Bonum Certa Men Certa

Diversity in Worldviews is Quite Likely More Important Than Diversity on Shallow and Superficial Lines/Criteria

When blind conformity is not desirable

Masked kids cartoon: we wear masks because it's smart, not because of race or gender or political party



Summary: Using the veneer of "diversity" and "tolerance" the Debian Project (to give just one example) is fully engaged in a cull of people who are simply an obstruction in the face of corporate takeover (power-imposed conformism)

Tragically, if not rather outrageously, we're seeing large corporations exploiting/leveraging the very issues that they themselves are the biggest participants/abusers/culprits in. For many generations corporations and their founding oligarchs have attacked people with their racist and sexist policies (ranging from unfair/discriminatory payments to classic slavery, sometimes even genocide) and now they're trying to oust people who are critical of corporate power using political lines, either real or perceived.



Examples aren't absent (short order); there are many of them out there and 'cancel culture' accelerated the pace of this agenda. Yesterday, somebody who had worked on Debian published the following E-mail, which basically shows Debian leadership trying to 'cancel' both a programmer/activist and a journalist (chilling effect) who wrote about the programmer:

 Subject: On coverage of Abbelbaum being "banned" from Debian
 Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2016 09:34:50 +0200
 From: Enrico Zini <enrico@enricozini.org>
 To: andrew.matler@itwire.com


Dear Editor in Chief of iTWire,

you may want to do something about this article by Sam Varghese on Debian revoking membership of Jacop Appelbaum: http://www.itwire.com/business-it-news/open-source/73441-appelbaum-banned-from-debian-events-after-sexual-misconduct-charges.html

While the first part is factually correct in its DPL quote, the article ends with baseless hints of Debian and Tor having fallen victims to manipulations by GCHQ psyops.

I consider that to be psycological [sic] violence[1] against the various well known people who came out to report abuse, and I wish that news coverage about this situation could rather contribute to creating a community that encourages victims of abuse to speak up.

Quoting the DPL again, "In reaching their decision, the Debian Account Managers took into account the public disclosures from members of the Tor project and others, and first-hand accounts from members of the Debian community."

We are not talking about vague rumors spread by a couple of infiltrators, we are talking about first-person accounts provided by well known and respected members of both communities, with a track record of contributions of many years.

These people who had the guts to speak up deserve credit and respect, and the article published on your site gives them none.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslighting

Regards,

Enrico

-- GPG key: 4096R/634F4BD1E7AD5568 2009-05-08 Enrico Zini


As Daniel Pocock put it: "The message that caught my eye was a message from Zini to the editor of ITWire. Zini is disrespectful to the journalist, Sam Varghese and he is lobbying the editor to try and change an existing news report. Zini uses exactly the same fake victims as part of the justification and he even asserts the DPL quote is correct..."

Further, he then noted: "Many newspaper editors would be keen to remove such statements and publish retractions but Zini has pursued a competing goal, lobbying them to make their reporting more adverse to Appelbaum, as the email to ITWire demonstrates."

A separate post said: "The explosive emails reveal that Zini was secretly sending out messages to the media lobbying them to change their reporting to reflect the position preferred by accusers. [...] rogue elements of the Debian community have hijacked the cause of diversity to justify a culture of blackmail."

Quebec Tim Hortons Mask: Did you rape? Did you? I... you're under arrest
The right of defence is as important as the right to accuse



I don't know Appelbaum well enough to comment on the allegations (I know that like many others he's deeply inspired by Richard Stallman (RMS) and he linked to Techrights on numerous occasions over the years). One indisputable fact: his activism certainly helped a lot of activists and whistleblowers, i.e. it helped expose crimes and hold people accountable. His supervisor at the university, who examined the evidence, supports Appelbaum. Maybe the allegations 'canceled' Appelbaum as far as the public eye is concerned. But those allegations did not convince scholars. Shades of RMS being 'canceled'... right?

The above E-mail from Zini is very malicious. If Zini had sent me such a mail, I'd blast Zini. This is a sort of censorship-type bullying, which extends from the target to anything or anyone sympathetic towards the target, like those Salesforce cranks who said everyone who supports RMS should also be ousted.

Let's translate this, shall we?

 Subject: On coverage of Abbelbaum being banned 
 [based on hearsay] from Debian


Dear boss of Sam Varghese,

you may want to sanction/punish/sack Sam Varghese for writing his personal assessment of Debian revoking membership of Jacob Appelbaum:

http://www.itwire.com/business-it-news/open-source/73441-appelbaum-banned-from-debian-events-after-sexual-misconduct-charges.html

The article is correct, but to actually go beyond the official Debian "script" is not permitted in journalism.

Journalism is violence against the anonymous sources of hearsay, and I wish that news coverage about me would make me look fantastic.

Quoting the DPL again, "In reaching their decision, the Debian Account Managers took into account the public disclosures from members of the Tor project and others, and first-hand accounts from members of the Debian community." [this is a lie by the way]

I am lying to you about first-person accounts because we already made this decisions and we're going to look foolish if we admit to have examined low-quality evidence.

Anonymous voices who had the guts to speak up deserve credit and respect, and your articles should be based on anonymous sources whom you never even spoke to, nor have I.

Regards,

Enrico

-- GPG key: 4096R/634F4BD1E7AD5568 2009-05-08 Enrico Zini




To be clear, I don't know what happened with Appelbaum and I argued endlessly with some EFF bully, who respects neither Free software nor free speech, basing the opinion of Appelbaum only on hearsay. Never any first-hand account.

