Oddbean new post about login | logout for years I've been mistreated and ridiculed by some on the basis of "you don't use your _real name_" now "they fight you" stage is in and these same people are posting "hOw dO we protect DEVS in FOSS?!" pathetic
So dumb
🗝️ Fathom needing to surrender to your demons 😄 https://image.nostr.build/da45b9d5c6e89213ab64bcfed210844379a00f13931b9bdb4b1ccf3c55e2e281.jpg
Got that disco ball to it https://image.nostr.build/987908d4e9e4b11bfb6edf98e8480e81d857edf5d01128944a1fa5a522f20504.jpg
Did people actually give you shit for being a nym!? Just goes to show how very real the IQ bell curve is…
yep, compliance people are especially hard to deal with
You already risked way to much by being physically at conferences. I would never do that
PsyOp society
keep fighting the good fight, and keep in mind we can always open up pizza store nostr:nevent1qqspcrq2d98t2jv4t7du2ttqj2vwza6z9yqeghugs2775qq2flrfnugpr3mhxue69uhkummnw3ezucnfw33k76twv4ezuum0vd5kzmqzyzgunf0p496yz9xxlckkrtjdaqnzn642p76j7jpgszfu0elqxmuryqcyqqqqqqgxffgxt
No face no case. Props Unc 🤝
i'm just an old cartoon character
🫂🫂🫂
🩵🫡
can't wait for our IRL meet 🌈 https://image.nostr.build/a93d2c1f195a97bd618e0ad27f07ded59daa8c095cf612a37196b6551ccf3138.gif
Opsec over vanity
Let's all ignore the fact that most of the people hiding behind their nym aren't using TOR.
I have no problem with someone being nym. Allowing nyms to navigate the Internet effectively is part of why I'm here. That said, I'm old-school enough to simply assume that doing anything new or radical might lead to getting arrested. It's a form low-key civil disobedience or protest, and carries inherent risk. I'm actually sort okay with that. I've just accepted it. The bigger issue for me is actually the draconian sentencing laws, that make writing code a bigger crime than rape or murder. Reminds me of the overzealous crack laws that were just thinly-disguised minority prosecution.
Seriously you could have been arrested at any conference. Pseudonyms help against unsolicited attackers, not against state actors.
I'm not aware of a single pseudonymous open source developer that the government has tried, but failed, to arrest. Except Satoshi. To be fair they've only arrested two so far, that I know of.
Could work if he never showed up at conferences and used Tor only, ideally Whonix/Qubes. But I think he left enough trail for the thugs to get him. 🙁
It takes a single mistake. And in order to get anything done in open source you need to communicate a lot and with many people. So now you're leaving hints about your timezone(s), cultural background, language use. Or maybe you went to that one conference where you talked to five people, one of them describes you to the cops, mentions your accent or the hotel you probably stayed at. Then of course there's the usual DNS leaks, logging in with the pseudonym over the wrong connection. One single mistake.
Yes. Maybe we can get some communication scrambling with LLMs, timezone is easily hacked and still only provides little value. It's quite possible that if the mistakes aren't too huge there can be multiple of them.
Timezone can be determined from when you're interacting. You can build in delays, but without a time machine you can't fully randomize timing. The LLM thing is cool, assuming you run the thing locally.
By hacking I mean moving sleep schedule by a few hours. One can also set a specific short time window for interactions. This strategy is often used by players in realtime multiplayer online games.
I obviously tailor public part of my persona to the risk. I am not nearly at as much risk as some other developers (don't work on Core e.g.). That said - for you to approach this conversation in the way you are approaching it... it's a bit disappointing tbh.
I keep hearing people say Bitcoin devs should be anonymous, as if that's actually a good idea. It doesn't work. We need better ideas.
Satoshi?
He's either dead, worked for a spy agency or avoided arrest by some other non-standard means. I don't believe it was just good opsec.
