I’m going to offer my somewhat moderate perspective and then bow out because I really don’t feel educated enough in this discussion.
I grew up around a lot of what I would now call military propaganda in the US. Every year in elementary school, army members would show up to give us “cool” presentations and show us the MREs they have to eat and the equipment they were trained to use. In high school, a very large percent of my fairly large school were members of the NJROTC (a program designed to teach kids about the military and encourage them to join later). Nowadays, many of my friends who were in that program have joined and left the military and are now activists against many things the US military does.
It makes me uncomfortable to be seeing what I would call military propaganda at NixCon. So to me this isn’t about NixCon taking any political stance. It’s about making sure its members are comfortable in the space it is curating. The absence of Anduril’s sponsorship will not lead to any discomfort the same way its presence does.
That said, I understand that sponsorships “keep the lights on” so to speak. So a small amount of discomfort for me may be worth it to ensure the best NixCon possible. It’s hard for me to say. And so I don’t have a hard stance on the matter. I just wanted it to be noted that, to me, this isn’t even a political discussion. It’s a discussion about making a welcoming environment for our community.