Back during the Iraq war days and government overreach into privacy violations, the tech companies were on the side of the American people. They fought to defend the 4th amendment.

That has all changed today, except for Anthropic. You think Apple is going to stand up to an unlawful DoJ demand these days? Hell no. Tim Cook has lit Apple's reputation on fire. I've been a super dedicated Apple user for 25 years, but I'm heading for the exits now. All that trust has been burned.

Stay strong Anthoproc, you are seemingly the only really large SV company with any principles and backbone. I won't forget what happens here, either way it goes.

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pamcake 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I'd hold off making that call on Anthropic here until at least after Friday. I'm not sure if persisting that "constructive dialogue is taking place in good faith" and saying nothing else in public signifies backbone considering preceding and consecutive public statements by government officials... It certainly doesn't instil confidence in honesty or transparency.

	▲	bpodgursky an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I mean they got threatened with the Defense Production Act. Firmly standing their ground without an inch of give may backfire spectacularly too, if the DoD injects itself into model training. I think they pretty clearly demonstrated good faith and where it ends up is a tactical choice I'm not in a great position to judge.

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kdheiwns 32 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Tech companies in the early 2000s were nerds who grew up in an environment where tech was for losers and a waste of time. A lot of those people had strong values and did it because they enjoyed it and wanted other nerds like themselves to have cool stuff.

Now companies are dominated by MBAs and nepotism. Most join tech for a quick cash out. Having values is seen as a loss, because if you can get a billion, why not? You're invincible if you're rich and none of these downsides apply to you. Screw everyone else. They could just be a billionaire themselves if they don't like it.

As a result, zoomers today meme about people like the unabomber making a good point.

	▲	hackit2 14 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		That can be so far from the truth it hurts thinking about it. Governments passed laws that mandated that they must legally comply for DOJ or Government Investigates on people of interest. Otherwise they will be blocked in those countries. No users = No money. Most government consider they're extending you the privilege to conduct business with their citizens, and by virtue of granting you those rights you're burden with complying with the countries laws/security/ and audits.
	▲	matheusmoreira 12 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> As a result, zoomers today meme about people like the unabomber making a good point. I don't blame them. As a nerd I think what broke my spirit was watching the absolute apathy of the normies. It was easy to ignore up until the early 2000s. It's become unbearable after social media and the iPhone reached the masses. It's not nerd stuff anymore. They influence every design now. They shape every decision. They are actively exploited at every turn. They are profiled, surveilled, controlled. It's gotten to the point even we nerds can't escape this fate no matter how much we want to. We try to tell them about it and we're made out to be tinfoil hat nutjobs. It's happening and they don't care. It feels so hopeless and it's honestly very radicalizing. It breeds sociopathy. In the end I can't find the will to blame the billionaires either. I think I'd do the same if I could. Make billions and then just create a small paradise for me and all the people I care about. A subset of society where the principles I hold dear actually apply. Society is too fucked up and nobody cares, so I'll just create my own fiefdom.

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vjvjvjvjghv an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

“ the tech companies were on the side of the American people”

They are on the side of making money. And the bigger they are, the more pressure. The big tech companies are now so big that they can’t afford to leave any money in the table if they want to keep their growth rates.

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SanjayMehta 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

All our Intel Macs are getting repurposed for Ubuntu LTS - whatever version which supports our CAD tools.

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mixmastamyk 2 hours ago | parent [-]

Recommend Mint instead. Flatpak instead of snap.

	▲	SanjayMehta an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Some tools go out of their way to whine piteously if they can't find Ubuntu in /etc/issue et al. We were using Mint, just got tired of messing with installation scripts every time an upgrade came. And as the transition to Linux accelerates, it's just more convenient to stick with whatever the vendor wants.

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myvoiceismypass 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Hate to break the news but they might not be good guys either - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47145963

(Dropping safety pledge)

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reasonableklout 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Do you think it's possible the two are related?

	▲	yunnpp 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		It's obvious that they are. The best thing the company could do if they want to stick to principles is not be based in the US.

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ipaddr 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

They over did the safety aspect in my opinion.