Ian Murdock - founder Debian died (suicide)


I don't even know what to say. I feel for the guy. He must have been using the N*** word ironically? If all that is truly coming from him and he was not hacked, then the level of terror the police instilled (rightfully or not) clearly disturbed him.
 
All I can really take away from this tragedy is that Twitter is a terrible medium for a suicide note or a coherent manifesto. I have absolutely no idea what anyone not familiar with this person, their work, or their personality are to glean from that disjointed rambling series of tweets. And then dropping the N bomb for some reason? If their goal was to be taken seriously and get the word out I'm not sure they accomplished that, honestly. If indeed this is a case of police brutality they have made it very easy for people to dismiss this instance as nothing more than someone broadcasting their break from reality.

This is a very sad state of affairs. It would be nice if something positive -like a reevaluation of police powers and oversight- were to become of it. I can think of a couple ways to be more persuasive, but from the tone of these tweets it's clear the author was in distress.
 
PowerGod said:
He just underlined too much times that he is "white" to not notice...
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I thought he was trying to convey that police brutality/corruption/abuse/etc is not just something that black people face in America and not just a product of racism. It's not really clear though, he wasn't very coherent and probably still intoxicated.
 
Exophase said:
I thought he was trying to convey that police brutality/corruption/abuse/etc is not just something that black people face in America and not just a product of racism. It's not really clear though, he wasn't very coherent and probably still intoxicated.
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Yeah, with that point of view the words behave in a different way
 
Exophase said:
I thought he was trying to convey that police brutality/corruption/abuse/etc is not just something that black people face in America and not just a product of racism. It's not really clear though, he wasn't very coherent and probably still intoxicated.
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That's how I understood it too.
 
Suicide? Only a coward makes a point through suicide.

If his stories are true then he should have fought the system to enact a change, not just draw attention to it by throwing away his life.

A meaningless death which will achieve nothing but devastating the family of Ian. I feel sorry for them.
 
Whatever the police did to him it's pretty safe to say that that wasn't the only thing going on in his life. Something like that would not normally drive a person to commit suicide on its own. Unfortunately, this will ultimately overshadow whatever (if any) legitimate questions should be raised about what happened to him.
 
Exophase said:
Whatever the police did to him it's pretty safe to say that that wasn't the only thing going on in his life. Something like that would not normally drive a person to commit suicide on its own. Unfortunately, this will ultimately overshadow whatever (if any) legitimate questions should be raised about what happened to him.
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Erm, says who, and on what basis ? You have no proof of what you are claiming. There are people who commit suicide after being raped, I don't see what would be so unusual if you were seriously beaten up and shocked. You don't act rationally when you are suffering from trauma.
 
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Caine said:
A meaningless death
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Not sure about that yet, a lot of folks on reddit are sharing stories from ordinary people facing police brutality. Maybe this will lead to something - if there is proof excessive force has indeed been used during his arrest I am sure this will lead to an investigation.
 
Caine said:
Only a coward makes a point through suicide
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Remember those tibetian monks that lit themselves on fire to make a political point? (a free Tibet)
While burning, they kept moving back and forth, praying.
Those monks have the biggest guts I know. Certainly not cowards.

Explicit, NSFW : http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/tibetan-monk-sets-fire-china-article-1.1723786

B_o_B said:
I am sure this will lead to an investigation
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Possibly, but the outcome and content can be manipulated in favour of the police, as nothing can be proven (he killed himself, not the police). Requesting, from the outside, cooperation from the police can be tiresome and only the minimal cooperation can be expected (why didn't you tell me? Well you didn't ask). Most dont have deep pockets to pursue much further than a few initial questions.
Could he have done more while alive? almost certainly.
Did his fight-or-flee instinct misfire? Yes. Maybe because the was a flee (as can be read from his text), but no place to feel save.
Even cells, when stressed go into apoptosis (cell hara kiri).

However: What actually happened before and during arrest? I don't know. But the fact we are talking about it means that his death triggered something. The momentum would be smaller, if he was still alive, but could be directed, now... its unguided.

(big detailed examples deleted for brevity)
 
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ekianjo said:
Erm, says who, and on what basis ? You have no proof of what you are claiming. There are people who commit suicide after being raped, I don't see what would be so unusual if you were seriously beaten up and shocked. You don't act rationally when you are suffering from trauma.
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Getting beaten up by police is not an awful lot like getting raped, and it's a very strange reaction to kill yourself so suddenly even though he's not ashamed to tell people what happened. You'd think he would have hired a good lawyer and taken it to court. I could see suicide being the cause of something traumatic if you can't deal with the PTSD or shame over time or it has otherwise greatly deteriorated your life but that wouldn't all be evident so quickly.
 
Exophase said:
Getting beaten up by police is not an awful lot like getting raped, and it's a very strange reaction to kill yourself so suddenly even though he's not ashamed to tell people what happened. You'd think he would have hired a good lawyer and taken it to court. I could see suicide being the cause of something traumatic if you can't deal with the PTSD or shame over time or it has otherwise greatly deteriorated your life but that wouldn't all be evident so quickly.
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He wrote that they stripped him naked forcefully, I think that pretty much goes in this direction and in addition to the fact, that his home wasn't a safe haven anymore, fleeing seemingly was only possible into one direction (death).

I'd still don't take the suicide story for granted since it's also sometimes used as an official statement after "silencing" somebody, although the police brutality here would definitely suffice as a reason.

BTW: I wonder who this @jacksormwriter is and why police claimed that Ian Murdock wasn't under arrest although the files say something else.
http://truthvoice.com/2015/12/the-bizarre-story-of-ian-murdocks-death/
 
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