Campaign of Defamation Against the People Who Built NixOS (and Are Now Pushed Out From Their Own Project)
Original by Jonathan Ringer
Similar tactics were (and still are) being attempted against several Free software-centric communities:
Julien, you defamed me by saying I was a "security threat" when I was attempting to get my commit bit back. A commit bit which was taken despite my thousands of hours and 18k+ contributions to the NixOS ecosystem. A commit bit which was taken despite me never violating the CoC or the Nix Core Values. My ban and removal as the 24.05 NixOS Release Manager came as such a shock that the moderation team felt obligated to post a 1400 word response to my ban.https://discourse.nixos.org/t/why-was-jon-ringer-banned-from-github/44114/23
What were my sins?
Applying to be a board observer.
Objecting to discrimination based upon someone's sexual preferences/identity (which a moderator made into a thread) Posting an "everything is political" comment which was so badly taken out of context that the moderators later deleted my post.Everything I did for the community was to transition Nix from a "niche interesting technology" to a "mainstream powerhouse". However, I don't believe we share the same vision. I'm convinced you and orbiters want to keep the Nix community in a perpetual state of chaos so that you can justify any action to serve your political motivations. In the mentioned blog post of yours, you say "things are less dire than I feared". Who says this if they want the Nix community to thrive?
But that's the thing, I don't think you have the well-being of the community at heart. I think you are using Nix as a platform to see your own political agenda.
You, hexa/mweinelt, janik, @delroth
, @piegames_de
, @Ra1t0_Bezar1us
, @joepie91
, @samueldr
, and other conspirators need to stop treating Nix as a social club that you can exclude people by bullying and moderation. I will commend you all and others on your ability to manipulate otherwise well-intentioned members in the community; being able to meet your goals wouldn't be possible without it. But your actions and the actions of others have done nothing but divide and tear at the fabric of what was once a healthy FOSS community.The real tragedy is that myself, Eelco (creator of Nix), the RFC 175 authors, the 2023-2024 foundation board and the 2025 SC members are all victims in your little political game of "see how much defamation and verbal abuse people can take until they break". Speaking only for myself, I struggled with depression for a long time after my ban, but I'm sure I'm not alone in that either. So what you're doing isn't victimless and even the community image has been tarnished. NixOS is now the FOSS face of "purge the nazis"/antifa language, biased moderation, and constant drama. Thanks to you and your cabal of deluded activists.
If you feel like using me as ammunition for your little SC campaign, go for it. But I think the world sees through your facade of righteousness. I just hope that others don't become collateral for your political goals.
We've already grown familiar with - and resistant to - such tactics. █