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Posted in Debian, Deception, GNU/Linux at 3:41 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: We hereby reproduce a couple of publicly-accessible E-mail messages; those shed light on the censorious atmosphere which can tarnish Free software projects and discourage productive contributors
To: debian-project@lists.debian.orgSubject: Censorship in DebianFrom: Daniel Pocock Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2018 21:31:46 +0000Message-id: xxx
Hi all,
I was recently at the UN forum on business and human rights, listening to an Iranian dissident talk[1] about the extremes that his country goes to in censoring and silencing people who don’t agree with their rulers. I would encourage people to watch the video.
At that very same moment, the anti-harassment team were censoring[2] a Debian Developer’s blog from Planet Debian. Chilling.
I actually looked at Planet shortly after attending that panel discussion and immediately noticed that Norbert Preining[3] had been censored. Disappearances of Khashoggi[4] and Kamphuis[5] came to mind.
At that moment, being surrounded by experts on human rights and freedom of expression who may have far more experience than most of us in Debian, I did a quick survey. I couldn’t find one person who supported the actions of the censors.
Some of Norbert’s blogs make people think, but they appear to be overwhelmingly motivated by legitimate issues and his recent blog thanking[6] Lars[7] appeared to end in an upbeat and sincere manner. Whether I agree with either of them or not, I’d like to take this opportunity to wholeheartedly thank both Lars and Norbert for their contributions as fellow Debian Developers and fellow bloggers.
Norbert had also made political statements[8] concerning the way codes of conduct are used in our communities. People who speak up like this are frequent targets for political plots, protecting these people is imperative.
Looking at Debian’s code of conduct[9], there is no compelling violation of the code in Norbert’s writing. Indeed, the only violation of the code of conduct may be the act of censorship itself: the very first point tells us “inevitably there will be people with whom you may disagree, or find it difficult to cooperate. Accept that, but even so, remain respectful.”
Even without contemplating the code of conduct, censorship has a sinister effect on discussion. People notice when somebody disappears and they become hesitant to speak about problems, whether they are technical issues or social issues. I feel compelled to speak up but as I write this, I contemplate the risk that some people will try the same tactics as the Iranians, censoring me, threatening me or dragging my name through the mud. If they try that, they may give each other a pat on the back but they don’t fool our community at large.
Nonetheless, article 30 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights[10] clearly states that no institution should act in any way to destroy the rights enshrined in the UDHR. The definition of an “institution” there clearly applies to a group with the influence of Debian, it is not only for states and courts.
Wake up, people. If we are repressing members of our own organization like this, we haven’t got a hope in hell of achieving our mission[11] for society at large.
The UN calls on us to “stand up 4 human rights” on this 70th anniversary of that declaration. You can do that now by standing up for Norbert. It takes minutes for anybody, Developer or not, to submit a merge request in Salsa[12] to uncomment his blog. You can also email the Debian Project Leader, leader@debian.org
If you know people in other organizations concerned with human rights, discuss Norbert’s case with them and get their opinion, just as I did.
You can’t pick and choose human rights, having some freedoms and not others, the declaration even implies this too. Anybody who tries to do that is on a very slippery slope indeed.
In my role as a representative in another organization and in my extensive work with Debian, various people have approached me about incidents of censorship and overbearing efforts to control participation in the free software community. It is far more widespread than many people realize. It only happens because people fail to speak up. For example, an FSFE volunteer was censored at 34C3 after distributing leaflets questioning Google’s funding to FSFE. There is increasing fear that “anti-harassment” efforts are being used as cover for political agendas, they are operating in a bubble and diverging significantly from what would be acceptable in any other organization or field of endeavour. They post big newsletters to debian-devel-announce boasting about their work but many people feel those reports reek of gloating and one-upmanship.
On a technical level, we may want to consider whether Planet is fit for purpose: if we want to showcase best practice in creating a platform where freedom of expression can thrive and remain immune to abuses, should we simply make more efforts to migrate to a decentralized tool, eliminating the risk that any subgroup or faction within Debian will be able to carry on like that now or in future?
As somebody more famous once said, “I Disapprove of What You Say, But I Will Defend to the Death Your Right to Say It”. I welcome responses to this topic whether you share my concerns or not but if nobody cares about this stuff, please tell me, so I can stop contributing to Debian and go elsewhere.
Regards,
Daniel
To: debian-project@lists.debian.orgSubject: Re: Censorship in DebianFrom: Norbert Preining Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2018 01:13:53 +0900Message-id: xxxxxxxIn-reply-to: xxxxxx
Hi everyone,
(please Cc me, I am not subscribed to d-p)
first of all thanks to Daniel for bringing this up and standing up for
me, this is very much appreciated.
For those not aware of the issue, here is my view onto the events.
AH and DAM can answer and provide their own interpretation. I will try
to stay as objective as it is possible for me.
