Debian founder Ian Murdock has passed away

[bark_bark_bark]

....i think probably gamers and kids of all ages would get or could potentially be swayed to get involved in tormenting for fun if it were made into a milgram's-type experiment....

As a gamer I have to say this, I highly doubt ANY gamer would want to tormant anybody for WHATEVER reason! Have you been watching Faux "news" lately?

[Deacon]

A couple of "naive" questions, if I may:
* will the Debian entity continue to exist?
* I did notice that on some news sites they mention that he had started
a new job at the Docker software firm last Fall. Out of curiosity: his work
as an official at Debian was volunteer work, then? Why did he need
another job?

BFN.

I'm pretty sure Debian will continue to exist. It's got a massive base and organization which at this point is not a single person.

I believe he still made a salary with Debian; he mentioned on his Twitter the night of his death that he still made $1.4M last year as a counterpoint that the police go after whoever they want, not simply the poor.

[musher0]

Thanks much, Deacon.

About Debian: so it's big now, not just a "1 person, 2 persons" show.
That's great, because if it folded it would make a huge hole in the Open
Source field.

A salary of 1.4 M$ a year with Linux? Phew... There's something
I'm doing wrong!!!

Again, thanks. BFN.

[Puppus Dogfellow]

....i think probably gamers and kids of all ages would get or could potentially be swayed to get involved in tormenting for fun if it were made into a milgram's-type experiment....

As a gamer I have to say this, I highly doubt ANY gamer would want to tormant anybody for WHATEVER reason! Have you been watching Faux "news" lately?

my apologies, bark_bark_bark--i forget what a demonized lot you all are. i perhaps should've written it as "even gamers" to accentuate the general benign character of those who partake as contrasted to their very human and universally shared potential to be guided into doing harm while believing or because of having been led to believe they are doing good. and there are also people who get involved in something pleasurable and find they "didn't know when to stop" "and things got out of hand" and "next thing we knew, we were pouring bengay on a rubber chicken and chocolate syrup on matey #3..."(last bit's a true story rather than just a common aftermath phrase--aussie news from a year or so ago, i think). and the people who were just following orders. and those who just think they know better when in fact they don't--they can make things difficult--best to obey. so conformity to bad causes and ideas has many causes, and many bad actions can stem from neutral or even positive intentions. and people can be played like blips on screens--i was just trying to get back on topic.

so, only would watch fox if paid or if i fell and broke both legs on the way to the remote. (or was stuck in a waiting room or airport--seems to be a favorite programming choice in such places for some reason. still think with broken legs i'd manage to get the crap off...) and meant it's easy to kill and torture when it's by remote control, so to speak. or i imagine it to be comparatively so. people act according to propaganda, have knee jerk reactions to things--"look at how well isis is playing the social media game" and things like that in the news--you blow up some guy for his car and rip out his spine, jump rope with it--it's fake. it's push button imaginary violence, it's a harmless videogame. but getting ten or twenty people to harass based on bad info--that was like a virtual bomb you planted--that was real excitement. let's see how far you can take it...or, "let's see how far i can get them to take it/let's see how well he, she, or they can take it,"....



i guess i just riffed on the gamesmanship aspect of it with some unfortunate results. my bad.