The keyboard is mightier than the gun
Friday 1 April 2022 1:36 PM
So I'm a bit of a self-taught mac nerd, and thus have built up quite a collection of both niche and mainstream mac apps. I've been staggered and humbled by the number of my software providers and developers who turn out to be either Ukrainian (as in resident) or have key staff team members there.
Hence I'm seeing Ukraine flag icons on my screen several times daily, commonly accompanied by aid donation buttons. Often these are accompanied by heartfelt assurances that technical support requests will be met, though maybe more slowly than normal as they must prioritise the personal safety of themselves and their staff. And sure enough the tech support does continue very faithfully.
I had heard that Ukraine hosts quite a bit of software development. But I'd always imagined little of it would be closely relevant to me. Turns out a good deal of my amateur mac geek pleasure is diligently served by people who may be packed ready for evacuation at any moment or hastily learning to handle lethal weapons of defence.
I really hope the folks at Apple are sharing a few of their profits with the dispossessed people of Ukraine. One would think it would be money well invested on their part, quite apart from the moral responsibility to folk who's labour and creativity supply the countless users of their platform.
And after I've wondered that, and knowing what little I yet do about my own family history, I get to pondering whether any of my unknown distant Russian and Ukrainian cousins are out shooting eachother.