[1] In fact I've worked with him in the past, and have met him many times in a social context IRL. I was involved with KiwiIRC until shortly before PIA sponsored his work.
I haven't been employed or sponsored by any of rasengan projects or companies for some time. I have no plans to be involved with any despite offers since then (and not related to this or any other drama related issues). I consider myself equal friends with ex-freenode staff and rasengan. I have also ties with freenode(now libera staff) in closely supporting them with webchat related projects and closely with their former director, Christel.
I had attempted to mediate between both sides because I respected and could see both points of view and thought I could try to help bring both view points inline which almost happened.. until it didn't.
Any attempts in suggesting that I would favour one side over the other is entirely false.
Due to history, and the possibility of being paid again in future, there may be what is called a potential conflict of interest.
But most important is perception. This is what's called a perceived conflict of interest, and it's the sort of thing you have to manage if you want a community based on trust to function well. Even if it seems silly, or like why can't we all just get along.
One way to manage them is to be up front about the relevant working history. Not doing so will be picked up as a sign that something relevant is being hidden deliberately to paint a different picture of interests, and therefore a different picture of likely future actions.
> Typically, a conflict of interest arises when an individual finds himself or herself occupying two social roles simultaneously which generate opposing benefits or loyalties.
> The existence of such conflicts is an objective fact, not a state of mind, and does not in itself indicate any lapse or moral error. However, especially where a decision is being taken in a fiduciary context, it is important that the contending interests be clearly identified and the process for separating them is rigorously established.
(Fiduciary means in the broader sense of being responsible for something managed in trust for others' benefit, such as Freenode for example, not just financial responsibility.)
>At this point, I reach out to prawnsalad, a known person in the IRC space who has relationships with many people.
What Lee neglects to say here is that prawnsalad's work has been sponsored by Lee (via PIA) as far back as 2017.[0]
I have no reason to suggest that prawnsalad has acted improperly,[1] but he's not necessarily a disinterested party here.
[0] https://kiwiirc.com/blog/Kiwi_IRC_gets_sponsored_by_PrivateI...
[1] In fact I've worked with him in the past, and have met him many times in a social context IRL. I was involved with KiwiIRC until shortly before PIA sponsored his work.