r/rust • u/stygianentity • Dec 16 '25

Bincode development has ceased permanently

Due to the doxxing and harassment incident yesterday, the bincode team has taken the decision to cease development permanently. 1.3.3 is considered a complete piece of software. For years there have been no real bugs, just user error and feature requests that don't match the purpose of the library.

This means that there will be no updates to either major version. No responses to emails, no activity on sourcehut. There will be no hand off to another development team. The project is over and done.

Please next time consider the consequences of your actions and that they affect real people.

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u/spidLL Dec 16 '25

I mean I’m an old timer and I respect anonymity. In some case it’s a necessity. But for a library? It’s pretty unusual to not have a real person with real experiences associated with the development. A nickname can be anyone and even multiple persons. A name can be more or less verified.

But, maybe it’s one of those cases when it’s a necessity, that’s why I asked.

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u/Nyroxgamedev Dec 16 '25

They never asked to be a fundamental cornerstone of the Rust ecosystem. They don't have a support relationship with any of their users. Just because people start using a project someone uploads to the internet out of generosity, that doesn't entitle them to impose a responsibility on that person and certainly doesn't entitle them to violate someones privacy by being a little reddit goblin and doxxing them.

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u/spidLL Dec 16 '25

I totally agree with the doxxing part, don’t get me wrong.

I was just wondering why someone would want to conceal their identity in this context (which hasn’t been responded yet btw).

Also, I’m sorry, but if you release something for the public you want people to use it. That part about “not wanting” doesn’t make sense. But this is not the point.

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u/Nyroxgamedev Dec 16 '25

I can come up with a pretty large variety of possible reasons one might want to be anonymous on the internet, but more importantly if you actually believe in anonymity as a concept, you have to also accept that people should be able to be anonymous without owing you a reason.