David Akin

I'm from the government. I'm here to help.

I recently wrote about Theo de Raadt, a Calgary hacker, who heads up the OpenBSD project. Don't fret if you don't know what OpenBSD is. The important thing is it is a software development project that is cool enough that it attracted the attention of DARPA, the R&D arm of the U.S. army. DARPA gave OpenBSD a US$2-million grant for its work. I found about this grant and wrote about it in The Globe and Mail. Two weeks later, DARPA pulls some funding for Theo's work and Theo wondered -- legitimately, if you ask me -- if his anti-war comments in my story prompted DARPA to tighten the purse strings. (Even though, as Theo has told me, he's already been paid and won't suffer personally from DARPA's decision.)


Now I get a call from someone sympathetic to the BSD positions who -- with a straight face, I assume -- asks me about my 'motivation' for writing the original article and whether or not the U.S. government might have prompted me to do anything.


For the record then: No. No government anywhere anytime anyhow has ever pulled my strings. I write stories for two reasons: First -- I want my stuff on the front page of the paper. That happens when you have a really great story that your competition doesn't have. Theo's story falls into that category. Second: I'm fulfilling the traditional mission of all ink-stained wretches, that being to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.