In a statement, Buytaert said Garfield had been asked to leave, "because... he holds views that are in opposition with the values of the Drupal project".

He did not specify what these views were, adding that he would not have discussed this issue in public and was only doing so because Garfield had posted about it.

Garfield disclosed in his post that he was involved in both the BDSM and Gorean communities. The latter sub-culture particularly focuses on the master-and-slave dynamic in sexual relationships and associated forms of female submission as portrayed in the Chronicles of Counter Earth novels.

Buytaert said there were many omissions in the post that Garfield had made. "What makes this difficult to discuss, is that it is not for me to share any of the confidential information that I've received, so I won't point out the omissions in Larry's blog post," he wrote.

"However, I can tell you that those who have reviewed Larry's writing, including me, suffered from varying degrees of shock and concern."

Drupal, like many other open source projects, has a stated goal of welcoming and accepting all people, no matter their heritage, culture, sexual orientation, gender identity or other factors.

Buytaert said the manner in which the information about Garfield, which he had referred to as not being divulged, had been shared "was shared by others in a manner I don't find acceptable either and will be dealt with separately".

"However, when a highly-visible community member's private views become public, controversial, and disruptive for the project, I must consider the impact that his words and actions have on others and the project itself.

"In this case, Larry has entwined his private and professional online identities in such a way that it blurs the lines with the Drupal project. Ultimately, I can't get past the fundamental misalignment of values."

One Drupal member, Alex McCabe, who commented on Buytaert's post, indicated that Garfield might have been asked to leave because he had constantly omitted women from presenting at Drupal conferences.