UPDATED: I'd known Ian Murdock, founder of Debian Linux and most recently a senior Docker staffer, since 1996. He died this week 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.
No details regarding the cause of his death have been disclosed. In a blog posting, 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. A copy of what is reputed to be his arrest record is all but blank.
Sources close to the police department said that officers were called in to responded to reports of a man, Ian Murdock, trying to break into a home at the corner of Steiner and Union St at 11.30pm on Saturday, December 26.
Murdock was reportedly drunk and resisted arrest. He was given a ticket for two counts of assault and one for obstruction of an officer. An EMT treated an abrasion on his forehead at the site, and he was taken to a hospital.
At 2:40 AM early Sunday morning, December 27, he was arrested after banging on the door of a neighbor in the same block. It is not clear if he was knocking on the same door he had attempted to enter earlier. A medic treated him there for un-described injuries. Murdock was then arrested and taken to the San Francisco county jail.
On Sunday afternoon, Murdock was bailed out with a $25,000 bond.
On Monday afternoon, December 28, the next day, Murdock started sending increasingly erratic tweets 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 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 was 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."
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 imurdock@imurdock.com 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 N****R, 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 appears to have died that night, Monday, December 28. At the time of this writing, the cause of death still 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.
This story has been updated with details about Murdock's arrest.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/debian-linux-founder-ian-murdock-dies-at-4…
New details are emerging about the night Ian Murdock died, and they confirm some of the tweets he made just before his death. Murdock is the founder of Debian Linux, one of the more popular Linux distributions available. He created the distro utilizing the Linux kernel while studying at Purdue University where he earned his bachelors degree. In Murdock’s tweets he described an altercation with police and how they had abused him physically, CBS San Francisco said the altercation was “violent.”
Police now confirm that they arrested Murdock early Sunday morning near the 2400 block of Green Street where he was found yelling and screaming. Police say that they received a call of a possible break-in for that area on Saturday night and they detained Murdock because he matched the description of the burglar. Police claim that Murdock was belligerent, possibly drunk, and argumentative with officers.
Police also claim that Murdock was placed in a squad car where he began banging his head on the metal cage separator causing himself damage. Police say they took Murdock from the vehicle and he continued fighting with them, there was enough damage that they called for medical assistance, and Murdock was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Apparently Murdock was treated and released from the hospital but then returned to the same address on Green Street where it is reported he was banging on the door. Police were called again and when they tried to detain him he fought with them once more. Police finally made the choice to arrest Murdock on “suspicion” of four misdemeanor counts.
He didn’t indicate at any point in the jail booking process that he was suicidal and was medically examined again in jail, she said.
On Monday, police returned to the 2400 block of Green Street on reports of a possible suicide. The city medical examiner’s office confirmed Murdock was found dead there.
Murdock’s tweets are strange, in them he describes his altercation with police differently but we don’t know the full truth because he’s not here. It’s entirely possible that he was drunk and his Twitter posts were made in an altered state but we hope there’s a more granular investigation of this incident. As far as we know, Murdock has never been in trouble with the law before and a bit more clarity of this tragic event would be welcome.
http://techaeris.com/2016/01/01/ian-murdock-did-have-an-altercation-wit…
5:13pm: i'm committing suicide tonight.. do not intervene as i have many stories to tell and do not want them to die with me #debian #runnerkristy67
5:14pm: watch my blog later http://ianmurdock.com
5:17pm: https://t.co/I1CSCJErWf
5:20pm: I'll write more on my blog later. But the police here beat me up for knowing on my neighbor's door.. they sent me to the hospital.
5:20pm: Then beat me up some more.
5:21pm: My bail for "assault against a police officer" are all that: $25,000.
5:22pm: I'll write more much later. They still don't have cameras on all police so I'm going to use my somewhat celebrity to hopefully stop this.
5:23pm: Quote: "We're the police, we always win."
5:25pm: My career is over now, so I'll be gone soon.
5:27pm: Maybe my suicide at this, you now, a successful business man, not a NIGGER, will finally bring some attention to this very serious issue.
5:30pm: 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.
5:34pm: if anyone wants to come over and see what the police did to me i would be more than happy for that
5:35pm: they beat the shit out of me twice, then charged me $25,000 to get out of jail for battery against THEM
5:36pm: i had to go to the hospital
5:36pm: then they pulled me out of my house and did it again
5:36pm: they followed me home
5:37pm: i had to have swtitches
5:37pm: then followed my home from there
5:38pm: i asked if they had cameras
5:38pm: they said no
5:45pm: shall i post pictures for all my bruises from my against the police officers?
5:45pm: where they put you in a cell with absolutely no instructions whatever aside from the spell on the floor in piss?
5:48pm: Writing up my experience for others to hopefully prevent others from police abuse then you won't hear from me again
6:00pm: @jacksormwriter wants me dead
6:06pm: i'm going to post my case on my blog.. if anyone can post it on hacker news or wherever i would apprieciate it
6:07pm: i'm hoping coming from a successful white guy it will help everyone
6:31pm: (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,
6:33pm: (2/2) They are uneducated, bitter, and and only interested in power for its own sake. Contact me imurdock@imurdock.com if you can help. -ian
6:41pm: The police are uneducated, evil, and sadistic. Do not trust them.
6:42pm: The rest of my life is to fight against the police.. they are NOT friends, so don't ever ever believe otherwise.
6:49pm: What does one have to get education wise to become a police officer.. asking for a friend.
7:03pm: "We're the police, we can do whatever the fuck we want.."
7:08pm: This was right after the female officer ripped off my underwear.. I guess that's not considered rape if you're not a woman being raped.
7:12pm: 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!
http://ola.coop.br/aurium/blog/wtf-happens
reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/3ytej8/ian_murdock_creat…