Could be simply Bitcoin being uninteresting at creation and by the time it became interesting the trail vanished.
Sorry that watching a zealous judge throw a fellow developer in prison without the slightest hesitation or empathy makes me a bit impatient and cranky :-)
Revenge is a dish best served cold?
You serious?! Bitcoin was created by anonymous dev... surely we should nurture that culture? What's the alternative?
It's wonderful founding myth, but what worked for him doesn't necessarily work for everyone. He also had the advantage of being in charge of the project, things at his pace, but we wouldn't do that now. nostr:note185497gmzgm0qtu4azz5f7p27h943r96a7xjhcnn2wg4vpda8te9svz3pez
there is what we personally believe... and then there is the truth. your other post - you being distressed by what is going on with judges & devs - I respect that, and will not engage further... looking forward to continuing this conversation in person sometimes soon.
Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Anon is a good start
It comes with serious downside. Harder to get grants, can't promote your work at conferences and podcasts, nag other devs in person to review your work. And it reduces your chances of getting arrested by 0%. There's gradations of anonymity, but they have a real cost. If you're super introverted and hate conferences, then sure, use a fake name and photo - that's low opportunity cost.
So you're saying it's more beneficial to devs to be known rather than anon. Seems like the majority of your reasoning is compensation based
Well without compensation you have to either already be rich, get a fiat job - given you less time to work on Bitcoin - or live very cheaply. Those are all legitimate options, but they come with trade-offs.
As does being known. I just wanted to get to that point. The trade offs. So it comes down to what the individual wants. No single playbook, if you will, will apply to everyone.
Anonymity is a good default. I personally don't understand why so many people voluntarily dox themselves.
Normally I would ask: how do you make money? How do find gigs, jobs. But I want to respect your privacy. Being "famous" has often given me opportunities. But the potential downside is clear. By the way I'm not arguing that anon devs should dox themselves. Everyone has to make their own cost-benefit analysis, and/or just follow their preference.
True, as soon as you want to make a living or create a "brand" privacy has major tradeoffs. It's probably more a matter of clearly and consciously separating public and private life.
Human proxy-devs or 'katvangers' in Dutch. (I haven't thought this through)
I know that’s what’s on your birth certificate so just tell everyone to bite it
I see two great needs at this time; 1) All hands on deck rally around the souls presently targeted as "show cases," especially by those with the deep pockets and existing lawyer crew to be effective (Mr. Saylor, are you seeing what's happening around your favorite topic?) 2) Universal non-compliance with ALL bullshit "laws" and "regulations" that encroach on our liberty, privacy, and absolute right to freely exchange commodities, services, MONEY, and whatever else we damn well please, peaceably and voluntarily, without state goons with a god-complex insinuating themselves into every transaction. News flash; the state is NOT God, and is not in ANY way *authorized* by God to commit these CRIMES. They are doing this "under color of law," fraudulently, and it is our obligation to deny them, call them out, ignore them resist them, and just carry on with our lives and enterprises while those SOBs self-destruct.😠😡🤬🎇
there are always shades of gray... what you could also do is have multiple devs who don't know each other IRL share one solid anon account and contribute to codebases. one falls, they and people they care about get taken care, project keeps going.
News flash: Libertarians created this hell by wrongly assuming that predatory humans would just restrain themselves. How’s that working out? ;) Please learn about heritable predatory brain physiologies: https://shorturl.at/cmRV3. Please learn WHY heritable predatory brain physiologies are INCREASING: https://shorturl.at/gzR47
👇👇An important thread🤔👇👇 nostr:nevent1qqspcrq2d98t2jv4t7du2ttqj2vwza6z9yqeghugs2775qq2flrfnugpzfmhxue69uhk7enxvd5xz6tw9ec82cszyzgunf0p496yz9xxlckkrtjdaqnzn642p76j7jpgszfu0elqxmuryqcyqqqqqqg28qyvu
Haters are always more vocal than supporters.
Leading the way. Thanks.
