Discrepancies in Asahi Linux patch submissions

a20line a20line at proton.me
Fri Aug 4 13:47:52 PDT 2023


An investigation has uncovered that many Linux patches regarding the Linux on Apple Silicon project, otherwise known as "Asahi Linux", are being submitted under false pretenses.

Specifically, the person that calls themselves "Asahi Lina" is actually Hector Marcan. There is no such person as "Asahi Lina", and Kernel policy specifically prohibits the submission of patches under fake names or anonymous aliases. The developer code of origin states that real names must be used and that "pseudonyms or anonymous contributions" are not allowed.

How do we know that Asahi Lina is Hector?

This screencap was taken from one of Asahi Lina's streams: https://files.catbox.moe/bcmnmr.png. You can clearly see that he breaks character for a moment when he tries to switch his home directory from his "Asahi" persona to his real world identity as Hector Marcan.

He has also done streams were he seamlessly transitions from his "Hector" identity to his "Asahi Lina" identity, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=effHrj0qmwk (archived: https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/effHrj0qmwk).

Asahi Lina has also made statements such as: "If you want to support my work, you can donate to marcan’s Asahi Linux support fund on GitHub Sponsors or Patreon, which helps me out too!"
This is only some of the evidence that corroborates to Hector Marcan being Asahi Lina.

Each piece of evidence, on their own, might not mean much. But put together it puts a compelling argument that Asahi Lina *is* Hector Marcan. There are countless patches that have been submitted under these false pretenses, such as https://lore.kernel.org/asahi/5780e4c4-b0a0-382f-d659-9c4722a3582c@asahilina.net/ . To ensure fairness in Kernel submission processes, Hector should retire the use of the "Asahi Lina" character when it regards to the submission of patches to the Linux Kernel.



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