Thoughts on 2018
I wanted to write something about how my blog was read in 2018, but recent events distracted me from that. Now I am just surprised. I think it is the first time in my life that I have been called “white supremacist”, “SS supporter”, “right-wing conservative” etc.
I think everyone reading my blog, or having once met me, knows that this is just as far from reality as it could be. I am, and always have been, a radical left-wing.
Especially funny is the fact that people cannot distinguish that from A implies B does not follow B implies A. That is, only because I criticize one person of a minority, I am not necessarily opposed to that minority or inclusiveness in general. It’s just simply a wrong generalization. But logic hasn’t been the strength of many people anyway.
It seems that Debian is going this way. Great!
I think you should openly (and objectively) state and describe here what happened with your debian involvement and how things are. Then people can judge for themselves. I do hope that folks won’t forget what you did for the TeX world. Millions of users are using and relying on your packaged versions of tex on debian (and ubuntu).
I have posted two emails to debian-project explaining my views and the timeline of events. And since there are obviously several huge discussions going on, I am trying to deescalate as far as possible. But yes, in time there will be a very detailed description.
Hello Norbert,
I am posting this anonymously as I fear retribution, as well as other issues.
We have never met and I do not pass any judgment on you for alleged transgressions in the Debian space. It may be the case that you intentionally misgendered a person or acted out in some inappropriate manner. It may be reasonable to sanction you for this behavior, though what I am witnessing in the Debian community is akin to “workplace mobbing” and overt bullying for a variety of ad-hoc justifications. In the past on Debian mailing lists, you predicted that you would be sanctioned for CoC violations. While it may be a self-fulfilling prophesy, what has come along with it is significantly worse than your initial prediction.
I was very shocked, completely dismayed, and disgusted to see that Ian has made a call for information ( https://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2019/01/msg00170.html ) with the stated intent of running a defamatory website about you. This appears to be plain and simple harassment by Ian with a hugely chilling effect on the Debian community. The “anti-harassment team” in Debian should step in and sanction Ian immediately as his actions are completely out of line with the Code of Conduct. It should be done in an orderly fashion and by the book. It seems that this will probably not happen simply because of the structural bias of the ah team. This is ironically a dynamic that is well understood to cause real problems in societies around the world and one of the very reasons for needing a CoC in the first place.
I hope you are well and that this does not cause you too much suffering. It is a travesty to sanction this kind of bullying using Debian mailing lists and Ian is completely in the wrong. I know that you self-identify as left wing and I hope that this doesn’t limit you range of actions: I hope that you take (possibly even legal) action and force him to be accountable for his harassment.