Bonum Certa Men Certa

Blackmail Tactics for Productivity and Coercion

Reprinted with permission from Debian Community News

DebConf going online in 2020 doesn't mean we can't have the full experience. Yesterday, we began with the foreplay of plotting defamation with Erinn Clark and today we move on to a full-blown DebConfs orgy of hypocrisy.



Lunar (Jérémy Bobbio) is one volunteer who wrote about experiences with Jacob Appelbaum on the debian-private (leaked) gossip network. Here is what he had to say:



Subject: Re: Jacob Appelbaum and harrassement
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 2016 18:39:28 +0200
From: Jérémy Bobbio <lunar@debian.org>
To: debian-private@lists.debian.org



... snip ...

I can personally vouch for 2 of the stories on the website. I also have direct experience of Jake playing with people's boundaries, mine included since I first met him in Florence four years ago.

-- Lunar .''`. lunar@debian.org : :â’¶ : `. `'` `- # apt-get install anarchism



We don't want to diminish the experiences of any actual victims of abuse. On the other hand, we don't feel that Lunar's very brief message on debian-private is sufficient evidence to destroy the career of another volunteer.



Playing with boundaries is very ambiguous. It can mean anything you want really. If a complete stranger plays with your boundaries on public transport, that is completely unacceptable and hopefully leads to the confiscation of your child pornography collection, which is apparently a more serious punishment than jail for some people.



On the other hand, in an environment where people choose to mix their professional and social lives, comments like that need to be considered in context to understand correctly. For example, if everybody gets high on drugs and loses track of the boundaries, why should only one participant be singled out for a public flogging? In these events, are yes and no always black and white or are we talking about situations with 250 shades of gray?



In fact, we have the same dilemma when considering the case of Dr Norbert Preining. Molly de Blanc's anti-harassment hit squad sent Dr Preining that ridiculous long list of accusations days before Christmas. Outsiders may raise their eyebrows at some of Dr Preining's comments. Yet when you consider he is not a native English speaker and you peruse the things Debian Developers have been writing in debian-private, you find there was nothing unusual about Dr Preining's writing style in the context of Debian behavior. If anything, exposure to the Debian community lowers everybody's standards by a similar amount.



Let's get back to that difficult question of boundaries and hear from the expert on community, Molly de Blanc. de Blanc got her Debian Developer certificate while dating Debian Project Leader Chris Lamb (a.k.a. Mollamby) and with that in hand, she was nominated to become president of the OSI. In Molly's own words, taken from FrOSCon 2019, she demonstrates the incredibly limited extent of her leadership skills:



Well we can use our collective power to push others




de Blanc has even provided a cute drawing. Does this look like pushing somebody's boundaries? At three-to-one odds, it could be alluding to gang rape.



Molly de Blanc, pushing volunteers, pushing boundaries, bullying, cyberbullying, enforcement

"Push others", Copyright (C) 2019 Molly de Blanc



What happened when a Debian mentor pushed their GSoC intern to work up to the last day and didn't pay them? Other mentors and admins suggested asking Google. de Blanc didn't want to push Google though, maybe they are too big for her:



Subject: Re: Revaluation appeal for [redacted/name of intern]
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2018 11:35:10 -0700
From: Molly de Blanc <deblanc@riseup.net>

Hi Team,

Google has already spent a lot of resources reviewing code from Debian
participants. We should think very carefully before asking them to do
any more.

Cheers,
Molly


molly de blanc, toxic woman, toxic person, debian, open source, fsf, free software, gsoc, outreachy, payment, unpaid

The intern spent three months on a project, de Blanc, who is not a developer, didn't look at it and didn't think it was worth writing more than two lines about the matter. de Blanc rarely appears to push herself as much as she pushes others.



de Blanc is only willing to push people who are smaller or outnumbered. In Molly's world, freelancers, employees of small companies, students and interns can be pushed, but not Molly and not Google. de Blanc is not interested in pushing companies like Google and Microsoft, especially when they give her treats to help exert influence.



Looking at the Jacob Appelbaum allegations again, somebody tweeted that he had used their work in 2007 without properly crediting them in a research paper. This is a serious issue in the academic world. Nonetheless, we can see exactly the same behavior in Debian: multiple people have been removed from the list of Debian Developers, while Debian continues to distribute their work and take credit for it. The most blatant example of this was Dr Preining, who was told to keep working as a Debian Maintainer, like an apprentice, but he wouldn't be credited for his work as a Debian Developer. Ironically, the software that Dr Preining packages is the LaTeX software. This is the same software that is typically used to format the academic research papers that Jacob Appelbaum is accused of creating from other people's work. How could Debian deny Dr Preining full and proper credit for his work while adding weight to accusations of plagiarism against another volunteer, Appelbaum?





