Ian Murdock died in mysterious circumstances

Pierluigi Paganini December 30, 2015

Ian Murdock died in mysterious circumstances, is it a suicide or a murder? There are still a lot of things unclear.

I’m shocked, Ian Murdock, the founder the Debian Linux operating system, one of the most brilliant minds of IT industry has passed away.

How many times did you use the command apt-get, well it is another invention of genius Ian Murdock. Murdock developed Debian in August 1993, he worked at Sun Microsystems and served as the CTO of the Linux Foundation.

He was just 42, and his death is a disconcerting news. The news of the Murdock death was spread by the Docker website, a site where Murdock was working as a member of the technical staff.

“Dear friends and members of the open source community, 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. To Ian’s children, family and loved ones, we offer our full support and deepest sympathies.” states a blog post published by the Docker website.

The cause of death is shrouded in mystery, a few hours before his death, Murdock announced his intention to commit suicide the same night.
Ian Murdock
The Ian Murdock’s Twitter account had been deleted after the alarming message. Complicating the analysis of the events, there are rumors on the web that sustain that the Murdock’s account had been hacked and that someone is spreading fake news.

Reality, misdirection?

Early this week Murdock posted a series of Tweets suggesting he had problems with law enforcement, he said he has been beaten by the police and charged with battery.

“Writing up my experience for others to hopefully prevent others from police abuse then you won’t hear from me again” he Tweeted

“@jacksormwriter wants me dead”

i’m going to post my case on my blog.. if anyone can post it on hacker news or wherever i would apprieciate it “

Ian Murdock 2

 

Who is @jacksormwriter?

This is what I have found on https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10813998

@jackstormwriter, whose account has now been switched to private on Twitter. Here’s what’s in the Google cache for @jackstormwriter:http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:https:/…

throwaway20325 1 hour ago
Seems to be the same person as @writershorde, whose account has also been recently deleted.

Archive.is for longevity:

@jackstormwriter https://archive.is/doJTE

@jackstormwriter commenting on @imurdock’s tweet https://archive.is/KTesC

@writershorde https://archive.is/oqN9i

writershorde.wordpress https://archive.is/qv8aG

However, neither Docker, nor the San Francisco Police Department immediately commented on Murdock’s actual cause of death.

Ian Murdock 3

Master, wherever you are at this time continues to fly high, as it always has, a step ahead of others.

Rest in Peace Ian!

Update December 31th (The Register)

The investigators sustain the cause of death is not suspicious, a spokesperson for Docker reported that the real cause is a “private matter.”

The Register offered this reconstruction of events occurred in the days before the death of Ian Murdock.

“According to the San Francisco police, officers were called to Steiner and Union St in the city at 11.30pm on Saturday, December 26, following reports of a man trying to break into a home – that man was identified as Ian Murdock. He reportedly fought with the cops, and was given a ticket for two counts of assault and one for obstruction of an officer. The techie had been drinking, according to the police logs. A medic arrived to treat an abrasion to Murdock’s forehead, and he was released so he could be taken to hospital.

A few hours later, on Sunday, December 27 at 2.40am, police were called again to reports of Murdock banging on the door of a neighbor at the very same block. A medic arrived to treat him for any injuries. Officers then took Murdock to the county jail where he was held in a cell.”

Murdock was bailed later that day, on Sunday, after a bond, said to be $25,000, was paid. He died the next day.”

Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Ian Murdock, Debian)



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