Open Source is one person

I've heard good things about work done by this guy Linus. I'm pretty sure that I've used his work.

I think he comes from a country that borders Russia, so should we be worried?

I've done OSS for decades; mostly by myself, but sometimes, in teams of volunteers.

If anyone has any experience, working in teams of volunteers, it can be ... challenging.

It can definitely work, but not as often as you'd think. If it works, there's usually some "BDFL," or a common goal that has everyone on the same beam. In my case, it was usually the latter.

(Off topic.)

Not only that, but Linus's parents were politically active communists and young Linus was a pioneer (like a boy scout but for communists). His father also lived in Moscow for several years on two separate occasions.

I don't think Russia (or China, either) has been truly communist, in a long time.

Not sure there are any real communist nations left. It's one of those ideologies that looks good on paper, but falls apart, as soon as humans get added to the soup.

Idealists never seem to account for base human nature.

Your parent comment labeled themselves off-topic but I'd say they were still pretty on it, but you're like way too off-topic. The point isn't whether some country or some people are real communists or not, but that an individual shouldn't be harassed for maintaining open source software and can somehow be linked to some rival of the West.

Fair point.

But, to be fair, the note about not taking human nature into account, applies everywhere.

I think that we've all seen very smart people fail to account for human nature, and things go badly.

Open source/free work is very human, and I have found it important to keep human nature in mind, as I work.

I agree that ignoring human nature is a bad move. In fact, a recipe for disaster for many reasons. Repress or disrespect it, and it will come back roaring with a vengeance.

I also agree that empirically, communism is always a disaster.

But I would also say that communism doesn't even look good on paper. It looks terrifying! To naive and frankly clueless young minds with no appreciation of human nature, human society, and so on, a superficial acquaintance with the subject matter might seem nice, as it might play on tropes and juvenile grievances, envies, and sentiments. But an honest look at it by an intellectually properly formed and informed mind will inspire horror. It is a dehumanizing ideology.

Now, that doesn't mean our hyperindividualist, capitalistic, and liberal consumerist societies don't have their share of poison. They do, and again, to a good degree because they misconstrue human nature. But communism or even socialism are no solution to these ills.

(JPII's "Centesimus Annus"[0], among more academic works by him and others, addresses some of this. People often pay attention to his anti-socialist, anti-communist legacy, but remain unaware of his critical stance toward capitalism and liberalism.)

[0] https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/d...

> But I would also say that communism doesn't even look good on paper. It looks terrifying! To naive and frankly clueless young minds with no appreciation of human nature, human society, and so on, a superficial acquaintance with the subject matter might seem nice, as it might play on tropes and juvenile grievances, envies, and sentiments. But an honest look at it by an intellectually properly formed and informed mind will inspire horror. It is a dehumanizing ideology.

Notice the abundance of adjectives and complete lack of argumentation.

If you're too lazy to read the linked encyclical, just say so. Don't hide behind vacuous moralizing.