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TL; DR: The Linux developers did not approve of pro bono process vulnerability assessment.

They want to know that there is an experiment going on. But knowing this would affect the outcome - developers would pay extra attention to potentially-"hypocrite" patches.

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This is a bad summary which ignores the important aspects of the discussion:

- When you do a research, you have to get consent from your subjects.

- When you do a research, you have to compensate your subjects for their time.

Neither of those points were respected.

And yes, you can obtain consent without divulgating the exact process that will be used. All psychology researchers know how to do that effectively and ethically.

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