!
My thesis is not that Crell's behavior was acceptable. I know I don't have the standing to opine on that. My thesis is that Dries isn't accountable for this conflict of interest and the demands of running a venture-backed startup are largely at odds with the demands of running a community worthy of its code of conduct.
Of course, Dries is not the only BDFL with this kind of a conflict of interest. Many of us who have a career on the Internet live in the shade of one tree or another...
rurban · 2023-04-02
I preferred the https://subfictional.com/10-years-of-open-source-bridge/ summary
bstrand · 2017-12-13
Here's CK's blog post:
https://subfictional.com/my-theory-patreon-doesnt-want-to-be-a-money-s…
walterbell · 2017-12-11
fabrice_d · 2017-04-12
Not taking sides, but I found this analysis by an experienced community manager interesting: https://subfictional.com/thoughts-on-recent-drupal-governance-decision…
"it's complicated"
raindev · 2015-06-27
I don't think the issue is as simple as that. Here is more on the topic: https://subfictional.com/2012/07/02/language-matters-stop-using-guys-t…
nnethercote · 2014-04-01
britta · 2014-04-01
Nice, thanks for editing the post. Sociolinguistics is fascinating; at least not every kind of mismatch/misunderstanding is loaded. And there's a paper for some linguist to write on the hybrid tone of friendly and authoritative that forum moderators find to use.
(Edit: Part of why I consider clear use of "you guys" to be so limited is that when used in professional/quasi-professional tech industry contexts, it can accidentally annoyingly remind readers that we're among very few women around: http://subfictional.com/2012/07/02/language-matters-stop-using-guys-to… )
vacri · 2014-03-31
Conversely, hurting Mozilla is not just hurting Eich, but hurting all the other people who work there, including the very people that OKC is defending.
So despite Eich's personal politics, Mozilla is a place where healthcare is extended to transexuals, and staffers have come out in support of Mozilla org's friendliness to non-straight sexualities, even though they don't support Eich's personal view.
http://subfictional.com/2014/03/24/on-brendan-eich-as-ceo-of-mozilla/
bzbarsky · 2014-03-29
You mean any Mozilla employee who's never actually talked to Brendan, right? The people who have interacted with him have this to say:
https://twitter.com/Jason_Duell/status/449276922359320576
http://subfictional.com/2014/03/24/on-brendan-eich-as-ceo-of-mozilla/
(And I saw a few more along those lines on twitter, but trying to search twitter on this topic right now is a bit difficult.)
Oddly enough, the only Mozilla employees I've seen calling for Brendan to step down are employees of the Foundation, not of the Corporation, and as far as I can tell don't deal with him on a regular basis, if at all.