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NixOS Drama Explained, a Personal Account

Jon Ringer1 HN recommenders · 2025–2026
15K views · commentary · news · Uploaded 2025-02-11

A long personal account by a former NixOS contributor of his experience in the community, his ban and the governance events. He aims to correct what he sees as a false narrative about the NixOS drama.

Linked as a firsthand account of the NixOS moderation and governance disputes, from a banned member's perspective.

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4 comments from Hacker News

@_huayra_2025 · in “Improved evaluation times with pre-resolved Nix store paths”

The unusually high amount of drama in NixOS is one of the reasons I have been hesitant to start using it. Jon Ringer (a former contributor) posted a giant video [0] outlining his history with the project and how he left / was forced out (amongst several other key folks). For the record, I don't know how to characterize his exit, only that there was an absolute ton of drama around it that wasn't really related to even any technical aspect. [0] [VIDEO]

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@srid2025 · in “NixOS moderation team resigns in protest of Steering Committee interference”

For anyone looking to get a summary of the whole NixOS drama, Jon Ringer (who got permabanned) has a YouTube video: [VIDEO] My own permanban is detailed in this post: [LINK]

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@srid2025 · in “NixOS moderation team resigns over NixOS Steering Committee's interference”

Jon Ringer (who got permabanned) has a YouTube video talking about several events around NixOS moderation: [VIDEO] My own permanban is detailed in this post: [LINK]

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@jonringer1172026 · in “The Nixpkgs core team has disbanded”

If you're unemployed enough, I have a long winded video on the 2022-2024 drama. From the perspective of the guy who was labeled a nazi and banned. [VIDEO]

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