Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich steps down following same-sex marriage uproar

[Guest]

Uninstalled Firefox. It's been a good 12 years but going to Chrome and maybe even IE.

 

[Guest]

A quick check also reveals that on a 79%+ voter turnout 52% of the California voters endorsed Proposition 8. Does this mean we need to send them to re-education camps so they do not keep their intolerant views.

We'll start with you. All packed?

 

[Raoul Duke]

A quick check also reveals that on a 79%+ voter turnout 52% of the California voters endorsed Proposition 8. Does this mean we need to send them to re-education camps so they do not keep their intolerant views.

We'll start with you. All packed?

I can agree that we disagree. I can also live with the court's ruling (if I lived in the USA). I don't really care about what 2 consenting adults do in their bedroom (or on the kitchen table for that matter). But with your point of view, it's your way or the highway. Agree or we will ruin you, even if we need to resort to underhanded dirty politics. So tell me on which side is the intolerance there?

 

[drjekel_mrhyde]

What total crap. Equality, only if you think like us. Whatever happened to “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

On the Internet that goes out the window I see. "Stop liking what I don't like" is the way of the internet today hell you see it on tech sites everyday.

 

[drjekel_mrhyde]

However, big companies/business are just like politics - your past will haunt you, so make wise choices. You can say whatever you want, but when you go under the microscope at the top of the food chain, every flaw will be a weapon to flog you with.

If that's the case we need to shut down the US right now, because everyone have said something or done something on Facebook, twitter, and others social sites another group will find offensive.

 

[Guest]

I agree. There can be no tolerance for intolerance. Anyone who is intolerant of basic human rights should never be allowed to lead any company. This is what this is about. It's not about privately held political views, this is a man who took action to deny basic human rights to others.

 

[St1ckM4n]

This is laughable. What a PR disaster. Good job, internet activists.

 

[tonylukac]

I think we should sing ding dong the wicked witch is dead. Did you ever see how overpopulated the world is? We never have blue sky anymore. Gay marriage can reduce the population. Actually, tho, firefox has become a farce. I have gotten copies on my computer where someone has taken the source code and compiled a completely different version with all kinds of hijacking, etc. So much for open source

 

[Raoul Duke]

I agree. There can be no tolerance for intolerance. Anyone who is intolerant of basic human rights should never be allowed to lead any company. This is what this is about. It's not about privately held political views, this is a man who took action to deny basic human rights to others.

So what are you planning to do to the majority of the voters in California who voted yes to Proposition 8? I'm afraid it is entirely about privately held political views. Even the Supreme Court only ruled against it 5-4 with Justice Anthony Kennedy in the ruling stating "What the court fails to grasp or accept is the basic premise of the initiative process. And it is this. The essence of democracy is that the right to make law rests in the people and flows to the government, not the other way around. Freedom resides first in the people without need of a grant from government," he said. "The California initiative process embodies these principles and has done so for over a century. ... In California and the 26 other states that permit initiatives and popular referendums, the people have exercised their own inherent sovereign right to govern themselves. The court today frustrates that choice." Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor also agreed with this statement. So what is your plan to deal with 4 justices of the Supreme Court that disagree with you?

 

[Guest]

Consider that many tech companies are in support of equal rights for gays/lesbians/etc.

Regarding the Supreme Court ruling on DOMA:

Apple strongly supports marriage equality and we consider it a civil rights issue. We applaud the Supreme Court for its decisions today.

Google is fully supportive of equal rights for all.

Today’s decision turns the page on a law that made it more difficult for us to treat all of our employees, regardless of sexual orientation, equally. Microsoft joined dozens of corporations, organizations and governments in support of the challenge to DOMA because of the significant costs and administrative burdens it imposed on employers and because it interfered with our efforts to promote diversity and equal opportunity in the workplace.

 

[Cassiebeak]

Wow, who knew that Techspot is so homophobic?

 

[Guest]

In the 19th century, many voters were against African Americans' right to vote among other rights but did this make it right?

