Theo de Raadt

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Theo de Raadt with parrot. If we had a sound clip, he'd be going ARRRRR!

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An updated picture of Theo. He's lost quite a bit of flesh.

Theo de Raadt is the founder of the OpenBSD and OpenSSH projects. One of the most drama-plagued and prolific personalities on the internets, Theo is often labeled an asshole, an egoist, and a South African. He frequently flames users on the [email protected] mailing list when they ask questions that he deems redundant, stupid or otherwise deserving of an embellished RTFM.

Many believe Theo's acerbic comments to be helpful and beneficial to the OpenBSD project. It is held by some that frequent text lashings of newbies and those who post before they google keep the project pure and free from only mildly-interested outsiders. Another belief is that Theo's constant bragging about his project's dominant security causes malicious hackers to attack the project more than they would any other. This assertion usually leads to one of two conclusions: the first being that attracting the ire of seasoned malicious hackers with an axe to grind will eventually be a negative, resulting in an over abundance of vulnerabilities found, and thus exploits written for the software. The second conclusion is similar, but carried to another logical end: that the concerted effort on the part of hackers attempting to find vulnerabilities in the code will lead to better, quicker vulnerability discovery and more secure code writing on the part of the programmers on the project.

Starting the OpenBSD Project

Excerpt:

After years of working on NetBSD, I was unfairly told to go play elsewhere. So I did, and built a new team of about 80 developers. Where did the inspiration come from? I have no idea. I've been writing and fixing Unix kernel and user-land code for about 15 years, and honestly do not know why, except that I really enjoy it. I also enjoy taking it in the ass.

Full text article and interview

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Theo vs. The World

The rivalry and latent homosexual tension between Theo and FreeBSD's Darren Reed is well known and evidenced throughout several mailing lists, websites and CVS commit comments. Theo and Darren had a falling out in 2001, where Theo removed IPF with no comparable tool to replace it due to the "you're not exactly allowed to modify and release my code without permission" license Darren had, although Theo's known to have done this countless times with similar excuses.

One example of this is with Dan Bernstein's tools, as Dan's Tools had no 'official license', or "sane install path", despite that these programs were not only OpenBSD's preferred (djbdns for nameservice, qmail rather than sendmail), but were once in the official ports tree (Which goes on, and on, and on...)

Theo survived these fights, but later on The World returned with a vengeance when Theo had to fight Dio Brando.

Theo's Disgusting Expensive Habit

"De Raadt is one open source developer who owns his own home. The grant DARPA gave to him gives him the finances to pay the mortgage. He has a ridiculously high electricity bill, he says - $500 Canadian - but cannot help it as needs to keep his infrastructure going. The money is enough to keep things going at the moment and he has no doubts that donations will continue to come when they are needed." Citation

Theo vs. GOBBLES

To be completed.

See also OpenBSD, FreeBSD, Darren Reed, Bilano

Theo vs. Kuro5hin

David Marcus, a Kuro5hin user, posted an article trolling Da Rat, who naturally responded by threatening to sue both Kuro5hin and Mr. Marcus.

Theo vs. DJB

Flame-fest over qmail licensing policy and directory structure. See Daniel J. Bernstein.

External Links

• Theo's personal website, talks about his cats like the famous LJ faggot Jameth.
• OpenBSD report from TheAge, citing Theo's home: