Bonum Certa Men Certa

Wookey, Intrigeri, Cryptie & Debian pseudonyms beyond Edward Brocklesby

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jun 24, 2024

Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock.

When Shaya Potter was expelled from Debian, he continued his career using the same name. Yet when Edward Brocklesby (ejb) was expelled for hacking, he seems to have vanished, raising questions about whether he really existed at all.

The discussion about Brocklesby has stirred up questions about some developers with unusual names.

Having an unusual name or a pseudonym doesn't automatically imply wrongdoing. In some ways, these names may attract more attention to the person's activities but on the other hand, if it is a pseudonym, which isn't always the case, it allows them to avoid responsibility for their mistakes.

The first name that came up is Wookey. Many people have met Wookey in real life at events, therefore, we can associate the name with a face. Wookey has written a page on his web site explaining how he changed his name to Wookey and it is a single family name without first name.

I've always been called Wookey - ever since I went to the sort of school where they just use your surname when I was a kid. Eventually I decided to make it official (by Statutory Declaration) and drop my first name, so since 1987 I've been 'Wookey' (no forenames or initials).

The first person to verify Wookey's identity with PGP was Chris Rutter, one of the Debian fatalities. Given Rutter's age at the time, he was only 18 or 19, he may not have had a lot of experience with authenticating passports and similar documents. Nonetheless, he did send a report about the case to the account manager who relayed the feedback to debian-newmaint-discuss:

To: Debian NM List <debian-newmaint-admin@lists.debian.org>
Subject: AM report for Wookey
From: Craig Small <small@eye-net.com.au>
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 11:31:47 +1100
Message-id: <20010222113147.A11916@eye-net.com.au>

ID --- GPG key signed by Chris Rutter <cmr@debian.org> As an additional step, I asked Chris if the applicants full name is 'Wookey' as he attests. Chris emailled me a GPG signed mail saying that he has seen official documents stating this is his real name. ID step passed.
[...]

Another interesting case is that of Intrigeri ( Debian profile). People can look through the Debian New Maintainer discussion to see who signed the key and how they were satisfied to accept the name Intrigeri.

In the world of FSFE, we had an employee of the French government, Amandine Jambert, using the pseudonym cryptie. This was a situation that raised complex ethical concerns. Madame Jambert subsequently resigned from FSFE. In fact, a lot of people have resigned from FSFE over the years.

The notion that we should trust somebody's name based on the identity documents they carry implies we are putting our trust in the institutions that issue those identity documents. In practice, there have been various cases around the world where state actors have created fake documents. Stolen documents are not easy to get but it is not unheard of either.

Therefore, instead of worrying about people who have chosen unusual names or pseudonyms, maybe we need to take a lesson from the X files: Trust No One.

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

EPO's Central Staff Committee (CSC) Scrutinises the Man Who Illegally Grants (and Forces Others to Illegally Participate in Granting) Software Patents in Europe
EPO compels examiners to break the law in the name of obeying illegal "rules" or "orders"
The Latest Rumour Says The Next (as Correctly Predicted Before) Wave of Layoffs at Microsoft is 3 Weeks Away, "Larger Than the First Wave"
Step 2
TV Licensing Used to SPAM Your Postbox, Now It Does the Same to E-mail
First they ask for your E-mail address; then they start nagging you via E-mail
Our Priority is Still Tackling Software Patents and Corruption in Patent Offices
Meanwhile we got compliments on our recent articles, which means that they are effective
Slopwatch: Another Day, Another Slopfest, LLM Slop Scrapers Slow Down Our Site
We too have some slop issues; this past day this site and the sister site had to answer about 2.5 million requests (not counting Gemini Protocol) and it's slowing things down for everybody
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part IX: Minimum Wages For You (Experienced Scientist), Alicante/EU Paydays For Me (Unproductive, Corrupt Official)
Does UPRP maladministration extend to the false belief that qualified and experienced scientists can play the role of circus clowns?
 
Who Imitates Who? Plagiarist as Client (From Microsoft), 'Plagiarism' at the Law Firm?
let's revisit the subject
EPO's Gareth Lord Asked About "Quality and Productivity" or, Put Another Way, Why the EPO Keeps Granting So Many Invalid/Illegal Patents
letter to Lord
The Toxic Playbook
Either you support Prince Mohammed bin Salman or you're a nazi
It's Possible That BetaNews Got Cracked, But Nobody Talks About It, The Site Contains an Outdated Old Image, No Activity
It's possible that they will never explain what happened to the site and users' accounts
Links 12/06/2025: Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson Dies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 12/06/2025: Video Game Diegesis and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
"The Liberating Power of Simply Telling People the Truth."
'polite' bullying
Why the Militants Have Lost Every Battle Since 2022 (When Attacking My Wife and I in Various Ways, Even Attacking Our Employers)
This takes patience, sure, but at the end most evildoers face the consequences for their actions
Politics Will Impact Software Choices
Will those systems respect users' freedom?
EPO: Neglecting Children to Promote American Monopolies by Shielding Them From European Competition
Yesterday the Central Staff Committee at the EPO spoke about another "reform" at the Office
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 11, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Links 11/06/2025: More Vulnerabilities Found in 'Smart' Phones, China Extends Reach in the Pacific
Links for the day
Gemini Links 11/06/2025: Grain and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
Links 11/06/2025: "Quantum" Hype From IBM, US Closer to Martial Law, and “The Nation” Celebrates Milestone
Links for the day
IBM's CEO Roasted, Sizzled and Grilled for Dumb and Inconsistent Vapourware Promises
It looks like being a chronic liar is what it takes to lead the company once synonymous with computing
IBM's Goal Is Not (and Never Was) Computer Users' Freedom
More than 1.5 decades ago I found IBM to be an "ally of convenience" because of OpenDocument Format (ODF)
Wayland Shows the IBM/Red Hat Way of Doing Things
IBM is trying to 'kill' X
GitHub is Proprietary, Controlled by Microsoft, and GPL Violation Warehouse
"IRS tax filing software [will be] released to the people as free software" ... In general this is good news
Slopfarm Catastrophe
Seems like BetaNews (or BetaNoise) has just suffered a major data loss and restored the site from a week-old backup
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VIII: Illegal Working Conditions
How many people need to die for these people to get their massive salaries?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 10, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Links 10/06/2025: Apple Hype and Physical Attacks on Bloggers
Links for the day
Gemini Links 10/06/2025: Loon Lake, Farming, and Forth
Links for the day
Links 10/06/2025: Jaws at 50 and US Democracy Crushed Very Rapidly (Martial Law Seems Imminent)
Links for the day
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part VII: Washing Their Hands After Corruption and Abuse
"Tragedy or comedy?"
Culling Bad RSS Feeds of Bad Sites
Not throwing out the baby with the bathwater
If 'Microsoft v Techrights' is Dealt With by a 'Microsoft Court' (or a Court Outsourced to Microsoft)
More on that later
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 09, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 09, 2025
Gemini Protocol Turns Six in 10 Days From Now
If you haven't tried it yet, then give it a go today
Live as You Preach
technology is fast becoming dysphoric