/open-letter

An open letter calling for a hard fork of Rails to remove DHH's influence

Plan Vert

An open letter to the Rails Core team and Ruby community

David Heinemeier Hansson (DHH) has publicly published writings that make clear he holds racist and transphobic views, as well as a number of other traits undesirable in any figurehead and community leader.

We, the undersigned, call upon the Rails Core team and the wider Ruby community, to:

  1. cut ties with DHH and his work from this point forward
  2. hard fork Rails and associated projects to a new name and development free from his influence
  3. adopt a modern Code of Conduct with suitable community governance

If a forked Rails project can meet these criteria, we pledge to support and cheerlead it to the best of our ability, and will make efforts to change our Rails code to use it at the earliest opportunity.

Name Project/Affiliation Contact
0x1eef llm.rb 0x1eef@proton.me
Aaron Allen - https://aaronmallen.me
Aaron Sumner - @ruralocity@mastodon.social
Adrian McEwen MCQN Ltd @amcewen@mastodon.me.uk
Aji Slater - @doodling.dev
Alexander Gräfe - @rickrickenharp.bsky.social
Andreas Haller - @ahx
Andrew France - @odaeus@social.vivaldi.net
Andrew Nesbitt Ecosyste.ms andrew@ecosyste.ms
Andy Callaghan - https://andycallaghan.com
Ariane R. - @ariaru
Astrid Gealer - @astrid.place
Aurora Nockert - @rawrafox
Can Olcer - @can@mstdn.social
Cédric Delalande Barley Serializer @MoskitoHero@ruby.social
Chuck Lauer Vose - @vosechu@ruby.social
Corey Farwell - rwell.org
Danielle Smith mittsu, kdl @danini.dev
David Celis - davidcel.is
David Mora - @dgmora
Denis Defreyne - denisdefreyne.com
Derek Houck - derekhouck.com
Dmitry L Rocha - @yetanother.place/@dmitry
Edward Loveall - edwardloveall.com
Elouan Martinet User of Mastodon, GitLab and Jekyll @Exagone313
Eric Schultz - @wwahammy.com
Eugen Rochko - @Gargron@mastodon.social
Evangelos Paterakis - @GeopJr@tech.lgbt
F - @erbridge@sunspot.garden
Giles Bowkett - @gilesb@gmail.com
Glen Pike - https://github.com/glenpike
Gregory McIntyre - gregorymcintyre.com
fell sunderland - hello@fellsunder.land
Hans de Graaff Ruby maintainer @ Gentoo Linux @graaff@ruby.social
Harry Wood - @en.osm.town/@harry_wood
Henry Catalini Smith - henry@catalinismith.se
Huy Dinh - @huydinh@hachyderm.io
James Jefferies - @jamesjefferies@mastodon.me.uk
James Smith Manyfold @floppy@mastodon.me.uk
Jamie Schembri - @jamie.schembri.me
Jan Lelis - @janl@mastodon.social
Jared White Fullstack Ruby @jaredwhite@indieweb.social
Jason Garber sixtwothree.org
Jason Garber jasongarber.com
Jay Caines-Gooby - jay.gooby.org
Jesse Brooklyn Hannah - jbhannah.net
Jessica Ete - kohrvid.com
Jessica Phoenix Canady - jess@canady.tech
Jim Kingdon - @soaproot@sfba.social
Jochen Lillich - @monospace@floss.social
Joe Sak - @joesak.com
John Small - jds340@gmail.com
John-Paul Teti - @jpteti@mastodon.social
Jon Wood - @jon@blankpad.net
Jonathon Anderson - @anderson_jon@hachyderm.io
Juanjo Salvador - @jsalvador@mastodon.social
Kate Donaldson - @katelovescode
Dr Kim Foale Geeks for Social Change kim@social.gfsc.studio
Liam Arbuckle - TheMrScrooby
Lloyd Watkin - https://www.evilprofessor.co.uk
Lucas Dohmen The Rails 6/7/8 Way books @moonglum@social.yakshed.org
Lumen Sierra - @myrialux
Maarten Brouwers - https://murb.nl/contact/
Manuel Bustillo - https://blog.bustikiller.com/about/
martin - @clemtre
matt bluelander - mattbee.zone
Matthew B - https://famichiki.jp/@matthew
Michael Schulze Brain Gourmets GmbH @michsch@chaos.social
Mike Subelsky -[https://www.subelsky.com]
Mina Slater - @minaslater
Nic Lake - https://niclake.me
Oliver Klee Brain Gourmets GmbH @oliklee@chaos.social
Omar Luqman stimulus-store @omarluq.bsky.social
Pat Allan - freelancing-gods.com
Peter Boling ruby-oauth, ruby-openid, appraisal-rb, kettle-rb, galtzo-floss, RuboCop-LTS, floss-funding @galtzo@ruby.social
Pierre de La Morinerie - @pmorinerie@mastodon.xyz
Rasmus Grouleff - @nerdd@mstdn.social
Richard Degenne - https://richarddegenne.fr
Rick Bradley - @rick
Rob Yurkowski - @robyurkowski@oceanplayground.social
Ryan Bigg - https://ruby.social/@ryanbigg
Ryan MacGillivray - @ryn@ruby.social
Sam Livingston-Gray working in Rails since 2006 @geeksam@ruby.social
Sam Phillips Rails dev and community member since 2009 @samsworldofno.bsky.social
Sam Pikesley - sam.pikesley.org
Shannon Skipper - https://ruby.social/@havenwood
Sol Ise - @solisenet@gmail.com
Thomas Fuchs former Rails Core @thomasfuchs.at
Tim Cowlishaw - timcowlishaw.co.uk
Tom Marvolo Riddle - @tom@cybre.space
Udo Gröbner - @udl
Vito Sartori - vito.io
Weldys Santos WS Tech @weldyss@bolha.us
Wout Fierens - @wout.codes
Yvan Sraka - @yvan@functional.cafe

Notes (non-normative)

  • We appreciate that this would be a very difficult process, and there are many reasons why it "can't be done". However, we don't really know unless we try, and at the very least we can show that there is community demand for action.

  • We do not want to restrict DHH's freedom of speech, he can write and say what he likes. However, free speech is not "freedom from the consequences of that speech", and we as a community are completely free not to associate with people who hold views we find abhorrent.

  • "Plan Vert" was a railway sabotage campaign by the French resistance during WW2. Reference suggested by @cinebox@masto.hackers.town.

  • DHH's writings are available on his blog; we link the archive.org mirror rather than send traffic his way.

  • Many people have written their own thoughts on the problems with DHH's influence in Rails and the wider Ruby community (which is not a new problem, but is reaching new levels). Here's a selection:

  • GitHub issues are disabled on this repo to keep it on-topic and reduce argumentative discussions that go nowhere. Feel free to discuss this in all the usual places though.