Debian Choosing Secrecy (in Defiance of Its Very Own Transparency Rules) Harmful to Trust

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2020-08-29 03:15:59 UTC
Modified: 2020-08-29 14:28:32 UTC

Summary: During a discussion about controversial expulsion of Daniel Baumann it was pointed out that the Debian-Private list needs to be declassified and published (status reproduced below); it's moreover noteworthy that the Debian Social Contract, point 3, calls for something similar in order to amplify truth (this is why we publish/divulge full IRC logs every day, even if some parts of the conversations are 'inconvenient')

Declassification of the debian-private archives

The debian-private mailing list is used for private discussions among developers, which are sparingly needed.
For the sake of transparency, the Debian project voted in 2005 for a declassification procedure which will publish messages posted there after a period of 3 years.

Status of the GR implementation

Debian is more than willing to keep up to its promises and implement what the outcome of this GR requires. Still, the declassification cannot happen per se, but rather needs DebianDeveloper volunteers to actually do that.
Until a suitable team of volunteers with the energy to work on the issue shows up, this GR will remain not implemented.
Bottom line: help is needed. If you are interested to help, please check the last call for help on the matter and contact <leader AT debian DOT org> to volunteer.
Ideally, in your mail you should come up with a suitable declassification work flow for both past messages and for new messages that daily become declassifiable.

IBM Behaves Like a Company Looking for Loose Change Between Sofa Cushions: Chasing laid-off workers for dollars and even pennies, making excuses and devising loopholes (such as PIPs) to flout severance obligations
EPO Union Leaders in Rijswijk Explain Where EPO Strikes Stand and How to Prepare for Next Week's: We have some revelations to share in a few days
Microsoft's "AI CEO" (Slop Propagandist) is Projecting, Many Microsoft "Jobs to be Replaced With All-Indian Low-Paid Staff in 12 Months": Windows is perishing
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, February 19, 2026: IRC logs for Thursday, February 19, 2026
Gemini Links 19/02/2026: "Towards a Gemini Famicom Resource" and Dumping Microsoft: Links for the day
Microsoft Found Another Bailout Opportunity: Killing People: Good thing that Nadella is not racist!
No "Smart Mobs" (Social Control Media) in BRIC?: It looks like the "Social" "Media" sites tracked by statCounter see little from (or of) BRIC, and moreover it is declining fast
The Few Slopfarms We Saw Today: The sentiment has changed a lot
Links 19/02/2026: Protecting Framework Laptop 13, Hardware Drive Shortages: Links for the day
In Africa's Second-Largest Nation, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Opera 10 Times Bigger Than Firefox (and GNU/Linux Now at 5%): This will become an accessibility problem
Links 19/02/2026: "A.I.pocalypse" Inevitable and "Butlers to LLMs": Links for the day
An Inherently Royal (Monarchs') Legal System Where Size Matters (Big Capital Eats the Small): This reinforces the notion that justice is only for those who can afford it
These Statistics Should Keep Microsoft Shareholders Awake at Night: Windows is, in general (all versions collectively), declining over time
Economic Failure and Other Harsh Realities Have Nothing to Do With Slop 'Innovation': Advanced propaganda, not advanced 'AI' [...] They attack workers while insulting their intelligence
Spaniards Shutting Down MElon's Digital Weapon of "Smart Mobs": Are the Spanish people already acting based on gut feeling and shunning/shutting out the provocation vector?
Bitcoin: government engagement contradictions: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Richard Stallman in the United States - Part II - "Haters Gonna Hate": we shall carry on with this series at the right pace
Typical! Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Tells Victims of Fraud to Wait 10 Weeks: justice delayed is justice denied
statCounter: Only One in 350 Iranians Would Use Microsoft for Web Search: Microsoft is trying to fake "demand"
Slides Shown a Week Ago by the EPO's Staff Committee Ahead of the Second Very Large Strike: This coming weekend we'll drop a 'bombshell' of sorts
EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part II - Illegal Drug Addicts Mobbing the Wrong People, This Will Definitely Backfire: This year may well be the last year of Team Campinos. Nobody will hire them after that.
Mass Layoffs (But Silent Layoffs) Still Happening in IBM, You Need Only Look Closely (There Are NDAs, PIPs, 'Early Retirement' Sweeteners and IBM - Like Microsoft - Skirts the WARN Act): the layoffs are definitely happening
Very Little Slop: We are not finding much slop anymore
Links 19/02/2026: Illegal Kangaroo Court for Patents Attracts Aggressive Firms, Public Domain Review Grows: Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/02/2026: Taxing the Rich, Raspberry Pi 4 Tinkering: Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, February 18, 2026: IRC logs for Wednesday, February 18, 2026
Links 18/02/2026: DMCA Weakened, Anna’s Archive Still Thriving: Links for the day
Links 18/02/2026: Gig 'Economy' Condemned, Microsoft Insulting/Stressing People With False Slop Predictions: Links for the day
Twitter Falling to 1% in Africa's Largest Nation (Algeria): About 15 years ago the regime in Egypt got toppled (and others had been too) partly because of social control media such as Twitter
"How Many Friends Do You Have?": "Do bots count?" "Friends in Facebook?" "Does a girlfriend chatbot count as a friend?"
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Responds to Crises Only After It's Way Too Late: The SRA does not do its job. The new chief's job is face-saving PR in the media.
The Techrights Team Makes the Platform Faster: The infrastructure is already fast
Mozilla Firefox Died in Afghanistan: Mozilla has been a complete disaster
Gemini Links 18/02/2026: Astronomy and Texinfo: Links for the day
Are IBM CEO and IBM CFO Ready for Financial Audit That Topples the Shares by 50% in One Day?: The same "chefs" that cooked up Kyndryl Holdings Inc are still in charge of the IBM kitchen
France Does Not Need Digital Weapons Disguised as Social and as Media: French people lost interest in Social Control 'Media' (or Networks)
"Senior AI Reporter" at Slop Technica/Ars Sloppica Has Written Nothing in Nearly a Week, Did Conde Nast Suspend Him for Fake Articles With Fake Quotes?: Slop Technica/Ars Sloppica is having a serious credibility issue right now
Linux Foundation Puts Slop Images, Not Just Slop Text, in Linux.com: More of the same then
The Register MS Paid-for 'Articles' (Ads) Seem to be LLM Slop Again: If it's true that The Register MS is resorting to these marketing tactics, will they later delete the evidence (as they did months ago)?
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, February 17, 2026: IRC logs for Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Debian Choosing Secrecy (in Defiance of Its Very Own Transparency Rules) Harmful to Trust

Declassification of the debian-private archives

Status of the GR implementation

Recent Techrights' Posts