Debian Creator Ian Murdock Dead At 42

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/30/de...cid=rss&cps=gravity_1462_-8000417850083124366

ian_murdock_inset.jpg


Ian Murdock – the ‘ian’ in Debian – was found dead at his home in San Francisco on Monday. The cause is yet unknown.

Murdock was an integral figure in the open source movement. His Debian Project – and his work at Docker – were groundbreaking. Announced in 1993 and released in 1996, Murdock named the distro after his then wife, Debra, and himself. Debian, created while Murdock was an undergraduate at Purdue University, gave birth to tools like apt-get, an installation system that streamlined open source packages.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
He left a suicide note on Twitter.

Course he did. :) But why would he commit suicide? His life up to that point was not horrible and he was not distraught.
 

Jim of WVa

Well Known GateFan
Course he did. :) But why would he commit suicide? His life up to that point was not horrible and he was not distraught.

It is a loser's game to try to understand why someone has committed suicide. However, in this case it is better to wait and see the results of the coroner's investigation.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
It is a loser's game to try to understand why someone has committed suicide. However, in this case it is better to wait and see the results of the coroner's investigation.

He was one of my geek heroes. :(
 

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
The report says something about an altercation with police. No way to know what demons the guy was wrestling with.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Someone was threatening him on twitter. You can still view his twitter page if you use archieve.org or cache it. I rather not post it here because it's filled racist slurs, and it creep me the hell out when I was reading it.

Link please?
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member

So I'm right...he was "liquidated" by TPTB. He refused to allow the DHS/NSA/FBI to put a backdoor in Debian (and it's forks like Ubuntu and Mint), and when they realized they were not going to turn him, they eliminated him. Funny how the MagicJack guy suddenly "died" in his 40s too. Watch Debian change. Im not going to use my update manager without reading the Linux forums first. :(

Behind Windows and OS X, Ubuntu/Mint is the 3rd most widely used OS in the world.
 

heisenberg

Earl Grey
So I'm right...he was "liquidated" by TPTB. He refused to allow the DHS/NSA/FBI to put a backdoor in Debian (and it's forks like Ubuntu and Mint), and when they realized they were not going to turn him, they eliminated him. Funny how the MagicJack guy suddenly "died" in his 40s too. Watch Debian change. Im not going to use my update manager without reading the Linux forums first. :(

Behind Windows and OS X, Ubuntu/Mint is the 3rd most widely used OS in the world.

Illuminati confirmed? Why does everything have to be some sort of conspiracy to you?
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Illuminati confirmed? Why does everything have to be some sort of conspiracy to you?

Not everything. :) This guy's life is something I have been following for some time now. His death is "unusual" to say the least.
 

Bluce Ree

Tech Admin / Council Member
Not everything. :) This guy's life is something I have been following for some time now. His death is "unusual" to say the least.

i can't see any open source project of any kind having a backdoor slipped into it. Too many eyes on the sources.
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
I agree that his death does seem rather odd, but usually celebrities usually go out unexpectedly. Look at Robin Williams.

Ian was no celebrity type. He was an activist at heart, and a very very ballsy one at that. Most celebrities (and most politicians) do not ever get the chance to impact the global technology world the way that Ian has done. He was more like a Steve Jobs or a Bill Gates type, but with an attitude and a strong personal constitution. No way did he commit suicide.
 
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