> It's not Jetbrains' responsibility to resolve these geopolitical tensions
It's everyone's responsibility to stand up against tyranny, for ethics. Saying it's not your problem because you'd lose money if you did the ethical thing doesn't absolve you- it makes you just as bad.
I'm reminded of the small and rather racist town I grew up in. I heard someone say once "I have no problem with <race>, but I couldn't possibly hire one of them because too many of my customers would get upset". They weren't racist, but they'd cater to racists because it was financially better for them. Oh, I'll do the right thing, unless it costs me a penny.
I have learned the hard way that large corporations will not think like this.
Lots of them will stand up for LGBTQ+ rights, because it's a relatively easy thing to do. They will even put up posters in their offices or make press releases supporting this cause or that.
But stand up for Hong Kong where so many people are being brutalized or repressed every day and your biggest customer is out. Look at the contrast with Blizzard's acquiescence. It's stark.
The companies only really do this in situations where the incentives line up - low risk, high financial/PR return. I hate being cynical when it comes to "changing the world" style arguments, but the fact is that companies are only going to make them when it's convenient, and nobody is going to confront China because they simply have too much power.
It would be better if the media or another powerful enough entity would really against companies being ethically shot for these transgressions, but it seems like they have more or less forgotten about Blizzard and the like by now.
As long as the charter for corporations is profit, then yes, this is the definition of what they want. And don't blame companies for this, blame governments for not incentivizing the right things.
> Oh, I'll do the right thing, unless it costs me a penny.
There are so very few people that fit that criteria of doing the right thing even if it costs them.
As an example: its the reason we kid ourselves into thinking we care about global warming while driving cars into supermarkets for shopping. Sure, we'll protest but that costs us just an afternoon and acts as guilt-offset as opposed to giving up habits that bring us great convenience but do significant environmental damage like supermarkets and cars.
So its the same here, there is barely _anyone_ who would give up something _real_ for Taiwan so IMO its a bit harsh to expect Jetbrains to give up something when we ourselves probably have very little to lose.
Now if we were speaking from a position of a company that did have something to lose, _that_ would be something.
>There are so very few people that fit that criteria of doing the right thing even if it costs them.
The world would be a much better place if there were many more people like this. Trying to get people to meet that standard is not a bad effort to exert.
Yes but it has to started by someone who is willing to sacrifice something to obtain it. If its only people who have nothing to lose that are supporting it then its hollow and nobody will shift. Its by having positive examples that we can inspire more intransigent types to come with.
What's the actual lever that including Taiwan in the Jetbrain's survey result will actually pull? In smaller examples like yours there's actually the chance to move but China's strong enough to face down actual geopolitical pressure what in the world does a tiny IDE company stand to do?
It's everyone's responsibility to stand up against tyranny, for ethics. Saying it's not your problem because you'd lose money if you did the ethical thing doesn't absolve you- it makes you just as bad.
I'm reminded of the small and rather racist town I grew up in. I heard someone say once "I have no problem with <race>, but I couldn't possibly hire one of them because too many of my customers would get upset". They weren't racist, but they'd cater to racists because it was financially better for them. Oh, I'll do the right thing, unless it costs me a penny.