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Python Government The Almighty Buck

Python Foundation Rejects Government Grant Over DEI Restrictions (theregister.com) 253

The Python Software Foundation rejected a $1.5 million U.S. government grant because it required them to renounce all diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. "The non-profit would've used the funding to help prevent supply chain attacks; create a new automated, proactive review process for new PyPI packages; and make the project's work easily transferable to other open-source package managers," reports The Register. From the report: The programming non-profit's deputy executive director Loren Crary said in a blog post today that the National Science Founation (NSF) had offered $1.5 million to address structural vulnerabilities in Python and the Python Package Index (PyPI), but the Foundation quickly became dispirited with the terms (PDF) of the grant it would have to follow. "These terms included affirming the statement that we 'do not, and will not during the term of this financial assistance award, operate any programs that advance or promote DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion], or discriminatory equity ideology in violation of Federal anti-discrimination laws,'" Crary noted. "This restriction would apply not only to the security work directly funded by the grant, but to any and all activity of the PSF as a whole."

To make matters worse, the terms included a provision that if the PSF was found to have voilated that anti-DEI diktat, the NSF reserved the right to claw back any previously disbursed funds, Crary explained. "This would create a situation where money we'd already spent could be taken back, which would be an enormous, open-ended financial risk," the PSF director added. The PSF's mission statement enshrines a commitment to supporting and growing "a diverse and international community of Python programmers," and the Foundation ultimately decided it wasn't willing to compromise on that position, even for what would have been a solid financial boost for the organization. "The PSF is a relatively small organization, operating with an annual budget of around $5 million per year, with a staff of just 14," Crary added, noting that the $1.5 million would have been the largest grant the Foundation had ever received - but it wasn't worth it if the conditions were undermining the PSF's mission. The PSF board voted unanimously to withdraw its grant application.

Python Foundation Rejects Government Grant Over DEI Restrictions

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  • Like do they want to be free to accept pull requests from people of color that they would reject from a white dude?
    • by SirSlud ( 67381 ) on Tuesday October 28, 2025 @07:27PM (#65757012) Homepage

      They don't want to take money that can then be demanded to be returned after having spent it. It's quite simple. What constitutes discrimination is subjective - don't look at me, every nation has volumes of evolving laws and case law on trying to define discrimination, and in what cases it's legally permitted. Knowing this administration, the bar in the agreement probably isn't even legal - just, "When we say you're doing it, you're doing it." You'd be stupid to take money on those terms. They might as well take money that is only allowed to be spent on "super cool shit, although we can then decide later that something isn't as cool as we said it was the month before".

      NSF reserves the right to terminate financial assistance awards and recover all funds if recipients, during the term of this award, operate any program in violation of Federal anti- discriminatory laws or engage in a prohibited boycott.

      Hilarious. Hey, would you like to take on a massive economic liability? Take this money!

    • I think the issue is that the "anti-DEI" people in the government believe that they're the ones who get to decide whether you're being "neutral towards everyone" or "discriminating against their buddies." Who would want someone from the government who appears to have an agenda and a chip on their shoulder to come in having the opinion that it's their job to second guess your decisions and micromanage your behavior? Better to plan for a future where those people stay home. Plus, it's USA, which means after a
    • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Tuesday October 28, 2025 @07:42PM (#65757068)
      More importantly the heritage foundation. If they accept the money they are Trump's bitch and they are the heritage foundation's bitch and they can do absolutely nothing about it.

      The attack on diversity and inclusiveness is about two things. The first is giving you something besides a good economy as a reason to vote for people who have been screwing you over your entire fucking life.

      The second is a back door way to assert control over every aspect of your life and the lives of people around you. Do what we say or we take the money away.

      Your granddad knew fascism was bad. Why don't you?
      • The funny thing about this is that DEI was shoved down the throats of universities and corporate America by government rules! And now reversing those rules — or eliminating them — is someone a huge problem!
        • It is not just about reversing or eliminating those rules. It's about forbidding them.

