GrapheneOSGrapheneOS started in 2014 and was originally named CopperheadOS. In late 2015, the Copperhead company was founded which was meant to support the project. Copperhead didn't create CopperheadOS and didn't own or control it. Copperhead made a failed takeover attempt on it in 2018.
GrapheneOS still has the original CopperheadOS repositories on GitHub. Copperhead seized a bunch of the project's infrastructure and accounts. They created a closed source fork of GrapheneOS called CopperheadOS after the split which was not the same CopperheadOS as the original.
Copperhead remained entirely dependent on GrapheneOS and had to keep forking our code for each major Android update. Despite depending on GrapheneOS, they waged a war against it trying to destroy the project and attempting to ruin the lives of our team, especially our founder.
Copperhead heavily pushed the false narrative that they created the project and that we created a fork in 2018 which absolutely isn't true. Their claims fell apart in their legal attacks on GrapheneOS and we wiped out their closed source fork by forbidding them using our code.
Copperhead heavily edited Wikipedia to push their false narrative. It's why there's a huge article on CopperheadOS presenting it as a separate product when it wasn't one and an inaccurate history in the GrapheneOS article. False narratives about our team are still there too.
Copperhead published a bunch of press releases and did interviews pushing their false narrative. Many companies including Twitter defaulted to taking the word of a tiny corporation falsely claiming credit for our work over us. We've yet to receive back our stolen Twitter account.
Copperhead made the attacks personal and targeted the founder of GrapheneOS with fabricated stories and vile personal attacks. Henry Fisher (Techlore) collaborated with Copperhead to make it into widespread harassment. Others opportunistically took advantage of the situation.
Nicolas Merrill took advantage of the situation. He hired a Copperhead employee involved in the takeover to create CalyxOS. CalyxOS heavily used our code and documentation. It was promoted by attacking us and portraying themselves as being above the situation with Copperhead.
Nicolas Merrill burned down Calyx and CalyxOS on his way out. Nick was secretly working on a for-profit company to replace Calyx. He used Calyx resources for his personal benefit and was pushed out. Louis Rossmann is one of 3 co-founders of the company:
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2009536/000200953624000001/xslFormDX01/primary_doc.xml
No one should believe the false narratives peddled by these people. They've always been in it for personal benefit and have caused immense harm to actual efforts to improve privacy and security. We're willing to forgive people who were duped by their fabrications, just reach out.
We're offering forgiveness to people who have engaged in years of libel/harassment towards us if they take down their attacks, debunk it and help repair the harm caused to us. This offer even extends to Henry Fisher and Louis Rossmann. Alternatively, we can address it in court.
Kuro@GrapheneOS just out of curiosity, what has happened between Louis Rossman and GrapheneOS?
@kuro Rossmann was brainwashed by the attacks on GrapheneOS by Copperhead and Henry Fisher (Techlore). He was being hostile towards the founder of the project for many months including actively supporting the attacks with jabs in chat rooms and his content. Rossmann expected us to be super grateful to him for covering GrapheneOS and to make content with him. After the swatting attacks in April 2023, our founder got upset with him in private and Rossmann decided to try to destroy his life.
@kuro Rossmann began trolling in a private direct message denying all knowledge of what had happened and deliberately misrepresenting what was being said. He began live streaming the private chat to his followers while delighting in tormenting someone who had just been repeatedly swatted. Later that day he published his video to cause as much harm as he could to our founder and to GrapheneOS. He pushes a bunch of fabrications and misrepresentations in the video including to justify him doing it.
@kuro He pretended he was scared to keep using GrapheneOS because a developer was upset with his support for personal attacks. In reality, his own followers figured out he continued using GrapheneOS for many months afterwards as his daily driver due to repeatedly leaking that he was using it in his videos without realizing it. He pretended he was scared of us replying to his attacks as if our tiny audience compared to his made him scared. These were lies to justify the horrific thing he did.
@GrapheneOS from time to time I have seen videos from him but never anything regarding Graphene. Very disturbing to hear that about him but seems on par with his character
@GrapheneOS that sounds awfull. Sad to see him do such things.
Claudius Link@GrapheneOS
Thank you for this background information 🙏🏻💜
Thank you for this background information 🙏🏻💜
Centi Quetzal@GrapheneOS This has been going on for a while, and i really hope it can heal. Privacy projects share a mission that is always bigger than individual agendas. Let's fight together so that this situation isnt a "divide and conquer" that ends up benefitting surveillance capitalism. Jonah from Privacy guides recently posted about this.
Draken BlackKnight@centiquetzal @[email protected]
Sadly this is the dev team gaslighting everyone still following them. It's usually GrapheneOS's dev team starting the harassment campaigns.
Sadly this is the dev team gaslighting everyone still following them. It's usually GrapheneOS's dev team starting the harassment campaigns.
Xtreix@draken @centiquetzal There is no evidence to support that claim, and plenty of evidence contradicts your statements, you are wrong.
