BrilliantBadger

Been on the wolf for quite some time, but I gotta respect Vivaldis values

Minimo launcher is a fantastic foss text based launcher, like Niagara

Its’ not about AI, it’s about Andy Yens sledge hammer use of AI. But, to start let Andy tell the story in his own words…

"CEO Andy Yen told staff in an internal Slack message that 2026 “will be the last year that we hire engineers.” From next year, he wrote, the company will instead hire “what we used to call product managers, to build things with AI.”

Now, “product managers” is just word play to make “salespeople without developer skills” sound palatable. Effectively, Protons skilled employees are working to replace themselves, as they surely are well aware of now. Protons one and only agenda going forward under Yen is profit. And then more profit. Everything else — security, values, principles, fall by the wayside in pursuit of profit over all else

Andy Yens viewpoint as CEO is AI gets him to his profit nirvana, employees only show up as liabilities on the spreadsheet. He thinks he’s in the widget building business where none of those other things matter. And it won’t to some. But let’s watch long term how privacy & values focused consumers decide. Andy will show you who he is again… soon enough.

Hey, just my two cents, I’m glad to be a spectator of this sideshow after Andy showed us who he was with his previous fiasco. Good luck,

The fact Andy Yen has not resigned nor the board removed him, shows Proton can no longer be recommended in good faith, IMO. They have lost their way. Also find it logical that many of Protons top talent are pursuing alternative employment. Being called losers is high motivation for people who take pride in their skills.

This wasn’t the first time Andy showed us who he is. Won’t be the last.

They are different, and yet one always seems to lead to the other, no?

Companies shoving AI dung into every corner of their products prove to be devoid of ethics & values, putting profit over people. I could be wrong, but I wont be.

In other news soon… Apple lays off 40% of employees.

Same. Andy the chameleon slowly but surely revealing to be exactly the person he showed us he is. I believed him the first time.

We can agree to disagree on Andy. Whilst I obviously didn’t know specfically how Andy would end up crapping all over his company and customers, the reality is I did and its why I left. Simply because the old adage has never been proven wrong in my experience — “When they show you who they are, believe them.”

Let’s watch this play out over time, this all gets far worse the longer Andy is around. Andy will continue to reveal his chameleon self, we’ve only seen the surface.

He also posted that repbulicans stand for the little guy. Andy showed who he is, and everyone should beleive him. I did, and left promptly after that. Proton will continue to be a dangerous place until Andy is gone.

We all understand companies need be sustainable, but privacy focused customers are often looking as much at the company as the product. Values, principles, and trust are the reason we pay for these products year after year. Andy always seems clueless as to who Protons paying audience is, thinks he is pumping out widgets in a factory

Unlike Andys prior remarks which were enough for some like me to bail, this hits at a whole new level — trust in the product itself, what other slippery slopes is Andy willing to take a slide down? Not to mention denigrating your skilled employees, truly insane stuff

If Andy has any values left he would resign today for the better of Proton and their employees, customers. Going forward, he offers only toxicity

Somehow Proton is making it even worse. Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse.

Watching this CEO ripping down his own company & calling employees losers is wild stuff. But many saw it coming after his pro-gop remarks. He is who he is, and this was imminent with Andy remaining in charge after that.

Works famously on Linux on android. Haven’t used Windows in years. That’s why always nice to be able to test drive it and see how it works for ones needs.

In any case, every one has their favorite angry anectode, thanks for sharing

I dumped Proton within a week of Andy Yens pro-gop dung. He showed us who he was and I beleived him.

That said, I hope Proton dumps him and whomever else on the board needs scrapping, and rights their ship, we need as many sustainable privacy focused projects as possible to give options agianst big tech.

They have to move fast, unsure much top talent being called “losers” is a winning strategy to keep them around for very long.

Looks interesting to me as a Comaps user. Bookmarked and ill check it out. Thank you

Filen.io has been fantastic for me for years now, but give it a test drive to see if fits your needs. E2EE & 10gb free plan.

We see it already begun with Microsoft working to dump 27% of its employees, expect much more of this.

You are correct, in various ways individuals will be sacrificed.

Yes. Both are fantastic from an ethics & values perspective imo. Look at tuta on their reddit or blog over time and you can get a good view of the real human team and what they stand for. I would put them on top for their tireless work on behalf of fighting for privacy causes. They work hard at it.

Posteo is harder to find any poltical stances (which is fine by me) but their sustainable values are top notch, check their site and search some details.

Whether either these fit your needs ymmv but like them both

Posteo primary, and Tuta secondary

Yup. Same. Gone within a week of that one. Told was “over reacting”

When they show you who they are, believe them. The first time.

And to think I was informed I was “over reacting” when, as a happy paying Proton user, bailed within a week upon Andy Yens GOP/trump comments some time back…

When they show you who they are, believe them… The age old adage that never fails. Ever.