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Drupal founder Dries Buytaert expelled Larry "Crell" Garfield from the Drupal community (archive) for his involvement in the BDSM community. Garfield claims this was done at the demand of Drupal Security team member Klaus "klausi" Purer and unknown others secretly pressuring Drupal leadership to have him removed for his private sex life.
takyon: From Larry's response:
I am involved in two such communities, specifically the BDSM community and the Gorean (Gor) community. The former is by far the larger of the two and more varied, although I spend more of my time and activity in the Gorean community. It's a small community, and sadly much of what is found online about it is utter crap, just as most in the BDSM community find the "50 Shades" representation of BDSM to be harmfully misleading. The Gorean subculture is inspired by a science-fiction book series written from the 1960s onward to today, and predicated on a strong sense of personal honor, integrity, and community. It also practices consensual Master/slave relationships, and has a strong gender bias toward male-Dom/female-sub relationships, but that is not the cornerstone of Gorean culture. There are other groups that are biased the other way, or have no gender bias. There are even groups in Chicago (where I live) that have regular "fem-dom" parties. To each their own.
It's the same Gor that was adapted into two films, one of which appeared on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
(Score: 3, Informative) by cubancigar11 on Monday March 27 2017, @02:11PM
And Drupal is a "safe-space" for SJWs infiltrating technical fields. You can't have anything shocking in a safe-space. It is obvious and logical.
Larry Garfield is reaping what he sowed.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27 2017, @02:27PM (11 children)
I practice D/s in my current relationship (and have, to varying degrees in all my relationships).
I am a Dominant. This means that I derive sexual satisfaction from exerting control over my partner. My current partner (as well as everyone I've ever engaged with in this way) is a willing participant and derives sexual satisfaction from having control exerted over her.
I am also a sadist. Which means that I derive sexual satisfaction from inflicting pain. My partner is a masochist, who derives pleasure from having pain inflicted upon her.
In both of these cases, all the activities my partner and I engage in are completely consensual.
I do not participate in the BDSM "community" as my sexual predilections and activities aren't anyone's business except mine and those with whom I engage in such activities. Since my private activities are just that, that's also the reason that I'm posting AC here.
While it is true that abusive relationships exist and too many people (especially women) are physically and emotially injured, traumatised and sometimes even killed by their abusive partners, real BDSM relationships are loving, caring and mutually beneficial and satisfying.
I find it appalling that someone should be penalized for their private behavior, especially when that behavior does not affect the sphere in which such penalties are being applied.
All that said, I understand that folks (myself included) are disgusted by the physical and emotional abuse suffered by the victims of intimate partner abuse.
My partner considers herself (as do I) a feminist. Why is that so, if she desires to be dominated by a man? Because at its heart, feminism is about choice and equality. If a woman chooses to submit to another (whether that be a man or a woman) in a sexual context, that's her choice to make. If she chooses to dominate another person, that's her choice.
Larry Garfield (apparently) kept his private life private and was "outed" for unknown reasons. This is the opposite of inclusiveness. In fact, it smacks of small-mindedness and bigotry.
It would not surprise me, given that the initial "outing" came from a private registration web site, that the person who "outed" him has a personal beef with him. It's sad, IMHO.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday March 27 2017, @02:49PM (1 child)
It's sad to see some of the comments on the "Living our values" blog post, some clearly from women, supporting Buytaert by assuming he has evidence that has not been presented justifying his decision. No openness, and no source/sauce.
Compare it to the Jacob Appelbaum fiasco, where several people banded together to make a website detailing allegations of misconduct against him. In this case, no woman seems to have stepped forward to say a bad word about Larry beyond one woman saying they had a conversation 10 years ago and he seemed awkward. Many instead support him, and see it for what it is: cyberstalking, FUD, and corporate cover-your-ass behavior (maybe cleaning house ahead of an IPO [darrenmothersele.com] for Buytaert's company?). No wrongdoing is alleged, just this:
He read the wrong dorky science fiction books, and he got laid (consensually) in the wrong way. I wish you well.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27 2017, @07:14PM
My guess is they found some of the posts on the private forum where Larry says things which are probably quite disturbing to someone NOT in the culture. These people get off on giving and receiving pain, and do so consensually. I don't want to read or hear the things they say to get in the mood, and I'm sure that without any understanding of the community those things would sound quite horrifying.
