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The Rising Ethical Storm in Open Source - Coraline Ada Ehmke - rubyday 2021 The increased debate around ethical source threatens to divide the OSS community. In his book 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions', philosopher Thomas Kuhn posits that there are three possible solutions to a crisis like the one we're facing: procrastination, assimilation, or revolution. Which will we choose as we prepare for the hard work of reconciling ethics and open source? The ninth edition of the Italian Ruby conference, for the third time organised by GrUSP, took place online on April 7th 2021. Speaker and details on https://2021.rubyday.it/
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The video titled "The Rising Ethical Storm in Open Source" features Coraline Ada Ehmke speaking at the RubyDay 2021 conference. The talk addresses the growing ethical concerns surrounding the use of open source software (OSS) in contexts that contribute to human rights violations, such as mass surveillance and the weaponization of technology. Ehmke draws from historical and contemporary examples to illustrate the ethical dilemmas that developers face in the open-source community today. **Key Points Discussed:** - **The Growth of Open Source:** Ehmke reflects on the proliferation of open source software over the past two decades, noting its widespread use in both beneficial and harmful contexts. - **The Ethical Dilemma:** Developers are increasingly aware of how their contributions may enable practices contrary to human rights, sparking debate about the ethical responsibilities of programmers. Ehmke emphasizes the contrasting views on whether creators should bear responsibility for how their code is utilized. - **Historical Context:** Citing the earlier developments of the free software movement, Ehmke reveals the origins of ethical considerations in computing, featuring figures like Richard Stallman and Edmund Berkeley. - **The Role of Ethical Source Movement:** Ehmke is a pioneer in advocating for the Ethical Source movement, which aims to redefine the responsibilities of technology creators and promote justice and equity in their work. She has developed the Hippocratic License to foster ethical practices in open-source licensing. - **Call to Action for the Community:** Ehmke urges the Ruby community and others to reflect on their values and be proactive in ensuring their work does not contribute to harm, proposing that they need to go beyond niceness to actively prevent misuse of technology. **Significant Examples and Anecdotes:** - **The Parable of the Locksmith:** Ehmke uses this story to illustrate the moral responsibilities of professionals who may unknowingly contribute to harmful outcomes by treating their work as merely a job. - **Corporate Complicity:** She discusses corporate entities like Palantir Technologies, which utilize OSS to support organizations like ICE, highlighting the severe implications of such collaborations on human rights. **Conclusions and Takeaways:** - The ethical responsibilities of software developers in the open-source community cannot be ignored. - Awareness, reflection, and active measures are critical for navigating the intersection of technology and human rights. - The need for a community-wide commitment to ethical practices is essential to counter potential misuse of open-source contributions. Ehmke concludes with a rallying cry for developers to engage with these issues, reflecting on the necessity of balancing open access with ethical considerations.
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