It is no longer safe for open–source developers to have their identity known. If you are a developer and want to contribute to open–source projects or launch your own, I highly recommend using VPNs, Tor, i2p, and other tools to preserve your privacy and anonymity. With the laws becoming more Orwellian and draconian all across the world, it is no longer an option to have your identity known. Look at the cases of Samourai wallet or systemd developers. Had the developers behind these projects been anonymous, they wouldn't have had to comply with the bullshit laws limiting their ability to provide free and open–source software to the public nor would it have been practically possible to compel any of them to obey the integration of mass–surveillance and censorship features.
It is no longer an option to rely on real companies and organizations to preserve open–source software. We need to use technology and innovation in the style of a cypherpunk by making it impossible for any government to gain control over a network or technology, or effectively arrest all users. While P2P is one option for certain activities, federation is another one. Sure, they can shut down one instance, but they won't ever be able to shut down the network as a whole. Especially when they all run via Tor or i2p, it is extremely costly and expensive for governments, intelligence agencies, and law enforcement agencies to just take down a single instance, a single repository, or arrest a single person. The cost is what makes it completely untenable to execute and enforce these laws on a larger scale.
However, if the identities of the developers are known, the projects are registered to legitimate companies, and the data is centralized on Amazon servers, it is ridiculously easy for the government to gain compliance from those organizations and individuals. They can go after their funds, they can freeze their assets, they can enforce data requests, and they can completely shut down their entire operation. And all this applies not just to darknet market admins, this applies to regular open–source projects and the organizations and developers contributing to them, who are not committing an immoral crime nor are they doing so for malicious ends. Governments are the threat actors, governments are malicious, and the governments pose by far the biggest risk.
Delete your mainstream social media accounts, take out all of your funds from centralized exchanges, stop using proprietary services, support your local community, embrace anonymity, preserve your privacy and security, and embrace some freedom and anarchy. The only way to achieve freedom in life is to live without rulers, not without rules.
Fun time is over and it's been over for quite some time now. Governments will continue with their attempt to control more and more of people's lives, they will continue to take away your freedoms, and they will continue to engage in mass–surveillance and censorship. Running or hiding are not viable options. There is no place to run to. The only way to have a possibility of a positive outcome is by standing up for yourself, taking your freedom, rights, security, and privacy into your own hands, and fighting back. Do not give in to willful ignorance and blind obedience. Don't be yet another submissive and obedient zombie who does whatever their masters ask of them.