Screwed up to investigate someone's private life when it seems to have zero impact on their professional life. Queue my personal disgust, and I'm glad to see that a lot of people reached out to Larry and others are now wary of the Drupal community.
(Score: 2) by Rivenaleem on Monday March 27 2017, @03:24PM
He probably forgot to post anonymously by accident once :p
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by kurenai.tsubasa on Monday March 27 2017, @03:46PM
Because at its heart, feminism is about choice and equality.
Whoops! Another attempt to divide by zero!
Is this “feminism” (that obviously has nothing to do with the real world womyn-born-womyn supremacist movement also called “feminism”) like one of those fun exercises in number theory where you redefine the basic four operations so that division by zero is a meaningful question with a meaningful answer?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27 2017, @04:48PM (4 children)
WTF? Would it kill you to use a car analogy so the rest of us can understand what you're talking about?
(Score: 5, Funny) by bradley13 on Monday March 27 2017, @06:58PM (3 children)
"Would it kill you to use a car analogy so the rest of us can understand what you're talking about?"
A car analogy? Sure, I can do that for you.
Think about the cars people drive. Some people own sedans: plain, practical, and comfortable. Other people own race cars: fast, hot, but maybe a bit tricky to drive. Still others have trucks, maybe because they like to go offroad, get a bit dirty.
No matter what kind of car you drive, you leave it in the parking lot when you get to work. After all, your fellow employees really wouldn't appreciate you driving through the cubicle farm to get to your desk.
In this case, though, it's the opposite: Your fellow employees just have to know what kind of car you drive. If they want to find that out, it's hard to prevent them from following you to the parking lot, even if it isn't any of their business.
So: you drive an unusual car. I dunno, maybe a Mini. Some fruitcake in your office doesn't like Minis, and campaigns to get you fires. Unfortunately, your boss overcompensates for his size issues by driving a Hummer, and figures that you driving a Mini means...well, anyway, you get fired.
There. A car analogy.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27 2017, @07:41PM (2 children)
Um, I was hoping for the car's seat belts to represent some of the BDSM elements of his post.
(Score: 2, Funny) by khallow on Monday March 27 2017, @07:49PM (1 child)
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday March 28 2017, @01:10AM
and some people like to kick the tires.
Eh? Eh?
Does that make daddy horny? Yeah... you know it. Yeah, daddy LIKES a little kicking now and then.
Yeah!.......
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 27 2017, @06:09PM (1 child)
This is so fucked up. I'm in complete agreement with both you and the woman whose comments were quoted above: so long as business and home life are kept separate, WHO CARES what two consenting adults do in the bedroom?! Now I hope he doesn't actually believe the central hypothesis of the Gor universe, that being that women are naturally subservient to men because hurr hurr evolution, but if they want to roleplay it, so what? Stuff like this sets feminism back, and taints every other justice movement it associates itself with.
I'm told there's a saying, "your kink is not my kink, and that's okay." I'm rather vanilla personally, and am repulsed by much of the BDSM scene--anything harder than ribbons and a blindfold and calling my girlfriend "o-nee-sama" is right out--but I also know that different people are wired differently, and what works for one doesn't work for another. What *any* of this has to do with his work is beyond me.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday March 27 2017, @08:00PM
This is so fucked up. I'm in complete agreement with both you and the woman whose comments were quoted above: so long as business and home life are kept separate, WHO CARES what two consenting adults do in the bedroom?!
Quite right. I would be flabbergasted if my employer (or the members of a volunteer group) were to spy upon me and take action in my professional life for something I did privately. This poor bastard Garfield was crucified. I guess the question is, "who benefits the most from his dismissal?"
Now I hope he doesn't actually believe the central hypothesis of the Gor universe, that being that women are naturally subservient to men because hurr hurr evolution, but if they want to roleplay it, so what? Stuff like this sets feminism back, and taints every other justice movement it associates itself with.
Whether he believes it or not, as long as he only indulges in consensual activity and doesn't push his beliefs on anyone else, I see no issue. Despite the fact that I heartily disagree with such views.
I don't think it sets feminism back, as long as all activity is consensual. If a person (a woman or a man, there are submissive types of both genders) has the drive and desire to be submissive to another and acts upon that, it's an expression of their will and their choice. The ability to make such choices for oneself (rather than being dictated to or discriminated against) is a core tenet of feminism (and freedom in general) IMHO.
