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posted by martyb on Thursday August 27 2020, @11:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the CoC dept.

Software engineer, Debian developer, and recognized Free/Open Source Software innovator Daniel Pocock scratches the surface on the 2016 explusion of journalist, security researcher, and hacker Jacob Appelbaum from Debian. He asserts that the leadership in Debian at the time falsified evidence and hid conflicts of interest when dealing with the allegations against Appelbaum.

In 2016, there was an enormous amount of noise about Jacob Appelbaum from the Tor Project and winner of the Henri Nannen Prize for journalism.

An anonymous web site had been set up with allegations of harassment, abuse and rape. Unlike the #MeToo movement, which came later, nobody identified themselves and nobody filed a police complaint. It appears that the site was run by people who live in another country and have no daily contact with Appelbaum. Therefore, many people feel this wasn't about justice or immediate threats to their safety.

Long discussions took place in the private mailing lists of many free software communities, including Debian. Personally, as a I focus on my employer, clients and family and as there are so many long email discussions in Debian, I don't follow most of these things. I've come to regret that as it is now clear that at least some claims may have been falsified, a serious injustice has transpired and this could have been easily detected.

I don't wish to discount the experiences of anybody who has been a victim of a crime. However, in the correspondence that was circulated within Debian, the only person who has technically been harassed is Jacob Appelbaum himself. If Appelbaum does have a case to answer then organizations muddying the waters, inventing additional victims, may undermine the stories of real victims.

He then goes on to provide supporting evidence — including what was falsified and how the falsifications were used by the press — and then, from there, used against Appelbaum.

Previously:
(2016) Jacob Appelbaum Leaves the Tor Project
(2014) Hackers Replicate NSA's Leaked Bugging Devices


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by canopic jug on Friday August 28 2020, @07:27AM (2 children)

    by canopic jug (3949) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 28 2020, @07:27AM (#1043193) Journal

    I meant "... there is no reason why it can't be true that both the Debian material was falsified and he was a real creep." Damn typos.

    There is another summary based on Pocock's post [debian.community]. However, you'd have to look to see if it adds in any additional source material. It looks like Techrights has some more specifics about the abuse by the Debian project [techrights.org].

    The whole thing is so messy that it turns people off from the project, which is what IMO one of the things the strife is intended to do. It's also so convoluted and filled with intrigue and lies that no one "on the spectrum", which means most developers, will be able to follow all the details and see who has been behind the power grab.

    --
    Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by driverless on Friday August 28 2020, @09:47AM (1 child)

    by driverless (4770) on Friday August 28 2020, @09:47AM (#1043217)

    Yeah, I've never been much of a fan of Debian's politics, which is why I use it via one level of indirection (Ubuntu). It's meant to be a fricken OS distro, not a political/social justice movement.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @03:43PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2020, @03:43PM (#1043363)

      Yes, democratic processes (eg. Debian) are messy and can be chaotic. A lot of people prefer the stability of an autocratic regime (eg. Ubuntu), so that all the big decisions are handled for them - even if it means fewer choices and less freedom.