1Password is facing backlash from customers and internal employees after pledging $300,000 to support a Linux distribution created by David Heinemeier Hansson, who has regularly posted racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric. “The popular password manager is now a ‘distinguished corporate sponsor’ of Omacom, the nonprofit foundation that oversees a popular Linux distribution known as Omarchy,” The Verge reports. From the report: A viral blog post stated that 1Password “supports the ethnic cleansing of Europe” due to the donation. Others on social media asked for suggestions on alternative password managers to avoid supporting funding a project by Heinemeier Hansson, better known as DHH. The donation has also sparked internal pushback from 1Password employees who are disappointed by the affiliation, The Verge has learned. Since then, 1Password CEO David Faugno and co-founder Roustem Karimov have posted internal messages addressing what Faugno describes as “concerns, both internal and external” that have arisen “due to the polarizing nature” of DHH. DHH is a Danish entrepreneur best known for creating Ruby on Rails, Basecamp, and the Hey email client. Omarchy is DHH’s “opinionated” version of Linux, meaning it’s Linux the way he likes to use it. It is based on Arch Linux, with certain applications installed by default. Apparently, it’s also one of 1Password’s big customer environments. […] In an internal Slack message obtained by The Verge, 1Password’s Karimov downplayed DHH’s openly racist comments, telling staff: “Like I said, people have different personal opinions. You believe in your heart that DHH is evil, that you have the moral high ground, and that nothing will change your mind. However, not everyone believes that. It’s not fair to claim a monopoly and ostracize team members who might disagree with you. There are people who Yes, they are, they are afraid to speak out simply because they will be personally attacked. 1Password CEO Faugno took a different approach, seeking to assure staff that “1Password does not endorse hateful, dehumanizing or exclusionary views, including those publicly shared by DHH.” However, it appears that the company has sacrificed a moral position for a “mission-driven” position. In the same message to staff, Faugno says that “the scale and growth of [Omarchy’s] Usage among our customers is significant: Omarchy has grown to become the second most used Linux distribution among 1Password users.” Faugno then tries to create distance, telling staff that their contribution is “to the Omacom Foundation, not to an individual.” Still, he says “we recognize that Omarchy is associated with DHH, its founder. “Our donation is in no way an endorsement of his opinions or personal conduct.”
