free software resistance
the cost of computing freedom is eternal vigilance
### open-letter-to-the-sane---by-starstreak
*originally posted:* sep 2023
starstreak has already published this. she is not big on modern copyright and has given permission for this to be distributed with the cc0 waiver.
it is probably worth noting that the actions taken not by starstreak but by the hosting provider were not up to the personal discretion of the host, they were required by the laws where the server resides.
Open Letter to the Sane,
Techrights had a humble beginning. It started off as Boycott Novell, a site critical of a deal between Novell and Microsoft. In 2009 it gained notoriety when they were critical of Mono (C#/.NET) included in Ubuntu.
It was always an anti-Microsoft site, don't get me wrong. But I think it jumped the shark years ago.
It has gone from its humble beginnings and turned into a bastion of hate.
If the owner wants to publish anti-Microsoft articles, I don't have a problem with it. I even agree with *some* of it.
What I have a problem with is the hate speech that has gone unchecked for years. Anyone critical of the hate speech is branded "pro-Microsoft" and "a woke mob of cancel culture."
I don't think the Techrights community should tolerate racist, homophobic and transphobic hateful rhetoric from a small minority of users whom the owner deems useful enough to keep around as long as they are anti-ms.
I'm not against their anti-Microsoft rhetoric. I'm against the hate speech.
What happened to me?
I fact checked some of Techrights claims and found out he was fired for defaming the company he worked at. When I brought this up, Roy threw a temper tantrum and doxxed my deadname and called me a pedophile. I left his irc network in disgust.
Later he started attacking me publicly on his site. He doxxed my deadname and current name and defamed me as a criminal because I suggested to one of his enemies that they report abuse. He put me in a list of Microsoft supporters called "The Syndicate" with a pedophile (Peter Bright). He manufactured evidence against me.
I figured enough was enough. Doxxing and harassment motivated by hate because I'm transgender is serious business. This is hate speech as defined by UK law. I filed a police report online with the UK police and have an active case.
I don't have a criminal record and I'm not running from the police. I didn't legally change my name to avoid debt or criminal responsibility. I changed my name because I'm transgender.
End of line
license: creative commons cc0 1.0 (public domain)
=> http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
=> https://freesoftwareresistance.neocities.org