Strangulation, suffocation, Jonathan Carter & Debian toxic culture confirmed
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock.
15:00 Fri, 20 Mar 2026
Jonathan Carter (highvoltage), former leader of Debianism, has shared the following gem in the bun fight about having somebody's wife as the only candidate for Debian Project Leader:
Subject: Re: lack of candidates 2026 leader election Date: Fri, 20 Mar 2026 11:57:18 +0200 From: Jonathan Carter <jcc@debian.org> Organization: Debian To: debian-vote@lists.debian.org
On 2026/03/20 10:41, Thomas Goirand wrote: > I also would prefer if there was more than one candidate, but perhaps > changing the rules during the election isn't what we want. > > There's in fact 2 ways this could happen. > > 1/ Sruthi (temporarily) withdraw her nomination, just in order to > restart the nomination period. Is this really possible? > > 2/ Sruthi refuses to do 1/, and A majority vote NotA.
I'd like to add a 3rd option (after the elections). Propose a GR for a change in the voting process, that if any candidates nominate themselves in the last 12 hours of the nomination process, then the nomination window extends by another 48h to allow someone who specifically wants to challenge that person to do so. It's perhaps not perfect, but it would catch a lot of cases that people are concerned about (perhaps the exact definition and timeframes could do with some tweaking, but that's the general idea).
-Jonathan
When Ian Murdock wrote the original Manifesto of Debianism, there was no other candidate. The manifesto was about an idea and people who agreed with the idea could join him if they wanted to.
Today, there is no space for ideas. Anybody with a reputation for thinking out loud is attacked by an angry mob.
In Australian football, we have the expression playing the man and not the ball. This is an expression that captures Jonathan Carter's mentality perfectly.
If you have a grudge against somebody, Jonathan Carter wants you to indulge yourself. Don't dare let anybody listen to what they have to say. Spread rumours about their family. Obstruct them. Sabotage them. Suffocate them. Strangle them.
The 48 hour extension of the nomination period, as suggested by Jonathan Carter, is basically an opportunity for suicide bombers to come in and throw themselves at any candidates who might be interesting.
This is about more than just the elections. This is how the whole community has failed. Ever since the Code of Conduct gaslighting was introduced, people have been obsessed with their egos and looking down their noses at each other, nitpicking how people speak.
Sruthi Chandran, the wife of a male developer who hides conflicts of interest submitted her nomination on Friday the 13th.
The voting period ends on 17 April, the 15th anniversary of Adrian von Bidder's death, which had been discussed like a copy-cat suicide. Adrian was one of those people who frequently expressed interesting ideas on his blog. He is the sort of person Jonathan Carter would try to obstruct with the 48 hour extension to the nomination period.
Adrian's wife became the mayor of Basel, which seems to be a factor in the extraordinary amount of money, over $120,000, spent attacking my family and I.
The best way to encourage people to nominate for the election will be for the existing leader, Andreas Tille, to withdraw all the privacy attacks, settle the lawsuits proactively and ensure the next leader can walk in and find the desk is clean ready to work on productive things.
Don't hold your breath waiting for transparency about these attacks on my family. There is still time to watch my video and contribute to the crowdfunding campaign. █