@Xtreix @centiquetzal
Is THAT why Louis Rossmann has screenshots?!?!? And here I thought it was because I was right!
Is THAT why Louis Rossmann has screenshots?!?!? And here I thought it was because I was right!
hristogochev@GrapheneOS Although I will probably not find a better OS, there is an issue with the project in the Forums and Discord where anyone asking to gain deeper knowledge about the OS relating a privacy concern (e.g. the WebCam service) is told to just blindly trust the OS instead of being actually explained what is going on on a deeper level. Either he is told that or his posts deleted and labeled as FUD, even though he is simply asking a question, not criticizing the OS in any way.
FNT_SMGLLR@hristogochev @GrapheneOS What was the issue with the webcam service about? This is the first time I've heard about this, somebody catch me up to speed.
@smuggler9000 @GrapheneOS A new system service has been introduced into AOSP that has all permissions possible granted, there is no way to disable its permissions and judging by its logs periodically attempts to access the user's camera without an indicator. When an user asked about it on GrapheneOS's subreddit the post was censored as FUD, when another user asked about it in the OS's official discord server he was told to simply trust the OS and not ask questions.
@GrapheneOS
Counteroffer: How about you apologize to everyone you have snapped at and then gaslit everyone else into thinking you were the ones who were wronged?
Exhibit A: Me. I asked a simple question and you started going off about how I was trying to dox Micay (false), working for Copperhead and Techlore (false; I was heavily involved in the dev community on XDA at the time), and spreading lies (this one's true but as retaliation to the aforementioned).
I'm willing to talk if you are.
RCSM@GrapheneOS please just drop it and make a better product moving forward that stands on its own. There's not enough usable alternative phone OS's out there to get tied up in a court battle.
@RCSM Henry Fisher and Louis Rossmann need to stop directing harassment towards our team. If they aren't going to do that, then the situation needs to be resolved another way. The level of harassment directed towards us isn't tolerable and the status quo cannot stand. We're absolutely not going to continue living under siege from these people directing hate towards us. There are daily raids because of it across our platforms and relentless harassment towards our team. You don't live it, we do.
@GrapheneOS I have to this response was not unexpected. I think I'm going to tryout Lineage Is this weekend.
@RCSM Go ahead. If you want to make your phone far less private and secure, that's your prerogative. You're not paying us anything to use GrapheneOS. If you don't support us when we're being viciously attacked by people trying to destroy the project, what are we losing if you leave?
HybridStaticAnimate@RCSM @GrapheneOS This is just petty. Losing one user, out of spite, isnt going to matter. GOS is free to all, and its number of users arent a metric that needs to be increased at all costs. Your spite falls short but it is saddening that you tried to be, regardless. The only consequences are you making your device less private and secure. That is to your detriment, not GOSs.
@RCSM @GrapheneOS Your insistence on neglecting active and significant harm is concerning. This apathetic attitude is why people are not held accountable. It cannot just be dropped the same way getting hurt and abused repeatedly cant be dropped. Youre essentially telling victims of abuse and attempted murder to suck it up.
wod0bowI think that communities (GrapheneOS and Rossmann) don't have full view of that case and it never received transparent presentation.
Even if both attacks each other.
IDK if approach you chosen is the best way and I have some doubt's.
Maybe the private message to Louis will be more approperiate? Just to solve all issues between both sides without public.
Personally I don't like washing dirt's in public. But this is only my humble opinion.
We are only people and we all have flaws.
@wod0bow Rossman engaged in his extraordinarily harmful attacks on GrapheneOS with fabrications, misrepresentations and harassment he deliberately orchestrated from his large number of followers. He did it because a developer who was upset with him private message after months of Rossmann's bullying in private and public which included his support for Techlore's attacks on GrapheneOS which had escalated to repeated swatting attacks from his community. We're open to resolving it with lawsuits.
I understand your approach. Even the legal path. I just don't know if it should be public before the final resolution or even any true actions.
IMHO if you are trying to have good relations with someone you should talk with that particular person and try to solve issues instead of talking about that to the public.
If you are going with legal path than instead talking about that file a lawsuit. And announce that to public.
But maybe this is only my approach.
@wod0bow @GrapheneOS
Concealing abuse, as a victim of it, is not really a good idea.
Last time GOS tried to privately raise the issue and discuss it, they were publicly humiliated and misrepresented. GOS is giving them a chance for forgiveness.
Stone@GrapheneOS I'm new to grapheneOS and I love your operating system. All you guys do a perfect job. Thank you for that. What I cannot understand is, why you take part of some discussion around your organization and your team. To my opinion, you don't need to do that. You are above this statements and don't need to come down on this stage. To my opinion, this is useless and you reduce your value taking part of useless discussion.
@stoneubi Should we do nothing about the extreme libel, bullying and harassment directed towards our team members? This is happening every day, throughout the day. It takes a huge toll on the project. We could remain silent about it but that's not going to stop or reduce it.