1Password faces reactions by customers and employees after pledging to offer $300.000 to support a Linux distribution created by David Heinemeier Hansson, who regularly publishes racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric. 
“The popular password manager is now a “distinguished corporate patron” of Omacom, the nonprofit that oversees a popular Linux distribution known as Omarchy,” The Verge reports.
One post claims that 1Password “Supports the Ethnic Cleansing of Europe” because of the donation. Others on social media have asked for suggestions for alternative password managers so they don’t support funding a project by Heinemeier Hansson, better known as DHH. The donation has also led to internal backlash from 1Password employees who are disappointed with the partnership, according to The Verge. 1Password CEO David Faugno and co-founder Roustem Karimov have posted internal messages addressing what Faugno describes as “concerns, both internal and external” “due to the polarizing nature” of DHH.
DHH is a Danish entrepreneur, best known for creating Ruby on Rails, Basecamp, and the Hey email client. Omarchy is DHH's "opinionated" version of Linux, meaning it's Linux the way he likes to use it. It's based on Arch Linux, with some applications installed by default.
It is also, apparently, one of 1Password's great client environments.
In an internal Slack message seen by The Verge, 1Password's Karimov downplayed DHH's overtly racist comments, telling staff:
“Like I said, people have different personal opinions. You believe in your heart that DHH is bad, that you have the moral high ground, and that nothing will change your mind. However, not everyone believes that. It’s not fair to claim a monopoly and ostracize team members who might disagree with you. There are people who are afraid to speak up simply because they will be personally attacked.”
1Password CEO Faugno took a different approach, trying to reassure staff that “1Password does not support hateful, dehumanizing, or exclusionary opinions, including those shared publicly by DHH.”
Still, it seems the company has sacrificed an ethical stance for a “mission-driven” one. In the same email to staff, Faugno mentions that “the scale and growth of [Omarchy’s] usage among our customers is significant – Omarchy has become the second most used Linux distribution among 1Password users.”
Faugno then tries to create distance, telling staff that the contribution is “to the Omacom Foundation, not to an individual.” However, he states that “we recognize that Omarchy is associated with DHH, its founder. Our donation is in no way an endorsement of his personal views or behavior.”
Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.