I believe that in the (hopefully not too distant) future there will be a year when our descendants will look back and think, "How could they have withheld such basic rights from people for so long?".

 

[gamoniac]

Intolerable view against someone that has different opinions is in and of itself against the democratic foundation of our system.

While I disagree with Brendan Eich's take on prop 8, I don't see a point of boycotting a product base on an employee's view (CEO or janitor). Mozilla is a product of many people's hard work. Besides, per current US laws, he is entitled to his view and gets to vote yes/no like everyone else.

Of course he's entitled to his view. But he didn't just "vote" yes or no, he contributed money to a specific agenda reflecting intolerance. And as a CEO of a multi-million dollar VERY public company, no one is going to take you seriously if you're saying one thing but doing another.

A very dumb move on his part and now he's paying the price.

Again, it is not illegal for him to support prop 8 (by spirit or by financial means). By your logic, everyone who financially supported a proposition that is different from yours are not eligible for certain position (public or private)? And most conservatives aren't fit to be the CEO of Microsoft, Yahoo, Bank of America, Google, Citibank, American Express, etc. ? That my friend, is true intolerance.

I consider myself a liberal, but I can't understand your view.

 

[Guest]

I WILL UNINSTALL FIREFOX... I wont support those workers getting a paycheck by having Firefox install on my computer and using it as well. GOOGLE CHROME ftw!!!

 

[TomSEA]

Intolerable view against someone that has different opinions is in and of itself against the democratic foundation of our system.

While I disagree with Brendan Eich's take on prop 8, I don't see a point of boycotting a product base on an employee's view (CEO or janitor). Mozilla is a product of many people's hard work. Besides, per current US laws, he is entitled to his view and gets to vote yes/no like everyone else.

Of course he's entitled to his view. But he didn't just "vote" yes or no, he contributed money to a specific agenda reflecting intolerance. And as a CEO of a multi-million dollar VERY public company, no one is going to take you seriously if you're saying one thing but doing another.

A very dumb move on his part and now he's paying the price.

Again, it is not illegal for him to support prop 8 (by spirit or by financial means). By your logic, everyone who financially supported a proposition that is different from yours are not eligible for certain position (public or private)? And most conservatives aren't fit to be the CEO of Microsoft, Yahoo, Bank of America, Google, Citibank, American Express, etc. ? That my friend, is true intolerance.

I consider myself a liberal, but I can't understand your view.

Did I say "eligible" for certain positions? His personal stance on gay rights is in no way impacted by his ability to be a CEO. No, what I said is that you can't say one thing and do another. You can't claim to be diverse and support diversity in your company and clients and then hand over cash to an anti-diverse cause when you're the CEO of a big, visible company. Make that a CEO for any company.

I don't understand why some posters are struggling to get this. It's not about free speech. He still has free speech privileges and no one has taken that away from him. And no one fired him - it was his own decision to step down. It's about being in an extremely visible position of authority a CEO no less - and openly supporting a hot-button topic that's going to be very unpopular with many of your clients. Wouldn't make any difference if this were the CEO of McDonald's, Starbuck's, WalMart, whatever - the result would be the same.

All he had to do was donate to this cause anonymously and no one would have been the wiser. I'm sure many CEO's do donate to various politicians and causes anonymously for this very reason - so they don't get hammered in the public eye for supporting hot-button topics that not everyone is going to like and will impact their business. For someone who was supposed to be such a smart guy, it was a real dumb move on his part.

 

[Sarcasm]

You know, it would be one thing if it *were* just "personal opinions." I have worked with people like that. I think everybody has (unfortunately). But it moves from "personal opinion" to "actively participating in medieval discrimination and bullshit" when we're handing out $1k (and that's just what we know about) to groups that amount to hate groups. Sorry, no dice.

I would assume that half the board wouldn't have left if it was really a non-issue and had zero effect on anything...or else they left on principle, which is important too. As Jon Stewart famously said, “If you don't stick to your values when they're being tested, they're not values: they're hobbies.”

