It's a shame that crying sexism is beginning to take on the trappings of Salem Witch Trials. Simply implying that what happened was the result of sexism seems to be enough proof that sexism was the cause. This is a nuanced case that probably has much more to do with managerial mistakes. The sexism angle in this story seems very forced and sort of used as a last minute boost to an otherwise boring story of bad management.
How is the current situation like the Salem Witch Trials?
My memory is that in that situation people were burned at the stake for allegedly doing things that are actually physically impossible to do. Like casting spells on children.
In this case, an employee has accused other employees of several fireable, if not illegal, actions. No one has been burned, or is in danger of being burned. Possibly some people will be fired, but no one has even been named yet, and ostensibly it will be left up to Github itself, and the courts.
During the 20th century, references to the Salem witch trials were used extensively to refer to hunts for people accused of doing things that were possible. Namely being a communist.^ Unlike witches, it actually is possible to be a communist, and it actually is plausible that there were communists in the Federal government.
Comparing such communist hunts to witch hunts is not about comparing the nature of the accused crime, but rather about comparing the nature of the so called investigation.
I have seen this explained numerous times on HN in discussions similar to this one. Several times I have explained it myself. I don't know if it is feigned ignorance and purposeful obtuseness/offense seeking, or if people are genuinely unfamiliar with the history of the term "witch hunt", but either way this is getting rather tiring.
^ The most prominent example of this is Arthur Miller's The Crucible.
I would object less to the term "witch hunt" which you're right has become idiomatic. But that's not the term that was used. The term used was "Salem Witch Trials".
Additionally, I still think there is a qualitative difference between "this person is bad because they're a member of a group we don't like" and "this person is bad because they did a real destructive thing."
