ReiserFS creator Hans Reiser to stand trial

The big buzz in the open source community this weekend had nothing to do with software. Instead, the talk was about developer Hans Resier--founder of Namesys and creator of ReiserFS--who found out Friday that he will be arraigned for his wife's murder on March 23rd.

Reiser's estranged wife disappeared this past September. Reiser denied any involvement or knowledge, but was later charged with her murder. What happened after that could have come straight out of a soap opera. Reiser was held without bail for several months, part of the time in solitary confinement. Nina Reiser's body was never found. It came to light that Mrs. Reiser Secretly obtained Russian citizenship for her children, and they were taken to Russia by their maternal grandmother after the son testified that he saw his mother get into her car and leave the Reiser house on the day of her disappearance, and that he and his father played video games all afternoon, contradicting prosecuters' allegations that Mrs. Reiser was killed in the house, and that Mr. Reiser later disposed of the body. Investigators did, however find traces of blood in Mr. Reiser's home and car. They also discovered that Mr. Reiser had removed the passenger's seat of his car, and the original could not be located. There was, however, no indication of foul play, and Mr. Reiser's lawyers requested that the case be dropped. This past Friday, though, the judge ruled that he could stand trial on the strength of the circumstantial evidence including--in a move that is sure set privacy advocates screaming--the disclosure that, at some point after his wife's disappearance, Mr. Reiser purchased a book on murder. Mr. Reiser's mother-in-law failed to return from Russia so that the son could testify on his father's behalf or be cross-examined.

Much of the speculation in the press and the community has centered on the future of Namesys and ReiserFS. I think, though, that situations like this are one of the areas where the open source model really shines. If the community is interested in a project, it will continue. And there certainly seems to be a great deal of interest in ReiserFS. ReiserFS has some strong friends, too. The core of the developers are full-time employees of Namesys, and a large chunk of the R & D budget for recent releases has come from DARPA, which is presumably still interested. Regardless of the future of Namesys, which Reiser looks to be selling to cover his legal bills, the ReiserFS project should continue strong.

Tags: Hans Reiser, HansReiser, murder, Namesys, news, opensource, ReiserFS, trial