Two days ago, the Ladybird Web Browser made quite a bit of news -- with a major investment and the establishment of a new Non-Profit organization to build a "from scratch" web browser.

Positive, non-controversial, non-political, very nerdy news.

Unfortunately, within hours of the spotlight being directed at Ladybird, a group of activists launched an all-out-assault on the open source web browser -- by smearing it as "Transphobic", "Mysoginistic", and (this is absolutely not a joke) suggesting that the Ladybird developers actively support and promote human slavery.

Hundreds of posts repeating such smears (among others) -- with one Tech publication declaring a total boycott of Ladybird because of it.

What vile deed were the developers of Ladybird guilty of, which necessitated such an intense response, you ask?

Well, I'll tell you.

The Ladybird team stated... wait for it...

... that they were a "purely technical project".

Seriously.  That was their crime.  Being "technical".

Here's the details.

No politics in Ladybird

When the Ladybird Browser Initiative was launched, earlier this week, their team included a very small statement on "ideologically motivated changes".

That statement reads, in full, "This is a purely technical project.  As such, it is not an appropriate arena to advertise your personal politics or religious beliefs.  Any changes that appear ideologically motivated will be rejected."

Seems incredibly reasonable for a software engineering project to remain focused on... software endingeering.

However...

A number of activists decided to do a little digging and found a 3 year old suggested documentation change -- in a different, but related, software project -- where the word "he" was suggested to be changed to the word "they".

The person who created this suggested change -- who had never contributed to that project before and was completely unkown to the existing developers -- considered it a "minor nitpick" to change one word that wasn't, in his view, "exactly the best".

The change was rejected with the statement, "This project is not an appropriate arena to advertise your personal politics."

And that was that.  No controversy.  No conflict.  

Until this week... when the news spotlight was directed at Ladybird.

The Attacks Begin

Now, ask yourself, what would be the appropriate response to this?

A denied, 3 year old request -- by one person who did not have any involvement in a project -- to change one word that was a "minor nitpick"?

Well, for the writer of OSNews.com, the only reasonable response would be a complete ban on reporting anything about Ladybird (and deleting exisiting articles).

And, if you ask a variety of activists on Mastodon, the Ladybird lead developer should be smeared as "Transphobe."

You'll note that, at no point, has the Ladybird team ever mentioned anything regarding "Trans" issues.  At all.  Not one statement.  The Lunduke Journal looked high and low and found absolutely nothing.

And, yet, the label of "Transphobe" is liberally applied.

As is "Misogynist".  Often accompanied by swear words.

Attack after attack after attack.

Just to kick it up a notch, some activists even began suggesting that the Ladybird project was -- through their use of software version control systems -- advocating for human slavery.

Not a joke.

You can't make this stuff up.

At one point, responding to one of the various attacks, the lead developer of Ladybird, Andreas Kling, made a short statement on X.

"I have absolutely nothing against gender neutral language," stated Kling.  "I am however against outsiders doing drive-by [code changes] with ideological motivations.  If a regular contributor [had] made these edits, I wouldn't have thought anything of it."

This statement did not stop the attacks -- which continue to be posted across social media.

The Source of the Hate

Transphobe.  Misogynist.  Slave Owner.  That is just a sampling of the insults, accusations, and hate being hurled at the Ladybird team.

And, as is plainly evident from the evidence above, these attacks are not based in reality.  None of the quoted statements or actions, from the Ladybird developers, could even come close to justifying the accusations being thrown around.

Which begs the question... where, exactly, is this hate coming from?

Well, it turns out... we've seen these tactics before.  And, interestingly, we've seen some of these people before, as well.

The Trans Political Activists

Just 24 hours ago, The Lunduke Journal published a story detailing how a group of Political Activists had conducted a "purge" -- of people whom they believed were not sufficiently "Pro Trans" -- from within the NixOS project.

And some of the individuals who conducted (or supported) that "purge" within NixOS... are also at work here... attacking the Ladybird Web Browser.

One activist ("cafkafk") seen below, within the GitHub repository for the developer being attacked, celebrating the fact that other activists -- organized on "The Fediverse" -- had arrived to harass the Ladybird developer.

That same activist ("cafkafk") had spent time within the NixOS project -- both leading up to and during the "purge" of political undesirables -- pushing for bans of people who were deemed insufficiently "pro-Trans".

In fact, multiple key players in the "NixOS Purge" have been actively posting and sharing the anti-Ladybird attacks.

Attacks Across Open Source

Time after time.  We see many of the same tactics -- with many of the same people involved.

So many projects:

SUSE & openSUSE.  Hyprland.  Asahi Linux.  Elementary OS.  NixOS.

And, most of the time, with a consistent pattern.

1. People who are not actively, vocally supportive of Trans activities... are attacked.  Smeared.  Vilified.  Typically with dishonest, libelous statements.
2. No matter what sort of apology, justification, or attempt at appeasement is made -- by those being attacked -- the attacks continue.  Always.
3. Eventually (typically quickly) the attacks escalate into calls for people to "step down" or be "banned" in some way.

