Politics Takes a Toll on PHP
Jul 28

Politics Takes a Toll on PHP

Lead PHP Developer Quits: Someone big in the PHP team has quit in apparent protest over the continuing Middle East conflict. In this IRC excerpt, Jani Taskinen (profanely) expresses disgust over Israeli actions, and quits because PHP is run by Zend, an Israeli company.

Here’s his goodbye email. A sobering look at how seemingly distant politcal issues (to us in the U.S.) can trickle down to the geek world.

by Deane   July 28, 2006 5:12 PM    |   Follow Gadgetopia on Twitter   |  Tags:  PHP

Comments

by anonymous,   July 29, 2006 12:43 AM  

Antisemitism takes many forms.

by Deane,   July 29, 2006 7:22 AM  

While I agree that his comments were pretty anti-semetic, the source of his anger is apparently much deeper than race. I understand he worked for the U.N. for a while and still has ties to the U.N. community. The airstrike on the U.N. base by Israeli forces (intentional or not) is what pushed him over the edge.

Still, his words in the IRC chat really cloud the issue (or clear it up, depending on how you look at it...).

by Anonymous Coward,   July 31, 2006 8:16 AM  

It is people like him that provide justification for Israel's existence and self-defence and the United States's support of Israel. His anti-Semitic comments (ignoring his rage about the friendly fire on the UN) are an excellent example of why Israel was needed and created in the first place.

Fuck you jews

I can't respect or even ponder what a person who makes racist comments like that has to say about any matters. I think I'll actually be using more PHP now that he's gone and I'm reminded that an Israeli company backs it.

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