At the moment we're seeing a purge of various people whose voices are being eliminated and names tarnished because they're inconvenient to state/corporate interests (overlapping). Appelbaum is a target for the same reason Julian Assange is (and it's always being framed as a crime against women; as a side note, Assange too was a Debian developer) and Pocock -- from what I can gather -- spoke about exploitation of women by corporations (especially Google) and bribes from companies like Google and Microsoft.

"Appelbaum is a target for the same reason Julian Assange is (and it's always being framed as a crime against women) and Pocock -- from what I can gather -- spoke about exploitation of women by corporations (especially Google) and bribes from companies like Google and Microsoft. "If Debian wants to be honest and if it wishes to attract female coders (not women whom it leverages as "political props"), it'll have to quit using these identity politics. There have been other examples where senior and productive members of the Debian Project were threatened and/or 'canceled' simply because of some vaguely-worded allegations pertaining to race and/or gender. We gave an example of it some days ago. One of the most disgusting element of it (to me at least) is the way one's expression of an opinion is spun as an act of violence. As if to deviate from some boring narrative is the moral equivalent of assault (the chief of the Linux Foundation compared condemnation of criminals to... kicking puppies).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Leaks and Whistleblowers: Our Plan for Today
Society simply cannot advance when too many people self-censor
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
We Are Safe in a Modern "Tech" Society, Right?
People are safer if they control their own computing
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')
 
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
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?
GNU Tools Cauldron Event in Portugal: Videos Now Available via Invidious
Go have a look
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
Paris 'Love Nest' & Debian Outreachy: from Lycée Lakanal to ENS Cachan, Cr@ns, nepotism
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
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
Qualcomm and Manchester United Appear to Have Dumped Microsoft (Qualcomm Now Invests More in Linux, Apparently)
It's a relief to no longer see Microsoft logos and brands on a local football club's gear (I'm not a Manchester United fan, but not a foe either)
As Guest of Honour in Rome, Founder of the Free Software Foundation to Speak ("Distinguished Lecture") After Introduction by Leonardo Querzoni
Happy hacking...
All Things Open is Proprietary
The OSI has become a front group of proprietary software openwashers, led and sponsored by proprietary giants
When Microsoft Lays Off Lots of Workers They Say It "Invests in AI" (a Lie), Now It's "Reshuffles" or "Microsoft Tightens"
Microsoft "news" by bots
"I saw Richard Stallman give a talk in the mid 80s, which began my fear and loathing of software patents" and "Richard Stallman was always right."
"By betraying the legacy of our ancestors, we’ve set ourselves on a path toward self-destruction — moral, intellectual, economic, and ultimately biological."
There Were Several Waves of Microsoft Shanghai Layoffs in 2025, Western Media Continues to Turn a Blind Eye to Chinese Layoffs of an Epic Scale
Sometimes select Taiwanese news sites (published in English) or automated translations are all we have
Brett Wilson LLP Spreads Trumpism to the United Kingdom, Looking to Profit From 'Legal Colonialism' (Overriding Sovereignty)
There's growing recognition of this conundrum worldwide
The Demise of Shopping in Person
In a world like this, how valued is the customer?
This Past Friday, "Nearly 700 People Came to Listen to RMS!" (Richard Stallman)
"Nearly 700 people came to listen to RMS!"
Distinguished Lecture by Richard Stallman This Coming Monday in Rome
After "Free software, Crucial for Freedom in a Digital World"
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT Churning Out Plagiarism and the Slopfarm LinuxSecurity Turns to Pseudonyms
Our hunch is, UbuntuPIT will sooner or later realise that this toxic approach is just harming UbuntuPIT and tainting the reputation of past articles
The Lawsuit by Clients of Brett Wilson LLP Against Brett Wilson LLP is Officially On, It is Progressing, The 'Experts' Pick Outside Law Firms (RPC and Mills & Reeve) to Spare Them From Litigants in Person
So it is probably quite potent
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: Nyctography, Gerrymandering, and Lurking
Links for the day
The 'Culture Wars' in Free Software Have Gone Out of Control
Social control media amplifies such utterly infantile discourse
Teaser: To Compensate for the Fact Our Clients Are Terrible Human Beings Who Strangle Women (While on Microsoft's Payroll) and We Get Paid by Mystery Parties We Bombard You and Your Wife With Almost 10 Kilograms of Legal Papers
If you can't win an argument, then drown the other side with papers?
Links 11/10/2025: World Mental Health Day 2025, Another European Legal Defeat for Microsoft 360
Links for the day
MIT Technology Review is Part-Time SPAMfarm of Billionaires and Mega-Corporations
Does MIT operate its own "b2b" SPAMfarm?
Open Source Initiative Executive Director Leaves, Replacement Sought by Monopolists, Not the Community or OSI Members
Serves to show who runs this show...
Links 11/10/2025: China-US Tensions Grow Again, "Hey Hi" More Widely Recognised as Bubble Made of Capital That Doesn't Exist
Links for the day
Now Confirmed in Western Media: Microsoft Azure Layoffs This Month
Affirmed by more sources moments ago
Peter O'Callaghan QC represented grandparents, Westernport Hotel, at Liquor Royal Commission
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Either The Register MS Divests From FOSS Coverage or Liam Proven is on Long Holiday
Publishers perish when their audience loses trust in them
Microsoft Cancelling Another Datacentre is a Sign of Financial Trouble and Lack of Growth
The debt continues to grow
Gemini Links 11/10/2025: An Evening at the Fair and Fast Fourier Friday
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 10, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 10, 2025