1Password faces backlash over Omarchy foundation sponsorship tied to controversial founder
Password manager's support for Linux project linked to founder David Heinemeier Hansson sparks customer complaints and debate over values in tech.
What to know
- 1Password's patronage of the Omacom Foundation has ignited debate over whether companies should fund projects linked to founders with controversial political views.
- The company's response—that money goes to the foundation, not the individual, and represents no endorsement of personal views—has not resolved the underlying tension for customers who say their money still indirectly supports someone they find objectionable.
- Commenters split between those who prioritize product quality over founder ideology and those who believe 'voting with your wallet' requires ethical scrutiny of where money flows.
- The dispute raises broader questions about the feasibility and wisdom of separating founders from their projects, and whether criticism of DHH's statements is proportionate to what he actually said.
The dispute Whether 1Password's distinction between funding a foundation rather than an individual is substantive, and whether DHH's statements are as objectionable as critics claim or represent standard-if-right-leaning policy positions being mischaracterized. · positions read across 69 posts and comments
Supporting the patronage or rejecting the outcry as politicization of tech.
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“This seems like a very reasonable and thoughtful response. You have plenty of password manager options if it bothers you.”
jadar · Hacker News
1Password's decision is ethically problematic; supporting linked projects indirectly funds objectionable figures.
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“I care that my money funds people who support bigots, and I'll vote with it, regardless of your ability to comprehend that there are people with differing opinions.”
qmmmur · Hacker News ↗
DHH's statements are being misrepresented or unfairly escalated; the criticism lacks proportionality.
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“On a liberal-ness scale from 1 to 10 I'm an 11, and even I can't imagine that many folks would read what DHH actually said and jump to the conclusions that these people did.”
mapontosevenths · Hacker News ↗
Switching to alternatives like Bitwarden is practical and worth doing to align with personal values.
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“i've just looked, apparently it's super easy and basically transparent to switch to bitwarden.”
toofy · Hacker News ↗
“I am making them a little richer, and also on tha…”
Nicola Losito, Customer · nicolalosito.it blog
1Password Password manager companyNicola Losito 1Password customerDavid Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) Omarchy founder
The record 2 articles and posts · last 30 days
What people are saying 24 voices from 1 site · best of 69 · verbatim
- Should the distinction between funding a foundation and funding an individual matter morally when the founder controls the organization?
- Have DHH's statements been accurately characterized, or is the criticism disproportionate to what he actually said?
- Is it practical or reasonable for consumers to switch password managers over ethical concerns about the founder of an associated project?
- Sep 4
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Does Bitward have anything like 1Password's "Travel Mode" where you can hide specific vaults, for when crossing less-privacy-friendly borders? Also, is it possible to share credentials with a link/URL? These two features ended up being much more useful than I thought when they first launched, and looking at Bitward I don't see anything like those…
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Right the words you use matter. You don’t have to frame it as a predator/prey. You can write two different pieces on the two issues. Pairing them up makes it read pretty clear that he’s comparing the two because he wants to kill both of them. The paragraph at the end is sort of the whole game. It requires you to give him a huge benefit of the…
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Few, if any, deny that rape gang existed - the "racist" part is the people that bang on about Pakistani rape gangs never seem to mention Irish Catholic rape gangs, or Upper class Toff rape gangs, or ...The "official report" that gets bandied about by Reform UK is a fairly selective cut down from some other actual report on child abuse in the UK…
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> perpetuates far-right conspiracies / racist tropes like "Pakistani rape gangs."Hardly a conspiracy theory or a racist trope if it's true.
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> the sort of "gypsies" panhandling and pooping on Copenhagen or Helsinki streets clearly do not meet the criteria and are not citizens.I'm guessing by the quotes on "gypsies" that these are not the Roma that have been in and out of Finland and Denmark since the 16th century .. but apparently still being used as a slur after several hundred…
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This seems like a common misconception, but it actually isn't an indivisible human right to settle in another EU country if you don't have the means to support yourself [1]. If you have ever been engaged by them, it's obvious the sort of "gypsies" panhandling and pooping on Copenhagen or Helsinki streets clearly do not meet the criteria and are…
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Was Guido designing Python for only his own sake, during his time as BDFL? As far as I know, he was not doing that.Additionally, Guido never had exclusive control over the Python Software Foundation, from what I can see.If Guido was the only person responsible for the Python Software Foundation, its only board member, its only share holder that…
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A guy who promoted murderous genocidal slaughter of humans.From a couple days ago. That thread went about as it should. Funny watching folks weirdly show up to this one pretend indifference or to try to cast mock back at those who have standards, care, and wish to see a world with some dignity.