It is not clear if the tweet about plagiarism is noteworthy. Genuine mistakes with crediting authors are not unprecedented and are usually fixed behind the scenes by releasing an updated copy of the paper and a thank-you note on a blog. Many of the Appelbaum allegations are simply misunderstandings that have been hyped by the media, who went into a feeding frenzy over stories of orgies in his apartment.



Back into the domain of pushing people's boundaries, as alleged by Lunar, when you read the self-deprecating confession-apology that Dr Preining wrote, it should be clear that this was not written spontaneously and under his own free will: in Debian, consent is rarely taken seriously. Dr Preining's boundaries were pushed by three months of blackmail. This almost looks like it was written for him and he didn't have any choice whether to send it or not:



I also will take care to listen carefully to advice and corrections, ...


In cooperation with DAM - and the invaluable help of some fellow DDs - we have reached the agreement about my further status. DAM will write about this in a separate email outlining the agreement and consequences.


Absolutely chilling.



We hope this orgy of hypocrisy has made it clear. When we evaluate behavior against Debian's own standards, the behavior of the people accused is relatively tame compared to the behavior of project leadership. If the leader's girlfriend can stand up at a conference and boast about pushing people to do things she won't do herself, how can the same people accuse Appelbaum of pushing to get what he wants?



Note to victims of abuse: in the first instance, we suggest you seek assistance from a competent person close to where you live. We do not recommend seeking help in free software communities, debian-private and other gossip networks. We welcome reports of abuse to help us corroborate stories but we do not disclose any private information.



molly de blanc, bondage, oppression, volunteers, debian

Slides above chosen by Molly de Blanc to show how she wants to coerce volunteers using pressure and punishments.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Richard Stallman (RMS) Announced His Talk Less Than 24 Hours Before It Took Place and Still Filled Up the Auditorium at Sapienza Università di Roma
Photos from yesterday evening [...] It looks like it was a very successful event
Investigative Journalism Protects Society From Corruption, Crimes Against Women, Assaults on Civil Society
"what is the point of men doing military practice to defend a system that is so rotten?"
Swiss pimp usurping reputation of legendary Tissot boss Francois Thiébaud from France (BaselWorld, SWATCH Group SA)
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Paris 'Love Nest' & Debian Outreachy: from Lycée Lakanal to ENS Cachan, Cr@ns, nepotism
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Richard Stallman to Give Public Talk in 3 Hours, Then in the Technical University of Munich (Germany) Next Week
Richard Stallman at TUM on 21.10.2025 18:00, MW2001
Leaks and Whistleblowers: Our Plan for Today
Society simply cannot advance when too many people self-censor
 
