Posted on 04/22/2003 2:45:24 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
A programmer of a secure, free operating system claims the U.S. research agency cut off grant money after he made an anti-war statement to a major newspaper, but officials denied the grant had been cancelled.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency halted the contract less than two weeks after The Globe and Mail of Toronto published a story in which programmer Theo de Raadt was quoted as saying he was “uncomfortable” about the funding source, Mr. de Raadt said.
“I try to convince myself that our grant means a half of a cruise missile doesn´t get built,” Mr. de Raadt told the newspaper.
Within a few days, Mr. de Raadt said he received an e-mail from Jonathan Smith, a computer science professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the grant´s lead researcher, expressing discomfort over the statements.
On Thursday, Mr. Smith notified Mr. de Raadt of the cancellation.
“A tenured professor was telling me not to exercise my freedom of speech,” Mr. de Raadt said.
Late Friday, DARPA spokeswoman Jan Walker said the project was under review.
“As part of our standard process, we are reviewing and evaluating the work now being done and proposed to be done in the future,” she said in an e-mailed statement. “We´re sorry if this review process has been misinterpreted as an effort to cancel the work.”
Mr. Smith declined to comment on the matter and referred calls to DARPA.
The $2.3-million (U.S.) grant had funded security improvements to the OpenBSD operating system since 2001 as well as related projects. OpenBSD, a variation of Unix designed for use on servers, is touted as so secure that its default installation has had only one bug in the past seven years.
Thousands of copies of OpenBSD have been downloaded in the past six months. It´s not clear, however, how many are in use.
Mr. De Raadt estimates about 85 percent of the DARPA grant has been spent, with about $1-million (U.S.) being used to pay for OpenBSD developers. Much of the work has been handled by a team of 80 unpaid volunteers.
Another $500,000 of the money funded the work of United Kingdom-based researchers on a related project called OpenSSL, which is used to encrypt data.
DARPA, which oversees research activities for the Pentagon, is best known for developing the network that evolved into the Internet.
No, that's not what he told you. He told you, 'Speak drivel, bite hand that feeds you, get off gravy train'.
SO9
So don't criticize the military, imbicile. Freedom of speech means you can't be locked up, but no one has to like you or give you a job. Man these liberals are such pathetic losers.
This is a loony world we live. The guy complains that he is uncomfortable about the source of the funding for his project. So what does DARPA do, they eliminate the discomfort by eliminating the money. So what does Mr. Toady de Raat do, he complains that his free speech is being violated because the funding he had previously complained about has been stopped.
Is the 'd' in his last name silent?
While there is no criminal penalty to free speech (as established by the First Amendment), business people should be very aware that taking an unpopular position can cost you MONEY.
Smart businesses are politically neutral. This guy and the Dixie chicks are not examples of smart business.
What an ignorant child. Freedom of speech means its not against the law to say something. If you purposely insult your boss, you SHOULD expect consequences. It's called not biting the hand that feeds you. Are people really this ignorant about what free speech means? It doesn't mean you are totally immune from the consequences if people don't like what you say, it merely means its not illegal.
Mr. de Raadt should contemplate the penalties for speaking out against Saddam prior to the demise of his regime.
Well put! Sums it up nicely.
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