2018/09/21
I published the post "Sharp did it again" [1] using "it" as pronoun
-same day-
Chris Lamb disabled my blog on Planet based on "it"
2018/09/22
based on suggestions and explanations from others but Lamb I
update the blog to use "they"
2018/09/24
Chris Lamb re-enables my blog on Planet
2018/11/26
I published the post "On Lars Wirzenius, Fun, and Debian" [2]
2018/11/27
Laura Arjona Reina disables my blog on Planet
2018/11/28
I respond to Laura Arjona Reina's email asking for clarification
due to the explanation being unclear to me (see attached email 1)
2018/12/04
Due to absence of any answer at all, I enable my blog on Planet,
but remove the post about Lars Wirzenius from the respective
RSS feed
2018/12/17
The DAM sends me an email about demotion to Debian Maintainer
based on a set of emails mostly from 2012-2014 during the
discussions on systemd and coc:
2012: 1 email
2013: 7 emails
2014: 5 emails
2015: 1 email
2016: 0 emails
2017: 2 emails
2018: 2 emails
some of these emails are actually not from me, but these are the
emails used as argumentation (see attached email 2)
Points I consider disturbing:
email the called out in their recent "bit from the anti harassement team"
about being "a harassment of the team" is my email.
I ask everyone to judge by himself whether my email as attached is to
be considered harassment.
consitution [3], the delegation of DAM [4], and the DAM Wiki page
about their rights and powers [5], not legit since besides expulsion
there is not procedure laid out for demotion, but I refrained from
raising this for the sake of peace.
There are more disturbing things going on where I suspect that members
of Debian have taken unduly influence on procedures concerning me, but
since I don't have proofs I cannot raise them here.
Coming back to the argumentation of DAM, I agree that back in 2012-2014
I have written a few strong emails during the systemd and coc
discussion. Not to defense myself, but I have the feeling that I was not
the only one. Furthermore, most of the emails cited by DAM clearly
predate the CoC, and the emails after installment of the CoC are, in my
opinion just simply frank and staight.
Anyway, this is the status. I invite everyone to form his/her own
opinion. As I posted on the Debian TeX ML, I will not be doing an awful
lot of work for Debian due to this demotion. I still think that Debian
is the best Linux distribution - but only due to the excellent work of
its developers.
Best
Norbert
[1] https://www.preining.info/blog/2018/09/sharp-did-it-again/
[2] https://www.preining.info/blog/2018/11/on-lars-wirzenius-fun-and-debian/
[3] https://www.debian.org/devel/constitution
[4] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2018/03/msg00001.html
[5] https://wiki.debian.org/DAManager
--
PREINING Norbert http://www.preining.info
Accelia Inc. + JAIST + TeX Live + Debian Developer
GPG: 0x860CDC13 fp: F7D8 A928 26E3 16A1 9FA0 ACF0 6CAC A448 860C DC13
— Begin Message —To: Laura Arjona Reina Cc: da-manager@debian.org, planet@debian.org, Anti-harassment , Chris Lamb Subject: Re: Blog disabled on Planet DebianFrom: Norbert Preining Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2018 01:31:20 +0900Message-id: In-reply-to: References: Dear Laura,
thanks for your email.
To make things clear from the start: Unless explicitely stated below,
I do not consider this email communication private and will publicize it
if need arises. Thanks for your understanding.
Now to the matter at hand. I am a bit surprised that without even one
word of notice you have disabled by blog on Planet Debian. Furthermore,
I consider the explanation of your verdict unclear and bare of any
argumentation, and thus ask you to answer the following questions:
Question 1: persistent pattern of disrespectful communication
You state that
... evaluate your long term behaviour, ...
... persistent pattern of disrespectful communication towards
other members of the community.
without providing any evidence. I have been contacted once by Chris Lamb
(in Cc in case you want to verify my statements) about my blog
Sharp did it again [1]
where I used the incorrect pronoun. Within 24h I have updated the blog
original email by Chris: Fri, 21 Sep 2018 17:20:22 +0100
mail about update by me: Sat, 22 Sep 2018 05:09:42 +0900
second update by me: Sat, 22 Sep 2018 08:29:47 +0900
Besides this, please point me to other instances of
disrespectful communication towards other members
(besides, Sharp is not a member of Debian).
I have published about 400 or more posts on my site. Please explain me
what your definition is of
persistent pattern
even if you take the above one into account, and how your definition
applies to me.
Question 2: tone that is inappropriate for Planet Debian
My post consists mostly of quotes from blogs aggregated on Debian
Planet. Where in specific is the "inappropriate tone"?
Furthermore, this post is modeled after Lars Wirzenius original post
On Norbert Preining, Sarah Sharp, and Debian [2]
Please explain why his post is not considered "inappropriate" and he has
not been banished from Debian Planet!
