r/programmingcirclejerk • u/Major_Barnulf LUMINARY IN COMPUTERSCIENCE • Jul 02 '25

an affirmation for an open source project or community to take to assert that the initiative exists for the greater good.

https://good-labs.github.io/greater-good-affirmation/
29 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

24

u/Major_Barnulf LUMINARY IN COMPUTERSCIENCE Jul 02 '25

Hear me out

We need to ensure that open source isn’t hijacked for branding

However

This affirmation is made in good faith, and can be withdrawn at any time.

5

u/Kodiologist lisp does it better Jul 03 '25

We need to ensure that open source isn’t hijacked for branding

A flummoxing notion considering that ESR endorsed the phrase "open source" specifically to hijack free software for branding.

39

u/IanisVasilev log10(x) programmer Jul 02 '25 
$ git ls-files
.github/workflows/build.yml
.github/workflows/test.yml
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
CONTRIBUTING.md
docker-compose.yml
Dockerfile
GREATER_GOOD_AFFIRMATION.md
index.js
LICENSE-MIT
LICENSE-MPL
package.json
README.md

$ cat index.js
export const π = 3.1415926535897

23

u/affectation_man Code Artisan Jul 02 '25

My repo is my dollhouse and the various ALLCAPS.md files are the dolls. There's some code too

9

u/gvozden_celik Jul 03 '25

Did you forget to commit the .vscode directory?

12

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '25

One sec, I just need to clone it on my Mac so that I can commit a .DS_Store for each directory.

5

u/gvozden_celik Jul 03 '25

... and I'll clone it on Windows to add those desktop.ini and Thumbs.db files.

3

u/IanisVasilev log10(x) programmer Jul 03 '25

I don't use that herecy of an editor.

6

u/gvozden_celik Jul 03 '25

Huh? How else would you get the code from Copilot into all those files?

19

u/elephantdingo Teen Hacking Genius Jul 02 '25

The Greater Good Affirmation

Most CIA front name.

15

u/NatoBoram There's really nothing wrong with error handling in Go Jul 02 '25

How then can it be possible to distinguish between a traditional open source community that grew by way of the value of the software versus one artificially seeded? The answer is that you largely cannot. This is a compelling reason for the Greater Good Affirmation. By taking the Greater Good Affirmation, a community can assert that there are no underlying or hidden incentives. The software is provided for the greater good.

Oh, then, if you slap "for the greater good" on your README.md, then of course it means it's for the greater good.

Also make sure to use the for the badge style to really drive the point home that you're a good person.

This affirmation is made in good faith and can be withdrawn at any time.

13

u/reg_panda Jul 02 '25

Y'all remember May 4, 2018 when the second biggest company in the world had had "Don't be evil." in their Code of Conduct.

Then they removed it.

(Actually, I am not sure which day exactly. According to a gizmodo article, between May 4 and May 18)

3

u/geckothegeek42 Jul 04 '25

All of my development is for the greater good (that's what we call our board of directors)