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Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

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Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#31
post #5
post #2

I don't know if ending another human's life leaves any possibility of redemption for a person, but reading this I still empathize with the sense of loss and powerlessness that emanate from this letter.

I suspect many are aware of this but for those uninformed: Reiser committed premeditated murder of his (ex?)wife Nina around 2006 and hid her body so well they could not find her. He made his children think either that their mother abandoned them. He had thought without a body he could not be charged and convicted. I believe he waited until it was apparent he would lose the trial and then plead down so that they coul…

High levels of calculation in times when high levels of calculation are required to keep you out of prison are not a sign of anything.

Humans are amazing at compartmentalizing things like this away, even while they are happening.

It is impossible to know from this single datapoint if he is remorseful or not, but it is not at all outside of the realm of possibility.

As a child I merely punched my brother and I tried to kill myself afterwards because of the guilt. In the moment I could not have been more prescient about what I was about to do and what I was doing. I recalled how I had observed him fighting others, how he threw punches, how he swung his arm based on how angry he was, and I planned an arc that took advantage of his habits and clocked him. Knocked him out in one punch.

The instant he hit the floor I felt remorse like I had never felt before. Who the hell am I to take an action like that?!

Anyway, how someone feels while doing something like that does not necessarily reflect how they feel at any other time in their lives. It also may reflect how they are at all times, or anywhere in between.

There is no foolproof way to know.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#32
post #24

Why can’t people in US prisons access the internet?

Medium to maximum-security facilities are probably less likely to allow/provide internet access to their prisoners. Partly due to security, and partly due to punitive measures.

Although in this case, Reiser seems to be at a minimum-medium class facility.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#33
post #8
post #4

From Wiki: > On August 29, 2008, Reiser was sentenced to 15 years to life, the maximum sentence for second-degree murder. As a result of his plea bargain, Reiser cannot appeal his conviction or sentence That would be August 2023, anyone know if he's out of prison?

A couple paragraphs below on the wiki: > As of 2020, Reiser was housed at the Correctional Training Facility near Soledad, California, with a tentative parole eligibility date of August 2027 after parole was denied in 2022.

How does he end up imprisoned 4 years longer than his sentencing indicated?

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#34
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect many are aware of this but for those uninformed: Reiser committed premeditated murder of his (ex?)wife Nina around 2006 and hid her body so well they could not find her. He made his children think either that their mother abandoned them. He had thought without a body he could not be charged and convicted. I believe he waited until it was apparent he would lose the trial and then plead down so that they coul…

He was far less of a mastermind than he fancied himself at the time. If I recall, he bought a book on murder investigations and a socket set after his wife's disappearance (which was easily tracked back to him), removed car seats (blood) from his car, and willingly testified in court that it was his manly dream to sleep in the car, or something along these lines. He could have likely gotten away with it if he kept hi…

For those interested in the trial, the SF Chronicle's Henry K. Lee ran a very detailed blog on it: https://web.archive.org/web/20080501184401/http://www.sfgate...

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#35
post #10
post #2

I don't know if ending another human's life leaves any possibility of redemption for a person, but reading this I still empathize with the sense of loss and powerlessness that emanate from this letter.

Speaking in general terms, not to the specifics of Hans Reiser's crimes - I dont see why it wouldn't allow for redemption, people do stupid things and get blinded easily.

There’s “Stupid thing”.

And then there’s murdering your ex, hiding her body over two days, lying to your children that she’d left for russia and they’d been abandoned, and only revealing the location of the body so you could plea down to second degree murder (a good 18 months later mind, we’re not talking quick change of heart).

Oh and then filing a civil suit against pretty much the entire legal system, including the trial judges and your attorney.

And when sued for damage by your children’s grandmother (on their behalf) assert that you killed your ex to protect your kids (which you had basically never been there for, which was the entire reason your wife left you).

I’m not saying redemption is not possible, but I’d think some reflection and atonement would be the baseline, and I’m not aware of Hans Reiser having done any such work.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#36
post #3

I thought the usual solution when we disagree irreconcilably with a maintainer was to fork and rename? I always thought it a bit weird that we were naming parts of Linux after people. We already did that once and that kinda uses up your freebie. Seems like everyone quit Hans and nobody rallied the project back together.

I don't think Reiser's name had anything to do with the removal. If I recall the situation was more or less as follows:

Reiserfs3 was out there, and while it had plenty fans (good performance and efficient disk usage), it had a fair amount of corruption issues. Reiserfs4 was about to come out. Reiser insisted that Reiserfs3 was done and an obsolete relic, and reiserfs4 was the new hot thing.

Reiser ran a consulting company of some kind. IMO this may have put a bit of a damper on contributions.

He also had a contentious personality, with quite a lot of people disliking him, and him having trouble convincing people to merge reiserfs4.

Right about that time the whole murder mess happened. So reiserfs3 was apparently abandoned, reiserfs4 was uncertain if it was going to get merged. Namesys, Reiser's company of course fell apart and the existing employees had to find something else to do.

So that was probably about the worst timing possible. Reiserfs4 didn't get merged, Reiser was dealing with the trial/prison, and other filesystems started showing up as well.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#37
post #16
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect many are aware of this but for those uninformed: Reiser committed premeditated murder of his (ex?)wife Nina around 2006 and hid her body so well they could not find her. He made his children think either that their mother abandoned them. He had thought without a body he could not be charged and convicted. I believe he waited until it was apparent he would lose the trial and then plead down so that they coul…

> I want to believe redemption is possible, especially given how eloquent he is, but his demonstration of calculation over emotion in her murder makes me strongly question his change. I think it would be ridiculous for me to presume that I can possibly have any view into whether or not someone has sincerely changed, but why should the fact that someone was calculating once affect whether they have changed? I could se…

I consider it a Bayesian approach to understanding potential internal drivers. Someone who is not cold and calculating likely has less capacity to completely present the appearance of redemption whereas someone who is calculating has that capacity.

So, someone who is demonstrated to be calculating has higher odds of faking a behavior if it is beneficial to them (e.g. leaving prison).

It's for him to know, but I don't think it's ridiculous for me to question.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#39
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple paragraphs below on the wiki: > As of 2020, Reiser was housed at the Correctional Training Facility near Soledad, California, with a tentative parole eligibility date of August 2027 after parole was denied in 2022.

How does he end up imprisoned 4 years longer than his sentencing indicated?

His sentence, according to above, is 15 years to life, so his sentence could end up being a life sentence.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#40
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A couple paragraphs below on the wiki: > As of 2020, Reiser was housed at the Correctional Training Facility near Soledad, California, with a tentative parole eligibility date of August 2027 after parole was denied in 2022.

How does he end up imprisoned 4 years longer than his sentencing indicated?

sentenced 15 years to life
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