While there are some minor variations, from case to case, the overall patterns remain strikingly similar.  And, seemingly, escalating in frequency -- with three significant attacks in the last few months.

In fact, if recent history is any indication, we're likely to see additional attacks involving Open Source Software projects and companies -- by the Trans Political Activists -- in the near future.

As long as their tactics continue to have even the smallest amount of success...

As long as those being attacked fail to fight back...

The Trans Political Activists will not stop.  They will continue to attack and hurt people.

The NixOS project -- a Linux distribution and packaging system which has achieved significant success -- has descended into chaos as political activists seek to implement extreme, discriminatory policies... and ban those who raise objections to the discrimination.

As the political activists within NixOS put it: They are committing a "purge" of people they call "Nazis".

First, a little background to set the stage for this wild tale...

Not actively pro-Trans?  You're a Nazi!

There is a significant, easily observable pattern of extreme bullying emerging within the Linux & Open Source world: One where people are forced to declare allegiance to "Trans Issues", or face severe consequences.

The typical pattern, within any given software project or company, goes something like this:

1. Trans Activists bully people into giving a disproportionately large amount of power (and praise) to people who identify as "Trans" -- often discriminating against "non-Trans" people in the process.
2. If someone raises concerns regarding that discrimination: That person is called a "Nazi", "White Supremacist", and "Transphobe".
3. That person is then banned from the project, community, or company (likewise, anyone who defends or agrees with that person is also banned).

Note: It is not necessary for a person to say anything even remotely negative about "Trans" people or issues in order to be banned and attacked by the Trans Activists.  The simple act of objecting to discrimination of non-Trans people is enough to provoke attacks and bullying.

A few recent examples of this bullying within major Linux and Open Source projects:

• openSUSE declared that anyone who does not fully support "Trans" activities -- and wave the "Pride Flags" -- is "Rotten Flesh" who should be banned from the entire Linux world.
• Asahi & elementary Linux both made a policy of not allowing any users or contributors who do not actively support "Trans" activities.
• The Hyprland creator was banned, by a Red Hat employee, from the Free Desktop project after a perceived lack of reverence for "Trans" activities and "pronouns".

Now, it appears, we can add NixOS to that prestigious list.

The NixOS "Trans Only" Committee Seat

This story begins, as most wild tales do, in an incredibly dull way.

Back in April, 2024, leadership within NixOS saught to create a new committee (focused on approving monetary sponsors of Nix).

I know.  A committee talking about sponsorships.  Boring, right?  Trust me, this gets crazy.

A small group of individuals -- who are best described as "Political Activists" -- demanded that this small committee must include dedicated seats for people identified as "Gender Minority".  (Aka: "Trans" People.)

Some NixOS project contributors raised concerns about having dedicated voting seats for one specific "minority group" (but not for others).

The core of these concerns seemed to be that this was, effectively, discriminating against some groups in order to provide a disproportionate advantage for one specific group (Trans).

So far, this is a pretty simple story.

• One group wants a dedicated "Trans only" seat on a voting committee.
• Another group is concerned that this would be discriminatory.
• The two disagree... and discuss.

Straight forward -- and boring -- right?

Unfortunately, things get dark.  Really dark.  In a hurry.

The NixOS "Purge"

Instead of the two sides discussing their differences -- and coming to some sort of agreement -- the political activists (the "Trans Only Seat" group) decided to take a more... intense approach.

They began, what they called, a "purge".

"What is needed is a purge," stated one of the NixOS leaders who advocated for the "Trans Only Seat", referring to people who disagreed with his stance.

"I don't disagree," stated another.

The desire to conduct a "purge" continued... with the libelous attacks ramping up.

This same NixOS leader referred to the NixOS project as a "Nazi bar" (referring to many of the people raising objections to the "Trans Only Seat")... reiterated the need for a "purge"... and finished it off with an image of the Antifa flag.

Context of using the Antifa Flag: Within the United States, many local governments and organizations consider Antifa to be a violent, terrorist organization.  Antifa has claimed responsibility for several terrorist attacks (including riots, attempts to burn down Federal government buildings, and violent assaults on journalists).  "Antifa" has a track record of labeling any who oppose them as "Nazis".  That this symbol would be used, by NixOS Foundation Leadership, while calling for a "purge" of the "Nazis" they disagree with, is significant and worth noting.

On April 21st, 2024, the "Purge" begins.

Over the days that followed, several contributors to NixOS were suspended from the project -- including forums and other communication systems (with some individuals, eventually, completely banned).

After an exhaustive search, The Lunduke Journal was unable to find a single instance where the banned and suspended individuals made any derogatory statements against "Trans" individuals or any other groups.

These "purged" people were labeled as "Nazis" by some NixOS leaders... in many cases because they were not sufficiently supportive of the concept of a "Trans Only Seat" on a voting committee (among other political topics).