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The "wolves" are, IIRC, "Romanian" gypsies - people that have lived for many generations within a number of European countries.Romania is part of the EU, when DHH suggests they are wolves that need to be deported, where is he suggesting they be deported to? The history of their arrival in Romania, around 1370, is presented below. ~…
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I assumed you would link the actual articles, but instead you linked articles about his articles. One should start with the original sources at least.You got a good point, it's not always clear what people try to imply, on the other hand however I have experienced many times that interpretations were not really based on what was actually…
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Didn’t Obama and Biden both deport more people than Trump has? It didn’t require ICE to become some kind of militarized police force, and there was no question they got a day in court, and nobody was exiled to a different country that than they were from.The deportations aren’t the fascistic part, all that other stuff is?Generally championing the…
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I think your analogy goes the wrong way. If you buy bananas from a grocery store, along the entire chain of people that were involved in selling you that banana there could be all kinds of sick fucks. You'd never know because you've only met the store clerk and you don't really know that person either. I also don't know why anyone would care…
- Sep 3
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I switched to bitwarden a couple of years ago when 1password locked down on their subscription model. I don't do subscriptions, I prefer paying for upgrades which I need.Importing was truly super easy, but bitwarden has some kind of latency issue compared to 1p on the same machine and the same browser. 1p was always a smooth and unobtrusive…
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> How does the wolf comparison make this a racism thing?Because wolves are being used as a dogwhistle/proxy for "migrants" by the far right.Denmark has a problem with wolves crossing into Denmark. So the far right gives speeches about what a menace wolves are, they don't belong here, they don't deserve to be here, they're not FROM here" and so on…
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I read it. I'm not sure I agree with your interpretation. I read it as pretty standard right-wing anti-immigration stuff. He even somewhat addresses it and tries to make it clear that he's not saying one race is better than another when he says:"There's absolutely nothing racist or xenophobic in saying that Denmark is primarily a country for the…
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That's just the latest. David Hamburger Helper is a lot more than just that, and he's been at this for years.https://jakelazaroff.com/words/dhh-is-way-worse-than-i-thoug...https://tekin.co.uk/2025/09/the-ruby-community-has-a-dhh-pro...Jake's blog post points out how David Hamburger Helper is quite skilled at running right up to the line but not…
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> As I grow older, I am feeling the need to stand up and try to protect my values.I agree. I'm tired of repeated bad faith interpretations of anyone who shows even the slightest disagreement with the current political milieu. Opinions that were considered anodyne in 2010 are now "far right, "fascism", and "genocide". This whole approach is grossly…
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Yea this was quite a post. There’s a lot of pointing at a post about immigration in England[1], and not that I agree, it wasn’t beyond the pale really. It was standard stuff. This piece is really over the top though and makes it very clear he sees those unlike him as subhuman.1:
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I have no idea what you're implying. How does the wolf comparison make this a racism thing?He's saying that he wants the homeless people who poop in the bushes deported because like wolves there are too many, and they're dangerous. People who poop in public are like that. It has very little to do with racism as far as I can tell.I'm as liberal as…
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In a world where capital is the only vote that counts it makes sense to vote with your money. That said, everyone should read what DHH actually said rather than this blog post before you decide on this one in particular.On a liberal-ness scale from 1 to 10 I'm an 11, and even I can't imagine that many folks would read what DHH actually said and…
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The linked toot (?) (https://social.lol/@mcn/117204227884873406) puts things in a understandable way:> Most importantly my entire family uses it. You know how difficult it was to get them to use a password manager consistently. [...] I asked my parents whether they knew of linux or dhh and they do not. Most people dont. They will ask: why move if…
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For the curious. This is the thing everyone is mad about. [0]I'll leave it you to decide if advocating that your country deport the homeless people who are publicly defecating in the bushes makes you into actual Hitler (as he's been compared to even in this post).[0]
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I care far far far more about technical excellence and capability when it comes to security critical pieces of software like 1Password and as long as they demonstrate they are capable then I could care less if the founder voted Rasputin and worships Morgoth.I don't care if the guy who made my hammer is a Pastifarian I care how well the hammer…
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Merging tech and politics like this is insufferable, and most of us are tired of it.Omacom foundation is funding good open source dev work. I see nothing wrong with that, and their response was perfectly reasonable.If you think you can do better, start a competing foundation. Whinging about it just makes you lose all objectivity; now your opinions…