Linus Torvalds targeted by honeytraps, claims Eric S. Raymond

The Register ^ | 6 November 2015 | Simon Sharwood

[ShadowAce]

Celebrity programmer Eric S. Raymond has aired a theory that feminist activists are trying to find a way to lay false sexual assault claims against male leaders of the open source community.

Raymond is best known for his seminal tract The Cathedral and the Bazaar, and remains active in the world of open source, which he has championed since the late 1990s.

In a blog post this week, Raymond, often referred to as "ESR", dropped this bomb on the internet:

The short version is: if you are any kind of open-source leader or senior figure who is male, do not be alone with any female, ever, at a technical conference. Try to avoid even being alone, ever, because there is a chance that a 'women in tech' advocacy group is going to try to collect your scalp.

Raymond's evidence for his assertion comes from an unnamed “source I trust” with whom he shared an IRC chat.

The source accuses some members of The Ada Initiative, an organisation that “supported women in open technology and culture through activities such as producing codes of conduct and anti-harassment policies,” of “trying to pre-generate outrage and collect scalps.”

“The MO was to get alone with the target, and then immediately after cry 'attempted sexual assault',” Raymond's source alleges, going on to say that Linux kernel supremo Linus Torvalds is never alone at open-source events because he is aware of the potential for such incidents.

The motive for such attacks, it is implied, is to expose sexists who hold positions of influence in open source communities and precipitate their replacement.

Raymond goes on to say that “this report is consistent with reports of SJW [social justice warrior] dezinformatsiya tactics from elsewhere and I think it would be safest to assume that they are being replicated by other women-in-tech groups.”

The anonymity of Raymond's source means it is nigh-on impossible to assess the credibility of his relayed allegations. That he's essentially circulating a wild conspiracy theory makes it even harder.

What is certain is that Raymond – who once claimed Iranian terrorists were out to get him – has form suggesting efforts to oppose and reduce sexual assault aren't sincere. In this 2013 blog post he alleged there was a “crazy inflation of rape statistics” on US college campuses, and went on to say “female students can now accuse men of rape and expect the claim to be evaluated under circumstances that deny the man any right to due process and the presumption of innocence.”

Among his many blog posts, Raymond has also identified criticized contemporary feminism, called for the demilitarization of US police and argued against gun control.

Evidence of sexist acts and sexual assaults in the technology community, such as those on this list on the Geek Feminism Wiki, aren't hard to find.

Nor are incidents in which women have complained that the technology industry's culture is rather macho. In 2013, Sarah Sharp, who then ran USB-compatibility efforts in the Linux kernel, urged Torvalds to stop verbally abusing fellow kernel developers and encourage more civil conversation with developers of any gender. That complaint was widely applauded and the kernel development community responded, in part, by creating a "Code of Conflict" outlining acceptable behaviour.

Sharp, however, eventually quit kernel development because she felt the kernel community's response was toothless and ineffective.

Torvalds defence has always been that his ire is directed at bad code, not its authors. Women's groups retort that a culture that permits such abuse is not welcoming to anyone, and especially hostile to women. That culture is therefore held to be unhelpful for an industry in which skilled workers are nearly always in demand, either for paid employment or volunteer roles.

Raymond's allegations are unlikely to quell such arguments. ®

[ShadowAce]

[isthisnickcool]

I’ve been hiring coders for 25+ years and I have never run across a female that can bang out code. I have run across some fantastic Q&A types that are female and web designers.

[ShadowAce]

It’s not about bringing people up to standards—it’s about bringing standards down to those who want the job.

[Black Agnes]

Ding ding ding, we have a winner.

[moovova]

Honey trap? Please. Say. It. Ain't...

[PapaBear3625]

Torvalds defence has always been that his ire is directed at bad code, not its authors. Women's groups retort that a culture that permits such abuse is not welcoming to anyone, and especially hostile to women. That culture is therefore held to be unhelpful for an industry in which skilled workers are nearly always in demand, either for paid employment or volunteer roles.

The workers who are in demand are those who can deliver good stuff. If you get easily offended when somebody points out that you are delivering crap, then the solution is to leave and go to work for a more easy-going group (which may pay less in exchange for being sensitive to your tender feelings).

