Comment by Dowwie

I've been using actix-web for my work for some time, contributing however I can while learning Rust and myriad other subjects. This was the third major public event involving controversial design and implementation decisions. A great number of people in the Rust community have refused to accept that not everyone subscribes to their ideology about use of unsafe. They've repeatedly tried to impose their values and priorities upon someone who has been more than capable, if not more capable, of reasoning about legitimate issues and risks and who has his own priorities. The author has not been kind towards those who challenge his decisions, and this has not helped him navigate social issues. It's not just that he struggles with English but has a very different value system and set of priorities than those who he's had to interact with. Further, these contributions weren't from neutral parties but rather a group of long-term adversaries who have taken it upon themselves to hold Nikolay accountable for having differences. They blog, they control the narrative in message forums, they basically do everything in their power to cancel Nikolay and his tremendous work, shaping the public narrative as one that suits their goals.

It took great strength to go as far as Nikolay did in spite of these challenges. I understand why he doesn't want to participate in this culture any longer. It comes at a great cost. Unfortunately, the actix projects and its author are not the only ones who have been targeted for having differences. The next example is Ferrous Systems, who have authored a new ecosystem for asynchronous development. The team has been attacked in all sorts of ways and are going to great lengths defending themselves and to help shape the public narrative. Eventually, they will tire from constantly defending their decisions. Some will lose their patience and tempers will flare. Then, an angry mob will re-emerge and do everything in its power to cancel the momentum of their work and attack the reputations of the authors.

I don't know whether this social behavior will change without the culture changing as well. It requires a respect for viewpoint diversity and acceptance of people unlike ourselves, not just in gender orientation but in opinions and values. It includes tolerating disrespect and leaving people alone rather than trying to destroy them. I doubt these social issues are unique to the Rust community. Cancel culture seems to exist in all shapes. We aren't better for it.