Taking Software Freedom 'Mainstream'
interest in Software Freedom must have grown
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 13, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 13, 2025
Gemini Links 14/10/2025: Ada Lovelace Day, Sony CLIE PEG-TG50 Review, Why to Avoid Network Solutions
Links for the day
The EPO's War on Techrights Was a Massive Mistake
The EPO started the SLAPPs after we had published a few hundreds of articles; we've since then published close to 6,000 because the attacks on us emboldened insiders to help us
General-Purpose Computers to Become Growing Area of Coverage
Without them, we have little left for controlling our lives
"They missed a great opportunity to shut up." -Jacques Chirac
Brett Wilson LLP has been trying to cheat the legal system many times
Harassment evidence: Switzerland, overcrowded fitness and yoga centers, incompetence and racism in accident response
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Vincent Danjean & Debian NXIVM collateral, blackmail risks
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
In Sweden This Past Friday Richard Stallman Explained Why Copyleft is Important
And he didn't have to 'bash' BSDs, either
Dystopian Trends in Technology Make Richard Stallman More Relevant Than Ever
It's good to see him attracting vast audiences
IBM Layoffs Due to a Lack of Money and Company Debt Rising by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in 6 Months
IBM didn't buy Red Hat for any ideological reasons; it was a fast "cash grab" for revenue
Forbes Already Stopped Being a News Sites. Now It's a Spam and Propaganda Platform for "Paying Partners" (Companies).
news from Forbes became very scarce
Is the Second-Largest Institution in Europe (EPO) Gradually Becoming More Like a Sweatshop?
Underpaid, unqualified, inexperienced and incompatible people are already recruited to replace veteran examiners
The Register MS Has No FOSS Coverage Anymore
The Editor in Chief is like a Microsoft plant
Links 13/10/2025: "Toasty Subwoofer" and WiFi Speakers "Are About To Go Dumb"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: iNaturalist and Tove Jansson’s Moominpappa at Sea
Links for the day
Microsoft Does Not Deny That Large Retailers Like Walmart, Costco and Target Are Giving Up on XBox (and Not Stocking It)
No doubt XBox is in trouble and rumours suggest that more mass layoffs are imminent
We'll Encourage Richard Stallman to Talk About Software Patents at the EPO Next Week When He Visits Munich (EPO Headquarters)
Go listen to Richard Stahlmann
Arnaud Parreaux lost case defending rogue employer
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Mathieu Elias Parreaux declared bankrupt in Switzerland
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Breakdown of the Rule of Law and Patent Law in the European Union (EU)
The EPO cannot recruit suitably qualified patent examiners this way, let alone retain them
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: Good Films, Wizard of Earthsea, Upgrading the Steam Controller's Stick
Links for the day
It's Not Justice When One Side Denies the Other Side the Ability to Even Speak
At this stage, Brett Wilson LLP is in my humble opinion acting in contempt of the Court
Links 13/10/2025: Australian Catholic University Uses Slop to Libel Students, Canada Threatens to Kill Beluga Whales
Links for the day
How Not to Silence Tux Machines (It'll Only Backfire, Badly)
defending Microsoft while attacking this site
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT and Google News
It seems abundantly clear that Google News and Google in general participates in the slop epidemic
Vincent Danjean (not INTERPOL), Claire Bardel & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Christmas lynchings: Martin Krafft (madduck), Penny Leach (mjollnir) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 13/10/2025: Birthdays and "Committee Unable to Contact Nobel Prize Winner"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 12, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 12, 2025
The Same People Who Attacked Richard Stallman (RMS) Are Attacking Daniel Pocock to Discourage People From Listening to His Information
Pocock is being demonised for the same reasons and by the same people who attack RMS
Your Typical Anti-Richard Stallman (RMS) Cancellist
"About the RMS cancellation"
Richard Stallman (RMS) Has Announced His Talk in Rome Less Than 20 Hours in Advance (and on a Sunday)
Why did he wait until the night before?
We Are Safe in a Modern "Tech" Society, Right?
People are safer if they control their own computing
GNU Tools Cauldron Event in Portugal: Videos Now Available via Invidious
Go have a look
The Way Things Are Going, They May Soon Stop Saying "Web Address" and Instead Say "Chrome Address"
The Web isn't built or based around open Web standards anymore. It's centered around user-agent.
Microsoft as a Golden Cage
"I was laid off by Microsoft and can't find a job. I'm weeks away from giving up my apartment and moving across the country to live with family."
Weekend Discussion About How IBM's Bluewashing of Red Hat Will Cause "Enshittification" for Users
"I worked at a software company that was acquired by IBM so I knew it was game over for RedHat the day they were acquired"
Brett Wilson LLP Getting Sued by Its Very Own Clients, a Legal Story That Has Made the Mainstream News (Law360)
Law360 or Law.com are about as mainstream as one can get in that "sector" (litigation 'industry')
Slopwatch: GNU/Linux Sites That Became Slopfarms and Spamfarms
The Web is a mess and "Linux" or "Ubuntu" sites became part of the problem
Richard Stallman's Talk 25 Hours Away, Aula Magna Palazzo del Rettorato (CU001), Sapienza Università di Roma (Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5)
The talk is 25 hours away and we see some QR code for it
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: Watches, the Depression of 2026, Gamboling with Odds
Links for the day
Links 12/10/2025: 'False' DMCA Claims and Slop Facing Perils Again (the Hype Wears Off)
Links for the day
Microsoft Has Just Lost Privacy Case in Austria and Its Latest Moves Make a Complete Ban Seem Imperative
Microsoft is not a software company, it's a spying agency that uses software to collect data
The Register MS: Microsoft is the Security Expert, Not the Prime Culprit, So Buy More Microsoft
This front page feature is devoid of any actual substance, it's just Microsoft copypasta
Stefano Zacchiroli (Zack) & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Lucas Nussbaum & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 12/10/2025: "Palm Computering", Further Exploration of Slide Rules, and Key Takeaways from The Well-Grounded Rubyist
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 11, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 11, 2025
Tomorrow: Founder of the Free Software Foundation and of GNU/Linux, Richard Stallman, Speaks in Roma (Rome), Italy at 4PM
GNU/Linux is more important than ever in this dystopian world
Microsoft and Apple Are Rare Topics in Geminispace
in Geminispace it's rather safe to assume everyone is into BSD, GNU/Linux, and sometimes retro