Bonum Certa Men Certa

Ben Bell, Mark Taylor, Sirius Open Source & DebConf sponsorhip insincere promises

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Mar 07, 2024

Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock.

Debian Developer Ben Bell (bjb) was employed at Sirius Open Source, along with numerous other companies including NTL, KBC, D.E. Shaw and Goldman Sachs. The company is managed by Mark Taylor.

There are now serious allegations from former employees that Mark Taylor has failed to remit contributions to the staff pension fund for a number of years. After all, this is open source, it is just a hobby. We are all just volunteers, so who needs a pension anyway?

Volunteers decided to begin a deep-dive into the relationship between Sirius Open Source & Debian.

In 2007, the rogue employer was listed as a sponsor of DebConf7. DebConf & Debian has given Mark Taylor a platform to attract clients and employees who may fall victim to missing pensions.

There are at least two web sites used in the history of the firm. To find their history in the Wayback Machine or searching for emails, it is necessary to search all the domains and email addresses used by the employees past and present.

The original web site was at siriusit.co.uk (backup copy) and that is the address that DebConf7 used for the sponsorship link.

Today the web site is at siriusopensource.com (backup copy).

Here are direct links to the list of people, using the backup copy from the old web site to find early employees and using the current web site to find more recent employees.

Former staff have made complaints about Ben Bell trying to implant a Debian-style 24x7 work culture onto part-time employees.

Ben Bell's CV (on his old web site) tells us he has taken early retirement (backup copy) while other employees complain they got no pensions at all.

I was a systems architect specialising in Unix and Linux based solutions with a broad range of in-depth experience in areas including database design, network architecture, client-server and web-based systems. Strong design and implementation skills. Able to provide full end-to-end system design, implementation and release.

After 25 years in this business I am not seeking further employment.

We can see that two other employees, Duncan Gibb and Mark Cave-Ayland, are also asking for help on Debian email lists but they are not maintaining any packages. After Ben Bell left, it looks like Mark Taylor did not want to continue paying the salary of a Debian Developer who contributes to Debian, he only continued consuming without giving back.

DebConf8 and beyond: a pattern of insincere promises

After DebConf7, Sirius was contacted each year to see if they wanted to repeat the sponsorship. They started out making insincere promises and then came radio silence.

Some companies behave like this in the hope that their logo will be included by mistake. This happened with Google sponsorship at OSCAL, Albania in 2017. The Google logo was placed on the banners but volunteers complained that the $2,000 they expected from Google never arrived.

Due to Debian backstabbing, volunteers are now crunching over all the records from the DebConf sponsorship team.

2007: DebConf7

SiriusIT
========
Phil's contact: talking to Tom Callway <tom.callway@siriusit.co.uk>.
2007/05/31: Invoiced for GBP 500, logo on website, artwork in svn.
Sledge: 2007/06/13(ish): cheque received and paid in. Thanked.

Bag address:
Tom Callway Sirius Corporation Ltd. Rivermead House Hamm Moor Lane Weybridge Surrey KT15 2SF

2008: DebConf8

SiriusIT
========
Sledge: 2008/01/13: contacted Tom Callway <tom.callway@siriusit.co.uk>
Sledge: 2008/02/27: Tom says "Yes, we'll try to help out this year as well".
        Sent him the sponsor pack.
Sledge: 2008/04/13: pestered again for more info
Sledge: 2008/04/23: they're working out what they can do, will get back to us
Sledge: 2008/06/04: Pestered
Sledge: 2008/06/05: Tom's asking how much. I've pointed at the sponsor
        pack again and said "as much as possible, please"

Money didn't turn up in the end, no bag.

2009: DebConf9

:SiriusIT                     ( 1500 GBP, received DC7 )
========
Sledge: contact is Tom Callway <tom.callway@siriusit.co.uk>
Sledge: 2009-03-29: already talking about it
Sledge: 2009-04-25: pinged Tom again
Sledge: 2009-04-27: definite yes, but waiting on some money to come in first. Pester again in 2 weeks if no news.
Sledge: 2009-06-03: not heard anything, so pinged again
h01ger: 2009-06-09: pinged Sledge
Sledge: 2009-06-09: they're in for GBP 1500; invoiced via DC7
Sledge: 2009-07-10: still no sign of money; pinged
Sledge: 2009-07-10: Tom said he hadn't seen the invoice; sent another
        copy. Should be in progress now.

Sirius Corporation plc Rivermead House Hamm Moor Lane Weybridge KT15 2SF United Kingdom

2010: DebConf10

:Sirius                       (ping)
DrDub: 2010/02/23: Sledge said will contact
Sledge: 2010/03/11: contacted:
                    Mark Taylor <mark.taylor@siriusit.co.uk>
                    Ming-Xien Yeo <ming.xien.faridani@siriusit.co.uk>
                    with sponsorpack details
Sledge: 2010/04/19: ping
Sledge: 2010/04/19: Ming-Xien says they're not sure, as they're not
                    active in the US. Will get back to us.
Sledge: 2010/05/25: ping

2012: DebConf12

DebConf team didn't try to make contact with all sponsors this year.

