Hans Reiser

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Hans Reiser

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Hans Thomas Reiser (born c.1964) is an American computer programmer residing in Oakland, California who specializes in operating systems and file systems. Since 1997 Reiser has headed Namesys, a company through which he primarily develops and supports the ReiserFS and Reiser4 filesystems.

On October 10, 2006, he was arrested and subsequently charged with the murder of his wife, Nina Reiser.

1 Biography
2 Wife's disappearance
- 2.1 Software community reaction to arrest and charges
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Hans Reiser was born to Ramon Reiser^[1] and Beverly Palmer^[2] in the 1960s. He grew up in California and dropped out of his junior high school before he was 14, citing disagreements with the conventional schooling system.^[3] He was accepted at the University of California, Berkeley at the age of 15 where he received a BA in Systematizing (an individualized major dealing with physics, math and related topics). Though preferring higher education, Reiser chose not to pursue a Ph.D. for the same reasons he dropped out of high school.^[3] He was therefore unable to pursue a career in academia and did a variety of part time jobs before eventually setting up a company using funding from his mother^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Wife's disappearance

Reiser's estranged wife Nina Reiser, a Russian-born Jewish doctor studying to become an OB/GYN, was reported missing in early September of 2006. She was last seen on September 3, when she dropped the couple's two children off at Hans' house.

The two were in the midst of acrimonious divorce proceedings, and Nina Reiser had obtained a temporary restraining order against Hans in December of 2004 after he allegedly pushed her.^[4] In September 2006, and again in October, police searched Hans Reiser's home in Oakland, California.^[4]^[5]^[6] Police brought cadaver dogs during one search.^[7] Neighbors reported that they had seen him rinsing something off of the driveway and that his beat-up car was gone, replaced by his mother's car.

Nina Reiser had sole custody of the couple's children. Following the disappearance, Hans Reiser was unsuccessful in an attempt to obtain custody. Oakland police testified against him at the custody hearing, though they did not reveal the evidence they based their concerns on.^[8]

Oakland police briefly detained Hans Reiser in September, served him with a search warrant on his person, and obtained a DNA sample.^[9]^[10] On October 10, 2006, following the second search of his home (in which Oakland police and FBI investigators removed a number of items), police announced that they were now treating the disappearance as a homicide case, and Reiser was arrested for the murder of Nina Reiser^[11]^[12] and subsequently charged.^[13]

On October 11, 2006, law-enforcement officials said that splatters of blood had been found in Hans Reiser's house and car. DNA tests could not rule out Nina Reiser as the source of the blood. Officials have not located the passenger seat of his 1989 Honda CRX Si hatchback. They also indicated that they had seized a number of books on homicide investigation purchased by Reiser days after his wife's disappearance.^[2] Daniel Horowitz, a high-profile defense attorney joined the defense team^[2], but dropped the case on November 28, citing Reiser's inability to pay for his services.^[14] Reiser was arraigned on Thursday, October 12, where he delayed entering a plea until his next court appearance on November 28. He is currently being held without bail.^[15] On November 28, Reiser entered a not guilty plea and invoked his right for a speedy trial, forcing the state to schedule a preliminary hearing for December 11. ^[14] At the hearing the district attorney will present evidence and a judge will rule whether or not the state has a case. ^[16] ^{[update needed]}

On December 2, at the request of the Oakland Police, search and rescue teams combed a wooded area less than three miles from Hans Reiser's house, but no new major findings were immediately announced.^[17]

[edit] Software community reaction to arrest and charges

On October 7, 2006, prior to Reiser's arrest and prior to his being named a suspect, the webcomic "Everybody Loves Eric Raymond" published a strip in which a blood-soaked Hans Reiser seeks advice from Linus Torvalds.^[18] The blood, a shovel and the references provided after the strip jokingly suggest Hans has murdered Nina and is attempting to dispose of her body. A (now inaccurate) scrolling marquee text following the strip noted that Hans Reiser "has not been termed a suspect in his wife’s disappearance".

Following his arrest, the Linux community expressed concern over the future of Reiser's filesystem. A Slashdot thread on the subject of his arrest garnered 1500 comments, significant numbers of which discussed the future of the filesystem.^[19]