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Investigative Journalism in Debian and the Wider Free Software Community
Earlier today some Investigative Journalism (not ordinary reporting but in-depth investigations) by Daniel Pocock was republished in the sister site, as was his article about cult-like behaviour in Debian and very concerning secrecy (to hide the project's inappropriate dealings). There is this prevalent belief that Debian is extremely transparent, as Pocock explained in relation to a volunteer who had literally drowned under Debian's watch. We really need to rebut this claim or dispute this widespread perception/belief.
"Of course, the serious things in the blog: a) Dandrimont's email calls her Pauline Pommeret but he knows that is not her real name; b) Ledru's email reveals he has no understanding of ethical practice," Pocock added. "It is hard to prove if they tried this deliberately or if they were just habitually trying to help each other out. Nonetheless, the fact that at least two members of the French Debian cell were supporting the girl allows us to suggest the possibility of a conspiracy. To prove a conspiracy we would need to show there was direct collusion between Dandrimont and Ledru."
There's a whole lot of abuse going on there as money flows in from companies like Google; people then compete for that money, sometimes through girlfriends. Nepotism and "bedroom politics" aren't too pleasant to talk about it, but it's happening all the time.
It is not a left- or right-wing matter; it's about ethics. █