Question 3: not to harm
I clearly stated my gratitude for his long work for Debian, despite our
obvious differences in opinions. I honor his work, even if I disagree
with some things Lars has proposed and forwarded within Debian.
Please explain why you feel like this post is harming, in particular
who, how, and why?
References
[1] https://www.preining.info/blog/2018/09/sharp-did-it-again/
[2] https://blog.liw.fi/posts/preining/
On Tue, 27 Nov 2018, Laura Arjona Reina wrote:
Hello Norbert,
I'm writing to you on behalf of the Debian anti-harassment team.
We had been asked to evaluate your long term behaviour,
after one high-visibility instance of disrespect on Planet Debian.
We notice that there is a persistent pattern of disrespectful communication
towards other members of the community.
In addition to this, we believe the recently published post
https://www.preining.info/blog/2018/11/on-lars-wirzenius-fun-and-debian/
has a tone that is inappropriate for Planet Debian.
Maybe it's written with no intention to do harm, but it seems it's not written
to not do harm either. The result is several people feeling uncomfortable
and undermining of efforts to improve the health of the community.
Therefore, regardless of other actions that may be taken, I have removed
your blog from Planet Debian.
Regards,
Laura Arjona Reina
https://wiki.debian.org/LauraArjona
--
PREINING Norbert http://www.preining.info
Accelia Inc. + JAIST + TeX Live + Debian Developer
GPG: 0x860CDC13 fp: F7D8 A928 26E3 16A1 9FA0 ACF0 6CAC A448 860C DC13
— End Message —
— Begin Message —To: Norbert Preining Cc: da-manager@debian.orgSubject: Debian Developer statusFrom: Debian Account Managers Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2018 21:23:22 +0100Message-id: Hello,
recently we got contacted with complaints about your attitude and
behaviour in Debian. Looking deeper into this, it appears to be a long
history and our impression is that you seem to ignore the issues raised
while attacking the people who raise them.
This appears on both, planet and mailing lists, with some posts
calling[1] you[2] out, and you being temporarily[3] removed from planet.
Not that other[4] posts[5] from you seem to be respectful or
constructive, nor does it appear to be the[6] case[7] with[8] loads[9]
of[10] mailing[11] list[12] posts[13]. This is damaging the working
environment in the project, with people needing to step[14] in[15] to
restore a decent working environmet after one of your interventions.
These issues have[16] been[17] raised[18] to you[19] several[20]
times[21] over[22] the years, and you have normally responded by denying
the issues and attacking the people who tried to raise them. See for
example[23].
On nov 27, the antiharassment team removed your blog post from Planet
again, because of yet another reiteration of these problems. Your
response, even though it was framed like asking questions, again it read
as an accusation to the people, a delegated team in this case, who, once
again, called you out.
On dec 4, you have unilaterally readded yourself to Planet Debian.
This has gone on for long enough. We do not believe that you currently
have any intention of being a constructive member of Debian, and we see
little hope for improvement as it is.
Therefore, we are revoking your status as a Debian Developer with
immediate effect. You remain a Debian Maintainer for a minimum of 6
months, after which you can apply for getting your Debian Developer
status back.
All packages in which you are currently listed as maintainer or uploader
will be added to your Debian Maintainer whitelist as soon as possible.
Your blog has been removed again from Planet Debian, and will remain so
for 3 months. After 3 months you can ask any DD or the Planet admins to
readd your feed.
After a minimum of 6 months you can apply to get your Debian Developer
status back by mailing da-manager@debian.org
We are sending this email privately, leaving its disclosure as your
decision (although traces in public databases are unavoidable).
The Debian Account Managers,
Enrico Zini
Joerg Jaspert
Jonathan Wiltshire
Footnotes:
[1] https://blog.liw.fi/posts/preining/
[2] https://blog.tincho.org/posts/Pining_for_the_good_ol__39___days/
[3] https://salsa.debian.org/planet-team/config/commit/216930f1f3f906ef4cc28457b94d10ba844e3074
[4] https://www.preining.info/blog/2018/08/perl-policy/
[5] https://www.preining.info/blog/2017/04/systemd-again/
[6] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2013/10/msg00486.html
[7] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2014/07/msg01014.html
[8] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2014/12/msg00003.html
[9] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2017/10/msg00425.html
[10] https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2015/09/msg00039.html
[11] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2014/01/msg00270.html
[12] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2013/09/msg00104.html
[13] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2012/11/msg00747.html
[14] https://lists.debian.org/debconf-discuss/2018/08/msg00134.html
[15] https://lists.debian.org/debconf-discuss/2018/08/msg00148.html
[16] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2014/07/msg00841.html
[17] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2014/07/msg00856.html
[18] https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2013/05/msg00070.html
[19] https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2013/05/msg00081.html
[20] https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2013/05/msg00085.html
[21] https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2017/10/msg00438.html
[22] https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2013/05/msg00079.html
[23] https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2013/05/msg00080.html
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