I'm told there's a saying, "your kink is not my kink, and that's okay." I'm rather vanilla personally, and am repulsed by much of the BDSM scene--anything harder than ribbons and a blindfold and calling my girlfriend "o-nee-sama" is right out--but I also know that different people are wired differently, and what works for one doesn't work for another.
I agree wholeheartedly. Whatever floats your boat/fries your clams/blows your skirt up is fine with me, as long as you don't try to force it on me.
At the same time, I would point out that all relationships have a power dynamic, and those dynamics are rarely equal. Whether it be a romantic relationship (we all know couples where it's obvious who "wears the pants"), familial relationships (parents have significant power over their children, until they don't, and then, often, children then have significant power over their parents), employer/employee relationships inherently have unequal power dynamics as well.
What's more, as with parent/child power dynamics, those dynamics can (and often do) change over time. Even in relationships that have relatively equal power dynamics, that can be fluid depending on which aspects of the relationship is involved.
What *any* of this has to do with his work is beyond me.
You guess is as good as mine, sister. Probably better, since you haven't had four beers. (with apologies to Dave Barry).
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27 2017, @03:14PM (4 children)
This is so backwards. So much for tolerance in the Age of Trump.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27 2017, @04:08PM (3 children)
You're only just noticing that SJW's are authoritarians, claiming victim status for themselves in some vainglorious attempt to bully others?
Some may find this amusing given your age of Trump quip but Identity Politics should be dealt with the same way as Narcissistic Personality Disorder [helpguide.org] - the resulting anti-social traits accordingly. [wikihow.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27 2017, @04:37PM (2 children)
Yes humans are often authoritarian about issues they care a lot about. It isn't just SJWs, it is every walk of life. Co servative, liberal, kink or Bible thumper you get the same problems.
This is a particular horrible display of hypocrisy and it usually results in the fragmentation of the community. I've worked with drupal and this hypocrisy leaves a bad taste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27 2017, @05:45PM (1 child)
Leaves a bad taste? Stop sucking the damned thing!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27 2017, @07:22PM
$$$$$
working on finding a different area to work in, but should I drop linux because Torvalds can be a mean code dictator? Shall I never use windows because MS is evil? Shall I just quit life since a lot of humans are bent on destroying the planet and generally acting like demon spawn?
The actions of the leadership do not taint the entire project / community for me, but if things continue down this path I will move on and never look back. Such leadership is unfitting and will easily taint the community at large.
A fork has already been created, Backdrop!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 27 2017, @05:27PM
It's on his own time. Company should have no input.
(Score: 2) by Justin Case on Monday March 27 2017, @08:43PM
Have you ever taken a look at Drupal's internal database structure? Now that's kinky! SadoMasochistic even.
I wish you well.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday March 27 2017, @11:59PM
Jian Ghomeshi got fired from the CBC here in Canada for (i believe: i don't have the full disclosure) the same reason: an 'unusual' sex life.
I believe the women consented at least to some degree.
If i spank my wife's butt while 'fore-playing' (she laughs), is that okay?
If so
If i spank my wife's butt twice, is that okay? (she laughs, and doesn't complain)
If so
If i hold my wife down after spanking her (her hands held in mine, so she cannot get her hands free), is THAT okay?
If so
If i do the above and .... and.... and....
Where does the line get drawn at where I can be fired?
Is it any of my bosses business?
If fired, can i subpoena her husband and ask him questions about THEIR sex life?
If i find anything I find weird, can i get HER fired?
Where does the fecking line start and stop, if it is all consensual?, and how can an employer have a say in your sex life (stop doing that with your SO, or you'll be fired?)
Trump likes having prostitutes piss and shit on Obama's bed.
Hillary likes watching Bill do other women (no, i have no citation: laugh a little).
At this point, what difference does it make?
If the person does a good job for you and you feel they are an asset, feck it (and here's where i destroy my whole statement) except for child porn.... even if the kid consents (can a kid really, really consent? WTF?), cause kids don't know WHAT THE FECK is going on with sex.
Addendum:
"A second trial for one additional charge was scheduled for June 2016. On May 11, 2016, however, the Crown withdrew the last remaining charge, re: the alleged sexual assault against former CBC co-worker, Kathryn Borel, after Ghomeshi signed a peace bond which does not include an admission of guilt."
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 28 2017, @03:18AM
And get their projects removed if they don't obey the dictats of the women's movement:
esr.ibiblio.org/?p=1310