It didn't stop with the rank-and-file contributors to NixOS, either.  It went all the way to the top, with accusations being posted regarding the founder of Nix, Eelco Dolstra.  Prompting a response from the Nix founder.

"I must express my deep disappointment and disbelief at the accusation of excluding people from minority or marginalized backgrounds," stated the Nix founder in a blog post on April 26th.

The following day, the Nix Foundation Board denounced the words of the Nix founder.

Then -- and this seriously happened -- the Nix Foundation Board began drafting an abdication letter on behalf of the NixOS founder.

This is real.  Eelco Dolstra, the founder of Nix, had an abdication letter written for him and was pressured into signing it.  One of the drafters made a note to the Nix Founder that he must add himself as a signatory of the letter "for it to appear amicable".

The abdication letter was posted, with the Nix Founder as a signatory, on April 30th.

The NixOS Saga is Not Finished

This, truly, is a crazy tale.

Political extremists taking over a successful Open Source project -- from the inside -- and imposing wild, discriminatory, political policies.  Followed by the vilification -- and mass "purge" -- of any who opposed their extremist politics... culminating in the (seemingly forced) abdication of the founder of the project itself.

And, perhaps even more wild, is the fact that this is only a small fraction of the NixOS story.

A story with a huge number of players, and hundreds of pages of documents.  In-fighting.  Abuse.  Politics.  And more than a few swear words.

What's more... the saga continues to unfold, with NixOS itself currently in a state of chaos at the hands of a small number of political activists.

But the rest of this story... is for another day.

This article was originally published -- on a different site -- on May 24, 2023.  It is being republished now, on The Lunduke Journal, for historical preservation and reference.  Note: This content is highly political and many will find the topics and quotes, from Linux project founders and leaders, to be extremely disturbing and devisive.  Reader discression is advised.

Yesterday, elementary OS announced that it would be leaving Twitter.  The reason?  Because, according to the announcement, Twitter "promotes far-right authoritarian politics".

The founder of elementary OS, Dan Fore, then took to his Mastodon account to expand upon his reasoning -- stating that the deciding factor was that Twitter was allowing Florida Governor DeSantis to announce his Presidential candidacy on Twitter.

"With the latest news of Elon promoting Ron DeSantis' presidential run, I'm done," stated the elementary founder.  "It's become a far-right social network no diferent from Parlor or Truth Social and I won't be a part of it."

He then continued by saying: "An attack on trans rights is an attack on desktop Linux."

Mr Fore has also posted, reshared, liked and amplified a wide array of statements that appear to be designed to incite hatred, fear, and violence against any people who do not fully support the Trans fetish.

Such as the following:

"Media should stop asking "how will DeSantis fare in the 2024 election?" and start asking "who will die if DeSantis is elected in 2024? Who will be purged from their job? Have their children taken away?""

And:

"t's a genocide. Don't call it a "culture war." Or an "ideological difference."

The goal of eradication isn't even whispered anymore. It is regularly stated, loudly and proudly, by powerful mainstream conservatives."

It's a lot of hate.  A lot of fear-mongering.  And, importantly, it's a lot of false statements (there is no "Trans Genocide" happening) with the purpose of vilifying and demonizing others.

It's not just one Linux Distribution...

If elementary OS was the only example of this type of vile bigotry, we could write it off as an anomally.

Unfortunately there appears to be a number of examples of exactly this sort of messaging occuring throughout the computer industry -- and the Linux and Open Source worlds in particular.

Alyssa Rosenzweig, most well known as a developer who has (rather impressively) helped get Linux running on modern Macs (M1 and M2 Apple Silicon based), has recently issued the following declaration in a blog post:

"I’m on the board overseeing Linux graphics. Half of us are trans. If all you care about is Linux, resist the attacks on trans people.

 

If you have any decency, fight back."

"Half of us are trans," he says.  Accompanied by a call to "fight back" against an imagined "genocide", assumedly perpetrated by those who do not fully buy into his particular sexual fetish.

Likewise, the lead of Asahi Linux, Hector Martin, has removed Asahi Linux from Twitter... and has issued the following declaration:

Of course nobody is trying to kill Hector's colleagues.

And the vast majority of major corporations -- not to mention the President of the country -- are continually coming out in support of the Trans fetish.  So declaring that there is a genocide occuring is beyond ridiculous.

Just the same, Asahi Linux has declared that people who do not actively support a specific sexual kink cannot be allowed in their project.

The Future

Do Asahi and Elementary truly not want any users, customers, or contributors who are "Right Wing" (or even Centrist)?  It appears as such.

There are multiple Software and Computer organizations which have declared their support for the Trans fetish over the last few years... my guess is some of them will take things even further, by making similar statements to those we've seen from elementary OS and Asahi Linux.  By spreading hate, fear, and bigotry... all in the name of supporting a sexual fetish.