Two board members left for other reasons un-related to Brendan's appointment as CEO. Only 1 left because he didn't agree with it.

 

[Sarcasm]

I WILL UNINSTALL FIREFOX... I wont support those workers getting a paycheck by having Firefox install on my computer and using it as well. GOOGLE CHROME ftw!!!

You do know by using Google chrome you are supporting FireFox. If you truly don't want anything to do with Mozilla, go IE.

 

[viperfl]

The United States of America was created with different views and opinions. The founding fathers didn't all have the same viewpoint when drafting the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Because of a few, we now started down the dark path that we all have to think alike. That having different views or opinions now makes us intolerant. The few have abused the word "intolerant" in so many ways. Even the people who say they are tolerant will take away the rights of others.

 

[bea108]

See? So much for diversity of opinion.


Our organizational culture reflects diversity and inclusiveness. We welcome contributions from everyone regardless of age, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender-identity, language, race, sexual orientation, geographical location and religious views. Mozilla supports equality for all.


As long as you have the right views, that is.

No tolerance for intolerance.

Intolerance? At the corporate level obviously.

 

[bea108]

I agree. There can be no tolerance for intolerance. Anyone who is intolerant of basic human rights should never be allowed to lead any company. This is what this is about. It's not about privately held political views, this is a man who took action to deny basic human rights to others.

No he didn't. Marriage is not a basic human right. Where is it spelled out in the Constitution? Some who oppose gay marriage have legitimate reasons to do so, but as usual the really intolerant ones are the hypocrites who demonize anyone who disagrees with them.

 

[BobNYC]

Firefox - the only browser that supports equality for all under the law, net neutrality and an end to mass
warrantless spying by the NSA.

 

[mgwerner]

In America, we get the government, and the society, we deserve. By allowing the "Progressives" to remain in power after the mountains of evidence demonstrating their corruption, favouritism, intolerance, and fascist economic principles, why are so many surprised that Mozilla bowed to being held economic hostage? The "values" of the few are being forced upon the many, and the many simply roll over and take it.

The solution is a 2nd Revolution. Rid the country of the Progressives and re-found a nation based on the Founders' principles of self-determination and self-responsibility. Do so in the next election. If that election is ignored, or rigged (as some say the last was) do so by force.

We need to take our country back from those who would destroy us from within. It may be too late, but we will not know until we stop talking and start doing.

 

[Guest]

The sooner this coming "civilisation" turns all-gay, the better. With no means of reproduction, this perfect society of the future, free of intolerance, consisting exclusively of minorities, will exist just one generation, after which it will become extinct, along with its perverted ideology, and the 99% of the world with breathe happily ever after.

 

[captaincranky]

"Those intolerant of homosexual marriage are on the wrong side of history."

Homosexuality is not new. There may have been countless hedonist homosexual loving civilizations in ancient history. They just aren't around anymore. Why would you assume your progressive morality is more correct than my conservative views. Maybe you are not progressive enough and need to join NAMBLA

Yeah well, When you speak of historical intolerance, remember what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah! I guess they wouldn't "tolerate", "him (*)", being CEO of Mozilla either.

And yeah Rome had it's share of orgies. But, that's excusable, the lead in the aqueducts was making them all crazy as bedbugs.

How do you feel about NAMBLA, "guest"? Are you a charter member? Do you send all your bitcoin contributions to them via TOR?

I'm going to, "come out", as being heavily in favor of triple partner homosexual marriage! Maybe they'll make me CEO of Mozilla! Waddya thimk?


(*), I referred to Dog as "him", is that all right, or do you have a more politically correct suggestion?. Perhaps, "Our double cross gender flaming drag queen PTA president of that great bath house in the sky", might have been a more forward thinking contemporary choice.....

 

[sdms96825]

" Those intolerant of homosexual marriage are on the wrong side of history."

Uh, maybe, but only if you define "history" as the last two years.