Hacker News Reader

CTO would've been appropriate, but not CEO. Mozilla could not keep a CEO donating to ban gay marriage. I rather doubt even Microsoft would've kept him. It's divisive and distracting, especially for a public benefit organization. They made the right call.

View on HN

7 million people voted in favor of Proposition 8. Would you ban all 7 million from any position of authority? What of the 6.4 million who voted against, are they "divisive"?

It's fine if he voted against it. But a donation disqualifies him from that position if for no other reason than it's distracting from Mozilla's purpose. Whether good or bad, the foundation has a strong human rights focus.

Gervase Markham was a dedicated outspoken fundamentalist at Mozilla until his death and was very influential, but he wasn't in a leadership position. Big difference.

Would you have the same opinion if he had donated to the other camp? Does the timing of the donation also matter, in your view?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com