ReiserFS creator gets 15-to-life for murder

Mak 2.0

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OAKLAND, California – Linux guru and convicted murdered Hans Reiser was handed a prison sentence of 15-to-life Friday, putting a final capstone on a case that began as a murder mystery, and ended with Reiser leading police to a makeshift grave a short distance from where he strangled his wife.

"I wish to humbly apologize to society for my crime," Reiser said in a statement before his sentence was pronounced. "Every human life is sacred. I took the life of a human being and I'm very sorry for that."

Hans Reiser killed his wife, Nina, at about 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, 2006, according to the belated confession Reiser wrote as part of his deal, said prosecutor Paul Hora after the sentencing. He first punched her in the mouth, cutting his hand, then strangled her to death.

He briefly stored the body in the bathroom, then moved it to his car, where it stayed for two days while he searched for a place to bury her.

Nina Reiser, at age 31, was last seen alive at Hans Reiser's house in the Oakland hills on the day of her murder, when she dropped off the once-happy couple's two young children to stay with him the Labor Day weekend. The couple were in the middle of a heated divorce.

The developer of the ReiserFS file system becomes eligible for parole in about 13 years, having already served two years since his October 2006 arrest.

The 44-year-old defendant's jury trial here concluded in April this year with Reiser's first-degree murder conviction. That carries a 25-to-life term, but the authorities, in a backroom deal, later offered him 15-to-life if he produced his wife's body and waived any rights to appeal his conviction.

Hans Reiser arrived in court today in his red jumpsuit wearing a long-sleeve undershirt, his hair wild and unkempt. Reiser was wearing a chain around his waist, linked to his handcuffs. With no jury to impress, there was no longer a need for Reiser to have a haircut and a suit.

The courtroom was filled, and nearly all the jurors from his trial earlier this year were seated in the front row of the gallery. When they saw one another, they exchanged hugs.

The start of the hearing was delayed, as Judge Larry Goodman met with Reiser and the attorneys in chambers. Reiser sat reading through his 30-page transcribed confession he produced under the terms of his new agreement, which, in addition to leading the police to Nina's remains, required him to waive his right to appeal. Just before noon, defense attorney William DuBois returned to the court room, leaned over the table, and told Reiser, "If it takes until midnight, you're going to be sentenced today."

The court came to order at 1 p.m. Judge Goodman got right to business. He pointed out that since the verdict, several significant events have occurred, including the agreement, which would turn Reiser's first-degree murder conviction into second-degree. The judge asked Reiser if he understood he was waiving all of his rights to appeal, and Reiser said yes.

But the proceeding ground to a halt when Goodman asked Reiser if he had received competent council in regards to the plea agreement. There was a long pause and Reiser lowered his head. He mumbled something. After repeating the question several times, Goodman finally asked DuBois what Reiser was talking about. Du Bois said he knew, but that it would not be good for the defendant, and asked if they could go to chambers.

They quickly returned, and Goodman formally found Hans Reiser guilty of second-degree murder. Reiser was allowed to give a statement before being formally sentenced.

Reiser vowed to try to make up to society for what he had done. He said he was putting Namesys and ReiserFS into a trust fund his children, and that he hoped to earn money while in prison to make their lives a little more comfortable, "assuming I'm able to get access to a computer and the internet."

He also apologized for depriving Anthony Zografos, Nina's boyfriend, of their lifetime together, and robbing Nina's mother of her daughter. "I know how much she loved her."

Finally, Reiser said he admired the district attorney and the police for their skill and dedication.

The courtroom seemed to exhale as the final chapter in the long Reiser saga closed.

"He's expressed remorse," said Hora later. "But whether it's actually sincere -- time will tell."

Source
 
firsts time i hear of it too
how will this affect linux updates and future software release dates?

It wont.

having already served two years since his October 2006 arrest.

He has been in jail alrready for 2 years and Linux has been putting out updates without even worring about him or his updates.:wink:
 
okee dokee funny:
this guy was probably rich he could live with losing half of that without losing 15 years of his life
moron
 
Maybe the file system well be removed in future distributions??

Who knows. Maybe after this comes to light it might. But seeing as how it has been around for the last 2 years i dont see them making that change. But who knows. Maybe the open source people have a conscious for these types of things.
 
^ no ali

Fried Spaghetti, the Reiser Fried Spaghetti lmao

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Wow its real too, (Fried Spaghetti) lol
 
file system???????

ResierFS. What did you think the FS stood for? Just like NTFS. It is the NT File System. Or HFS+ which is H file system. Not sure what the H stand for. :tongueout:

But yes when you are talking about a type of format on a ahrd drive used to store data that is a file system.

FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, ext2, ReisferFS, HFS+ and all that are types of File Systems.
 
His filesystem won't get pulled from Linux, but the new version that I and a million other people have been vying for as a default option in Linux (reiser4) probably will never make it - since Hans stopped working on it, it's been abandonded.

That's really too bad - reiser4 was a ground-breaking FS in terms of reliability and performance, and the current dev versions blew my mind when I used them....
 
Yes - but in the open source world, technologies are usually championed and coded by certain people who've dedicated their free time to that project... Reiser4 was Hans' project, and for better or for worse it's now been tainted.
 
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