2013: DebConf13

:Sirius
gismo: 2012-10-28: sponsored dc9
Sledge: 2012-11-02: I know folks, will contact
Sledge: 2012-11-20: Contact Tom Callway <tom.callway@siriusit.co.uk>
bgupta: 2012-12-03: Contacted Tom and email bounced as unroutable
Sledge: 2012-12-11: contact Mark Taylor <mark.taylor@siriusit.co.uk>
rafw: 2013-05-01:   email sent to mark.taylor@siriusit.co.uk

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

[Meme] Debian's 'Cannon Fodder' Economics
Conflicts of interest don't matter
According to Microsoft, It's Not a Code of Conduct Violation to Troll Your Victims Whose Files You Are Purging
The group of vandals from Microsoft think it's "funny" (and for a "nominal fee") to troll Microsoft critics
Microsoft Inside Debian is Sabotaging Debian and Its Many Hundreds of Derivatives With SystemD (Microsoft/GitHub Slopware With Catastrophic Bugs is Hardly a New Problem)
What is the moral of the story about The Scorpion and the Frog?
[Meme/Photography] Photos From the Tux Machines Parties
took nearly a fortnight
 
Links 23/06/2024: Twitter/X Wants Your Money, Google Reports a Billion DMCA Takedowns in Four Months
Links for the day
Digital Restrictions (Like DRM) Don't Have Brands, We Need to Teach People to Hate the Underlying Restrictions, Not Companies That Typically Come and Go
Conceptually, the hens should fear humans, not the farmer who cages them
Going Above 4% Again
Maybe 4% (or above) by month's end?
Conviction, jail for Hinduja family, Debian exploitation comparison
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 23/06/2024: Hey Hi (AI) Scrapers Gone Very Rogue, Software Patents Squashed at EPO
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, June 22, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, June 22, 2024
Gemini Links 23/06/2024: LoRaWAN and Gemini Plugin for KOReade
Links for the day
Links 22/06/2024: Chat Control Vote Postponed, More Economic Perils
Links for the day
Uzbekistan: GNU/Linux Ascent
Uzbekistan is almost the same size as France
SLAPP as an Own Goal
We have better things to with our limited time
Independence From Monopolies
"They were ethnically GAFAM anyway..."
GNU/Linux at New Highs (Again) in Taiwan
latest numbers
Links 22/06/2024: More Layoffs and Health Scares
Links for the day
Rwanda: Windows Falls Below 30%
For the first time since 2020 Windows is measured below 30%
[Meme] IBM Lost the Case Over "Dinobabies" (and People Died)
IBM agreed to pay to keep the details (and embarrassing evidence) secret; people never forgot what IBM called its staff that wasn't young, this keeps coming up in forums
Exactly One Year Ago RHEL Became Proprietary Operating System
Oh, you want the source code of RHEL? You need to pay me money and promise not to share with anyone
Dr. John Campbell on Gates Foundation
Published two days ago
Melinda Gates Did Not Trust Bill Gates, So Why Should You?
She left him because of his ties to child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein
How Much IBM Really Cares About Software Freedom (Exactly One Year Ago IBM Turned RHEL Into Proprietary Software)
RHEL became proprietary software
Fedora Week of Diversity 2024 Was Powered by Proprietary Software
If instead of opening up to women and minorities we might open up to proprietary software, i.e. become less open
18 Countries in Europe Where Windows Fell Below 30% "Market Share"
Many people still use laptops with Windows, but they're outnumbered by mobile users on Android
[Meme] EPO Pensions in the UK
pensioners: looks like another EPO 'reform'
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, June 21, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, June 21, 2024
During Fedora Week of Diversity (FWD) 2024 IBM and Its Subsidiaries Dragged to Court Over Discrimination at the Corporate Level
IBM is a deplorable, racist company
Workers of the European Patent Office Take the Office to Court Over Pension
pensions still precarious
Gemini Links 22/06/2024: FreeBSD vs XFCE and Gemini Bookmarks Syncing Solution
Links for the day
Links 21/06/2024: Matrimony Perils and US-Sponsored COVID-19 Misinformation
Links for the day
"A coming cybersecurity schism" by Dr. Andy Farnell
new from Dr. Andy Farnell
Links 21/06/2024: Overpopulation, Censorship, and Conflicts
Links for the day
IBM and Subsidiaries Sued for Ageism (Not Just for Racism)
This is already being discussed
UEFI is Against Computer Security, Its True Goal is to Curtail Adoption of GNU/Linux and BSDs on Existing or New PCs
the world is moving away from Windows
[Meme] Chat Control (EU) is All About Social Control
It won't even protect children
The Persistent Nature of Freedom Isn't About Easy Routes
Resistance to oppression takes effort and sometimes money
EFF Not Only Lobbies for TikTok (CPC) But for All Social Control Media, Irrespective of Known Harms as Explained by the US Government
The EFF's own "free speech" people reject free speech
Microsoft's Search (Bing) Fell From 3.3% to 1% in Turkey Just Since the LLM Hype Began
Bing fell sharply in many other countries
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 20, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, June 20, 2024
The Real FSF Lost Well Over a Million Dollars Since the Defamation Attacks on Its Founder
2020-2023 income: -$659,756, -$349,927, -$227,857, and -$686,366, respectively
The Fake FSF ('FSF Europe') Connected to Novell Via SUSE, Not Just Via Microsoft (Repeated 'Donations')
'FSF Europe' is an imposter organisation
Just Less Than 3 Hours After Article on Debian Suicide Cluster Debian's Donald Norwood Recycles a Fortnight-Old 'Hit Piece'
The fall of Debian is its attack on its very own volunteers