          Many private organizations discovered the benefits of diversity long before it became enshrined into regulations or law. Some want to continue to practice it, and are now being targeted, for example, the org in TFA.

      • > Your granddad knew fascism was bad.

        Quite a few granddads didn't know fascism was bad; that's why they live in Argentina.

      • by sabbede ( 2678435 ) on Wednesday October 29, 2025 @09:49AM (#65758352)
        Yes, my grandfather knew what fascism was. That's one of the reasons I'm able to recognize it when its sibling dons the facade of DEI. DEI was never about what it claimed, it has always just been Newspeak for Socialist oppression.

        I was working at a large company when the DEI wave hit. HR sent out documentation that said all white people were racist, that we needed to discuss our sex lives at work (that is sexual harassment), and that the three things we needed to purge from the workplace were racism (there wasn't any), sexism (there wasn't any), and Capitalism.
        It was pretty clear what the real intent was. And then I got fired for complaining about being called a racist and saying that a company owned by the world's most famous capitalist (Buffett) shouldn't talk about purging it from the workplace.

        And then it turned out the reason the company was inflicted with this policy was that, as we did business with the government, Biden required it.

        Biden demanded companies create DEI policies and departments, and I lost my job. Trump demands those policies and departments go away, and instead of hiring more people, Python says, "sorry, we like the racism".

        At least that's how I see it.

    • They want to mitigate the risk that a random political figure doesn't suddenly decide whatever they are doing is DEI and take the funding back and bankrupt them.

      That is all. No one in their right mind would accept that risk, espeically in the complete utter randomness that we call a government today.

      This has nothing to do about DEI and everything to do about reducing the risk that the government may randomly change the definition of DEI and claw back the money bankrupting you.

  • Find another hand, I am sure their are many organizations out there that insist on DEI. Have them fund the organization if that is more palatable Give up the virtue signaling and do code!
  • TIL (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Tomahawk ( 1343 ) on Tuesday October 28, 2025 @07:33PM (#65757034) Homepage

    Slashdot is filled with white-skinned hateful bigots and racists.

    I honest thought geeks and nerds were better than this.

    Today I'm truly disappointed to be a part of a community filled with "white people only" and "white people first" attitudes.

    It's sickening I thought humanity had moved forward, I though we were better than this.

    It's this the direction the world is now moving in -- pure racism disguised as "protecting against discrimination", because this so-called non-existent discrimination is "aimed at white people"?

    FFS.

    • The perfect rhetorical fortress: you don’t have the correct identity to have an opinion. I’m not white. No matter, there’s something else wrong with my immutable characteristics. Too much butt hair? Cannot have an opinion. And let’s assume that I tick all the immutable characteristics to have an opinion on DEI. Well, I have internalized homophobia/white supremacy/misogyny you name it. The perfect rhetorical fortress. Hermetic.
    • You must be new here.

      SCNR.

    • by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      Slashdot needs a diversity program to bring in more non-white bigots.

  • This is simply an attempt to force an organization to do the bidding of the administration. At any point they could have made up some arbitrary reason to demanded the grant money back.
  • by PPH ( 736903 ) on Tuesday October 28, 2025 @08:00PM (#65757104)

    Issue a statement that you will not give special consideration to orange people.

  • I'm happy to see an organization tell the orange fascists to put where the moon don't shine.
  • This post may trigger /. readers.
  • In violation of "Federal anti-discrimination laws" seems to have been the key clause. It's unlikely you are in violation.

    Why not have your lawyer list out all your DEI initiatives to the granting body and say "are you OK with this?". An OK by the granting makes it unlikely they can claw it back.

  • I'm in favour of grants being given with zero strings attached. It doesn't really matter what the conditions are, as soon as you let some faceless bureaucrat start dictating the makeup of your team, you politely refuse the cheque

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