Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Jeff Merkey

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This page is an archive of the proposed deletion of the article below. Further comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or on a Votes for Undeletion nomination). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the debate was Redirect to Jeffrey Vernon Merkey then protect page Jtkiefer T | @ | C ----- 23:08, 21 September 2005 (UTC)


[edit] Jeff Merkey

A resume in an encyclopedia. Molotov (talk) 22:04, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

Agreed. However Mr Merkey is a controversial figure in the Linux and OSS community by way of his own actions and perhaps a page is justifiable. Mr Merkey does not handle criticism well and keeps changing the page to reflect his own narrow viewpoint. Unfortunately there are many within the community that Mr Merkey has angered that enjoy poking him to get a reaction, consequently we are getting a wildly erratic entry based on who had the last edit. Written by Fava

    • Comment Let him get mad. Molotov (talk) 22:24, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

As much as I like the 'Poke Jeff With A Stick' game, this really has no place in an encyclopedia. Jerryg 23:08, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

As Fava notes, Merkey is a well-known public figure - I think that alone warrants keeping the page. Poking him with a stick doesn't belong here but a record of his public acts and comments DOES belong in an encylopaedia. (TWP)

  • Weak Delete - To me, the entire history just looks like one vandalisation versus another one. Because of this, I have no idea what is actually true and what is false, this makes it a useless wiki article. And what sort of notability is there? I've gone for delete, because he doesn't seem that notable, but if someone could do a complete rewrite and establish what is true in the article, then I'd go keep. - Hahnchen 23:33, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

I started the Jeff_Merkey wiki and I've tried to keep what I wrote factual. Merkey is a minor player in the whole SCOX vs World+dog lawsuit circus but he has done and said some very interesting things. I envision the wiki as just a container pointing to the various things he has said online. FYI I didn't have my jeff_v_wookie ID when I started, but I did this so my edits would be tagged as mine.

Go ahead and let the Jeff_Merkey wiki die, but Jeffrey_Vernon_Merkey should continue ...
  • Strong Keep - Obviously Mr. Merkey IS a public figure deserving an entry in Wikipedia. As with any controversial topic the editors of the article should painstakingly try to be NPOV. Gugganij 12:59, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

Removed legal threats and personal attacks by 67.137.28.187. [1] El_C 01:04, 13 September 2005 (UTC)


From JMERKEY gadugi:

This article is simply an attempt to harrass and google spam me with wikipedia. The links posted in previous versions contain libel, statements and emails I did not author which are attributed to me, and copyrighted materials and materials which are currently sealed under a Federal Court Order. The version of this story which is present under Jeff_Merkey is accurate and I approve of this content should wikipedia choose to keep it. Please do not allow others to post links to external content or copyrighted materials. End of JMERKEY:


The Merkey "approved" pages are compleatly meaningless because it doesnt address the issues that would make the entry significant. That is his attempts to buy the linux kernel and his threats of lawsuits against those in the community who disagreeing with him. His (removed) legal threat against this forum is just another example of why this is important. I think that the community CAN create a NPOV entry that sticks to the known facts, however as long as Merky keeps reverting the page to his prefered version the community will continue to react in kind. Fava 02:36, 13 September 2005 (UTC)


From JMERKEY gadugi:

These individuals have never met me, don't know me, and are simply perputating false, libelous, copyrighted, misleading, and incomplete "hearsay" on the internet for their own political and social agendas to promote wholesale IP Theft by OSS and Linux accross the planet. I have never worked for SCO, Canopy, Microsoft, or any of the companies these stories and links reference. I have had my identity stolen, and have had to resort to litigation to stop these indviduals from harassing and threatening not only myself, by my family. They do not have the facts of my life -- but I do. Please go to the source for the accurate information, and not a group of misinformed, anonymous internet users.


Mr. Merkey, you seem to have a peculiar view of what an encyclopedia is. An article about a person doesn't require that person's approval. It's doubtful that George W. Bush, Michael Jackson, or Osama bin Laden approved articles about themselves. Please familiarize yourself with Wikipedia guidelines on autobiography and verifiability, and edit war. If you feel that there are errors in an article, you can present alternate points of view instead of engaging in vandalism. Exabit 03:35, 13 September 2005 (UTC)


From JMERKEY gadugi:

An encyclopedia first and foremost is ACCURATE. Unsubstaciated commentary and attribution, plaugerized copyrighted materials, and libel are CONTRARY to WIKIPEDIAS policies. I will remove any content which is false, inaccurate, copyrighted, or libelous -- period. These categories are PROHIBITED by your POLICIES which state that REMOVAL OF SUCH CONTENT is NOT VANDALISM. I could of course contact wikimedia and speak with your legal representatives for clarification as to what constitutes copyright infringement if there are legitimate questions.

  • Delete, not notable. -- BD2412 talk 03:47, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Removed personal attacks by 67.177.35.211 [2] Exabit 04:32, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

  • Delete Jerryg 04:12, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Jeff seems intent on abusing wikipedia for his own ends, and he's bringing his obnoxious lawsuit threats (which are part of why he's notable) to wikipedia. I reckon we should report Jeff for his continual reversions of this and the Jeffrey Vernon Merkey article. Once he's learned to play nice, or is out of the way, a factual, balanced article could be cobbled together.

