Hans Reiser talks about his filesystem ReiserFS from prison

[igor_kavinski]

Hans Reiser Apologies For Social Mistakes, Comments On ReiserFS Deprecation From Prison - Phoronix

www.phoronix.com

Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel | Hacker News

news.ycombinator.com

His letter: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/b98b29cf-27d9-49e0-b10b-1848399badfd@kittens.ph/T/#u

His crazy story leading to his prison sentence: https://archive.is/BcMRF

His letter explains how he approached the design of his filesystem which should be of much interest to budding and even seasoned programmers.

 

[manly]

Wow Reiser had rejected a 3 year plea deal before his conviction! His next parole hearing is 2027.

The comments in the Phoronix thread are pretty hilarious.

 

[Torn Mind]

Beyond a reasonable doubt is not the same as beyond all doubt.

Reiser, being untrained in law, thought he could get away over technicalities.

His letter is long winded but betrays a desire to be more manipulative and cunning than he was at the time of the completed murder.

 

[igor_kavinski]

He was a victim of his own success. He went for a girl out of his league and a career professional at that meaning she was not "just" gonna be a housewife and could break free any time she chose. First rule of marriage: marry a girl who sees you as her only option of living the good life. Otherwise, they get bored easily and there is no dearth of soothsayers out there to sway them towards infidelity.

 

[Torn Mind]

He was a victim of his own success. He went for a girl out of his league and a career professional at that meaning she was not "just" gonna be a housewife and could break free any time she chose. First rule of marriage: marry a girl who sees you as her only option of living the good life. Otherwise, they get bored easily and there is no dearth of soothsayers out there to sway them towards infidelity.

Lots of presumptions here that really don't matter.

I can tell though from his writing and the slanted journalist expose, that his technical mastery was also his gateway to thinking he could get away with breaking the rules. Indeed, he impeached himself when he stated that certain violence is ok essentially "for cause", and the cause was subjective to him.

Only good thing is that he was not and still is not legally trained, therefore his manipulative behaviors can be laid out to bare rather easily when viewed from a legal framework. His "personal justice" does not and cannot mesh with the legal system of dealing with "the general case scenario" or the specific circumstances.

I do not find his claims of abuse credible. I find it a cover for simply moral outrage at being cheated upon at most

 

[igor_kavinski]

I do not find his claims of abuse credible. I find it a cover for simply moral outrage at being cheated upon at most

That tells me that you've never been seriously in love before. A partner in a relationship can be abusive simply by not reciprocating his or her partner's love. But obviously Reiser took it too far. Had he been in a better financial position, he probably would not have taken the desperate step of killing his ex-wife, probably to extricate himself from the alimony payments. But even then, killing someone requires a certain coldheartedness that develops through experience with no repercussions. I would not be surprised if as a kid, he took pleasure in acts of cruelty upon small animals or even killing them for fun.

 

[Torn Mind]

That tells me that you've never been seriously in love before. A partner in a relationship can be abusive simply by not reciprocating his or her partner's love. But obviously Reiser took it too far. Had he been in a better financial position, he probably would not have taken the desperate step of killing his ex-wife, probably to extricate himself from the alimony payments. But even then, killing someone requires a certain coldheartedness that develops through experience with no repercussions. I would not be surprised if as a kid, he took pleasure in acts of cruelty upon small animals or even killing them for fun.

I don't need romantic relationships when manipulations for gain are employed in business or acquaintances-as-false-friends contexts. Maybe most normals are less sensitive, but I experience moral outrage at any bad faith transgression, be it the likes of lying, Saratoga, etc, and I don't accept the usual superficial excuses.

He also didn't realize(or didn't care) that if he had attachable equity, tort liability exists for such actions even if murder wasn't proven. Reiser obviously had some intellect, but no legal training like Ted Bundy, so he is much more incompetent in manufacturing excuses and defenses, and does not understand the legal system's decision making process or all the transgressions that exist as violations of law.

Reiser, upon learning prison PR tactics, is making the rounds to get the sympathy of nerds who valued his programming contributions and also have lay ideals about forgiveness, and it suffices to say he is partially successful.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Judge @Torn Mind , would you sentence him differently? Would you make his current living conditions worse to make him pay more for his sins?

 

[Torn Mind]

Judge @Torn Mind , would you sentence him differently? Would you make his current living conditions worse to make him pay more for his sins?

Modern fascination with "forgiveness" ultimately winds up turning the legal system into a one-way factory of letting scumbags out to repeat their behaviors. What the untrained(which is about all but lawyers, cops, and wise criminals) doesn't get is that judgments and actions in the legal system are based on procedure and grounds. There is no all-seeing eye nor can rules be automatically be suspended because of "speculation".

I see enough of his writings to be concerned that victim #2 could result from a wiser Reiser, and this wiser version him would cover his tracks far better than the younger version of him 18 years ago.

Unlike some, I don't assume NIna was spotless or purely innocent, she might have had a few character flaws or more, but that doesn't excuse Reiser's conduct or the concerning aspects he conveys in his writings.

Reiser appeals to the lay morality of the modern day of "talking through things". Of course, the lay individuals of the modern day don't realize not all points are talkable. Some matters are very much either/or, and one must prevail over another. The use of "talking" in these scenarios is to essentially lead the other into surrender.

The riskiest part of releasing Reiser would be if he got education in the "right field", that is anything related to law, even a paralegal. Because that's the body of knowledge that could turn him into a mini-Bundy.

There's a reason I wouldn't ever buy Dave's Killer Bread, even if "Dave" is no longer involved in the business. Because going from criminal to "legal" businessman actually doesn't require a single bit of moral change, just a little more self-control in harness the behaviors the criminal already has.

 

[mugs]

He was a victim of his own success. He went for a girl out of his league and a career professional at that meaning she was not "just" gonna be a housewife and could break free any time she chose. First rule of marriage: marry a girl who sees you as her only option of living the good life. Otherwise, they get bored easily and there is no dearth of soothsayers out there to sway them towards infidelity.

That’s a really *redacted* first rule of marriage.

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