[fruser1]

“best known for his seminal tract “

Shouldn’t that be “duct”?

[ShadowAce]

Yeah--there's a reason why I didn't include the pic.

:)

[dayglored]

Unfortunately, given Linus' well known and widely self-acknowledged reputation for being an asshole, he's toast. They WILL get him, whether he's done anything or not sexually. It's a shame; I always felt he could have afforded to not revel so much in his righteousness and unpleasant personal demeanor. But we all make our own choices.

I'm not at all saying that he deserves or asked for what is to come.

I'm just opining that for a brilliant person, he has been kinda dumb with regard to keeping a lower profile with respect to the rampant political correctness.

I wish him luck in the coming days.

[Mr. K]

I have found that to be true too... however I have also found that tech savvy females who DO KNOW how to code make some of the best bosses and managers.

They may not be able to “bang out the code” like the rest of us, but they understand and are good at the planning level (which I want nothing to do with - its like herding cats around here)

[dayglored]

Hey now, every body needs a little lovin' sometimes...

And besides, I'll bet she writes dynamite code...

[so_real]

Torvalds defence has always been that his ire is directed at bad code, not its authors. Women's groups retort that a culture that permits such abuse is not welcoming to anyone, and especially hostile to women. That culture is therefore held to be unhelpful for an industry in which skilled workers are nearly always in demand, either for paid employment or volunteer roles.

Torvalds doesn't need a defence. He has chewed out anyone and everyone contributing crap code regardless of gender. He is an equal opportunity code drill sergeant. Only thin skinned ninnies have the ego to think their private parts are what earned them a tongue-lashing for sub-par performance. If they had any class, instead trying to take him down subversively using their private parts as bait, they'd raise themselves to his level of performance. But I guess that requires too much hard work.

[ShadowAce]

Unfortunately, given Linus' well known and widely self-acknowledged reputation for being an asshole, he's toast.

Possibly. Linus is in a unique position in the world. He gets paid to develop his hobby--which he created and he, essentially, owns. If he's "forced out" from wherever he works, he'll just take the kernel development to another place. If they try to force him out of the kernel altogether, he's quite capable of shutting down the entire product--and no one could fork it off without his approval, as he controls the basic code.

It would be the end of the world's most popular OS. Not sure anyone with any influence would allow that.

[ShadowAce]

But I guess that requires too much hard work.

See post #4.

[Stentor]

But I guess that requires too much hard work.

[SteveH]

i think style over substance feminist arguments started to become taken seriously in big companies in the early 1990s. it is truly wretched.

[zeugma]

If they try to force him out of the kernel altogether, he's quite capable of shutting down the entire product--and no one could fork it off without his approval, as he controls the basic code.

I'd have to disagree with you here. Linus can't prevent forks because of the nature of the GPL. There are already kernel forks out there. Some are actually fairly popular, as they are branches for developing/proving new ideas that aren't ready for prime time. IIRC, Alan Cox's kernel is used for this purpose. There have been several ideas that have been more fully developed elsewhere because Linus didn't see them as 'good' until they'd been more fully developed elswhere, which were then later merged back into the main tree.

On the other hand, Linus is in a rather uniq position as 'benevolent dictator' of the main Linux branch.  Though not always liked, he's generally respected, which is that allows him to operate as he does. Without Linus, it would be much harder to find someone who could get the same kind of respect and cooperation. In that way, he's pretty much irreplacable at the moment. Who could be the new Linus? I really don't know of anyone who could herd cats as effectively as he can just by virtue of his position.

[Still Thinking]

Raymond is best known for his seminal tract The Cathedral and the Bazaar, and remains active in the world of open source, which he has championed since the late 1990s.

Maybe, when writing a story about sexual assault accusations, don't use "seminal" as an adjective.

[dayglored]

>> Raymond is best known for his seminal tract The Cathedral and the Bazaar...

> Maybe, when writing a story about sexual assault accusations, don't use "seminal" as an adjective.

No, that was correct usage and quite apropos.

The "seminal tract" is the primary conduit between the human male's two heads: the "big head" which houses the brain, and the "little head" which controls behavior towards females. The "seminal tract" primarily serves to direct seminal ideas from the little head to the big head.