  • Keep but Protect It is clear that Mr. Merkey is notable and that there is a massive revert war going on over this article in which the subject is participating. Since no one can be considered objective about himself, he cannot be allowed to have an editorial veto over the article. This article needs to be hammered out on its talk page and then put in place and protected. Caerwine 09:42, 13 September 2005 (UTC)
  • In this condition: weak keep, if cleaned up: strong keep. Jeff Merkey is actually quite an interesting person. His role in SCO vs. reality deserves some attention. There is a lack of NPOV information about him in the internet. One reason to delete this entry might be his behavior. Wikimedia Foundation has better things to do than to reply to lawsuits from Jeff Merkey once he discovers his wikipedia entry. -- 84.176.181.81 10:30, 13 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Strong Delete. This entry could never be objective and hence has no place in wikipedia.

Well Jeff has publicaly announced on his website that he intends to sue wikipedia (You might want to read it quickly, articles on his site tend to come and go very quickly). This is standard practice for Jeff, anyone who criticizes him will be threatened with a suit at some time. Most of the time its just an empty threat. Fava 16:52, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

There's a mirror of the removed post at [3] and the one that replaced it at [4].

Unfortunately the wikipedia has become embroiled in the tail end of a long running dispute between Jeff Merkey and everyone.

The controversy began with a post by Merkey to the Linux Kernel mailing list in which he offered $50,000 for a snapshot of the kernel to be re-licensed under the BSD license. Currently the Kernel is licensed under the GPL, this allows people to use and change the software but the changes must be public and also licensed under the GPL. The BSD license does not require that the software remains open and public and kernel snapshot could be exploited for commercial purposed without changes being given back to the community that created it. So say that this proposal caused discussion and controversy would be an understatement. Much abuse was directed at Jeff as a result of this proposal and it was almost universally rejected by the community.

As a result of this proposal some people began digging. One thing that was found was legal documents between Timpanogos Research Group (Merkeys company) and Novell (Merkeys former employer). Novell alleged misappropriation of trade secrets and Merkey alleged sexual harassment. Novell requested a temporary injunction against Merkey that was granted. The text of the injunction is extremely critical of Merkey, paragraphs 112-125 are particularly damming. Merkey then began to threaten anyone who hosted or discussed the ruling. He argued that the Judge was a Novell stooge and that the ruling was a preliminary one and that he was completely vindicated in the final sealed settlement agreement.

On Jun 21 Merkey filed suit against a few named individuals and 200 ”John Does”. As part of the filing he included the sealed final ruling between himself and Novell. Due to a filing error the sealed document was publicly available for a short period. The settlement agreement did not vindicate Merkey as previously claimed. Within a few hours of the inadvertent release of the document it was being mirrored all over the internet and was being widely discusses.

Merkey began to threaten those who hosted and discussed the settlement agreement and he soon filed an amended complaint that named those individuals and websites.

Some highlights of the Amended complaint.

  • He has alleged a broad range of first amendment, torturous interference, identity theft, and hate crimes.
  • Bruce Perens suggested in a public posting that Merkey be added to each users killfile. Merkey accused him of making death threats.
  • He has accused the linux community of aiding and sponsoring terrorism.
  • And much more.

Merky has continued his complaint of abuse and threats against anyone who is critical of him. The 2 deleted entries on this page are good examples of this. This is the most basic of background information, a proper summary would be many pages. Fava 18:52, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

  • I have not seen the article yet, so I can't comment on the specific article's merit but I believe it is highly likely that an article on Jeff Merkey would meet our notability criteria from many angles. He has been discussed in the national media, and has caused at least a much noise as any infamous internet personality though at least some portion of it is limited to the Linux related community. On the flip side, I think we will have a very difficult time producing a good article about him that merkey will agree with, because there are some very solid references which say some very negative things about him. I strongly disagree with the above delete view that the article couldn't be objective... Unlike sollog Merkey doesn't really have followers, and he is also not completely unreasonable. If we can write an acceptable article on any internet personality we can write one on Merkey. My position should be cosidered a keep because deleting the specific text will not help the stability problems we've had with this notable subject. --Gmaxwell 22:33, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

I feel that it is possible to write a neutral piece about the subject "Jeff V. Merkey". It is unlikely that the result will please Jeff, but at the same time, it won't be the piece that his main distractors like to see. The person of Jeff and his actions are interesting enough to warrant an entry in Wikipedia, I suggest to keep Jeffrey_Vernon_Merkey. --213.84.14.16 10:41, 14 September 2005 (UTC) MathFox

The definition of a compromise has been said to be an outcome with which all parties are displeased... Usrnme h8er 08:22, 15 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Delete, edit war aside, appears to be non-notable. --JiFish(Talk/Contrib) 21:48, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Merge with Jeffrey Vernon Merkey, npov and possibly protect depending on the vandalism levels after a redirect. He certainly passes the google test with some 22,000 hits, most of which seem to be him. Usrnme h8er 08:22, 15 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Merge and cleanup, as above. --Carnildo 03:36, 17 September 2005 (UTC)
  • A prodigious troublemaker, but not notable in the grand scheme of things. Delete. --fvw* 22:42, 18 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Strong Delete, violates all the vanity pages, NPoV, and other guidelines. Most data is from various JVM sockpuppets. The phrase "legend in his own mind" applies. N0YKG 13:57, 19 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Keep - highly notable in the SCO Vs Linux litigation. He's somewhere between a nutter and a troll (including legal trolling), but that doesn't affect whether he warrants an article. Read older articles on Groklaw (he's not mentioned in current ones precisely because he's suing them now) and you'll see why. I urge all delete voters whateverit'scallednows to read, learn and reconsider. Might merge with the full name article, or merge that one with this one - he's more commonly known as "Jeff Merkey" - David Gerard 06:01, 21 September 2005 (UTC)
  • Merge with Jeff Vernon Merkey - notable person - vanity information can be removed. Trödel|talk 10:26, 21 September 2005 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in an undeletion request). No further edits should be made to this page.