Debian Linux founder Ian Murdock dies at 42, cause unknown

[Batu69]

Just prior to his death, Murdock had started sending increasingly erratic tweets from his Twitter account

 

I'd known Ian Murdock, founder of Debian Linux and most recently a senior Docker staffer, since 1996. He recently died much too young, 42, in unclear circumstances.

 

Ian Murdock backed away from saying he would commit suicide in later tweets, but he continued to be seriously troubled by his experiences and died later that night.

 

Docker merely stated that "It is with great sadness that we inform you that Ian Murdock passed away on Monday night. This is a tragic loss for his family, for the Docker community, and the broader open source world; we all mourn his passing."

 

The San Francisco Police Department said they had nothing to say about Murdock's death at this time.

 

What we do know is that prior to his death, Murdock started sending increasingly erratic tweets on December 28 from his Twitter account. The most worrying of all read: "i'm committing suicide tonight.. do not intervene as i have many stories to tell and do not want them to die with me"

 

At first people assumed that his Twitter account had been hacked. Having known Murdock, the effects of trauma on people, and his subsequent death, I believe that he was the author of these tweets.

 

His Twitter account has since been deleted, but copies of the tweets remain. He wrote that "the police here beat me up for knowing [probably an auto-correct for "knocking"] on my neighbor's door.. they sent me to the hospital."

 

I have been unable to find any San Francisco area hospital with a record of his admission.

 

Murdock wrote that he had been assaulted by the police, had his clothes ripped off, and told, "We're the police, we can do whatever the fuck we want." He also wrote, "they beat the shit out of me twice, then charged me $25,000 to get out of jail for battery against THEM."

 

This implies he had been arrested and booked at an area court. He may also have actually been in jail. I have been unable to find a record of the arrest.

 

Murdock also vented his anger at the police. "(1/2) The rest of my life will be devoted to fighting against police abuse.. I'm white, I made $1.4 million last year, (2/2) They are uneducated, bitter, and and only interested in power for its own sake. Contact me [email protected] if you can help. -ian"

 

After leaving the courtroom, presumably a magistrate court, Murdock tweeted that he had been followed home by the police and assaulted again.

 

He continued, "I'm not committing suicide today. I'll write this all up first, so the police brutality ENDEMIC in this so call free country will be known." He added, "Maybe my suicide at this, you now, a successful business man, not a black person, will finally bring some attention to this very serious issue."

 

His last tweet stated: "I am a white male, make a lot money, pay a lot of money in taxes, and yet their abuse is equally doned out. DO NOT CROSS THEM!?

 

He then appears to have died that night, December 28. At the time of this writing, the cause of death remains unknown.

 

His death is a great loss to the open-source world. He created Debian, one of the first Linux distributions and still a major distro; he also served as an open-source leader at Sun; as CTO for the Linux Foundation, and as a Docker executive. He will be missed.

 

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[Pequi]

Very sad news to end a very sad year.

Still no updates on the beating or the strip he was submitted to.

I suppose they'll archive it as "suicide by unknown agents"