Rambles that are fluffy, by fluffy
Unsurprisingly yet unfortunately, the podcast which triggered this recollection about one of its consultants ended up just having its own reckoning about internal systemic bias and workplace toxicity, brought about when they did a series about another toxic, systemically-biased workplace.
It’s almost like this stuff is rampant, or something…
Some recent conversations around Internet toxicity have been reminding me about some deeply traumatic, formative experiences I had nearly 20 years ago, with being doxed, harassed, stalked, and threatened online.
What makes things even worse was that this was directly facilitated by someone who is now a self-proclaimed expert in Internet toxicity, and who was recently given “special thanks” in a podcast I listen to, on an episode about these problems that he very directly contributed to.
So, for those who haven’t seen the news, Linus Torvalds has apologized for his community behavior and is taking steps to be more professional and empathic.
I am very glad to see this change from him, and I really hope that he’s able to take this opportunity to grow and set a new example to the F/OSS community, making it a more welcoming, friendly place.
