1Password criticized over support for DHH-created Linux project Omarchy
Password manager 1Password faced criticism from customers after promising to provide $300,000 to support the Omarchy Linux distribution, created by Danish entrepreneur David Heinemeier Hansson, known as DHH. According to The Verge, the company became a “distinguished corporate patron” of the nonprofit Omacom Foundation, which oversees Omarchy.
Criticism from customers and employees
After the funding announcement, social media users began suggesting alternative password managers. One widely shared post accused 1Password of supporting ethnic cleansing in Europe through its donation to Hansson’s project.
The Verge also reported internal dissatisfaction among some 1Password employees disappointed by the company’s association with Hansson. 1Password CEO David Faugno and co-founder Roustem Karimov published internal messages regarding this reaction. According to Faugno, concerns inside and outside the company are related to DHH’s polarizing nature.
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DHH and Omarchy
Hansson is known as the creator of Ruby on Rails, Basecamp, and the Hey email client. According to The Verge, he regularly published blog posts that the outlet describes as openly racist; in particular, they included calls to deport members of ethnic minorities from Europe. The outlet also notes that Hansson expressed strongly anti-vaccine and anti-immigration views.
Omarchy is an Arch Linux-based distribution with a defined set of applications installed by default. Hansson describes it as an “opinionated” version of Linux, meaning a system configured according to his own preferences.
This is not the first negative reaction to an association with Hansson. In 2023, Duke University Libraries abandoned Basecamp, citing harm that, in their view, the leadership of the service’s parent company, 37signals, causes. Hansson is a co-owner of that company.
