Release your open-source project under the Anti-996 License to prevent companies that violate labor law from using it.
Add the 996.ICU badge to your project's README to publicly show solidarity with developers against excessive work schedules.
Look up the crowd-sourced list of companies reportedly enforcing 996 schedules before accepting a job offer.
Read press coverage, community surveys, and related projects to understand the scale and background of the 996 debate.
| 996icu/996.icu | practical-tutorials/project-based-learning | awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 276,142 | 265,018 | 290,581 |
| Setup difficulty | easy | easy | easy |
| Complexity | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 |
| Audience | general | developer | ops devops |
Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.
This repository is a protest project, not a piece of software. The name 996.ICU comes from an ironic saying among Chinese developers: "Work by '996', sick in ICU", meaning that following a 996 schedule (9 a.m. to 9 p.m., 6 days a week, at least 60 hours per week) puts your health at risk of sending you to the Intensive Care Unit. The README explains the practice has been gaining popularity at certain Chinese tech companies, and the project exists to push back on it. The way it works is that the repository is essentially a public campaign. The README invites readers to update a list of companies (with evidence) that follow the 996 schedule, to add a 996.ICU badge to their own projects to show solidarity, to release their open source projects under the project's "Anti-996 License", a license adapted from MIT whose stated purpose is to prevent companies that violate labor law from using software released under it, and to "go home at 6 pm without feeling sorry." The README quotes supportive voices (such as Guido van Rossum, called the founder of Python, quoted saying "the '996' working schedule is inhumane") and opposing voices from tech executives. It also lists related community projects covering work-life balance whitelists, petitions, surveys, and more. The GitHub issues tab was disabled because traffic was overwhelming. Someone would visit this when they want to learn about 996 working culture, publicly support the cause, license their open source project to discourage labor-law violators, or see press coverage and related community efforts. The project welcomes contributors from other fields and countries and frames itself as advocacy, not a political movement.
A public protest campaign against China's 996 work culture, 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week, featuring a crowd-sourced company list, a solidarity badge for open-source projects, and the Anti-996 License that bars labor-law violators from using software.
The Anti-996 License allows free use by individuals and law-abiding organizations, but explicitly bars companies that violate labor law, such as enforcing 996 work schedules, from using the software.
Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.
Mainly general.
This repo across BitVibe Labs
Verify against the repo before relying on details.