Quoth Chad Perrin on Saturday, 24 July 2010: > Disclaimer: > > I do not represent the FreeBSD project in any way, shape, or form. I am > certain any such people would be much nicer and more polite about this > than me. I'm sure I would be much nicer and more polite about it if I > became a representative of the FreeBSD project at some point in the > future. Because I am not officially affiliated with the project at all, > though, I feel free to be brutally honest. > > > On Sat, Jul 24, 2010 at 06:01:07AM +0400, Victor Skovorodnikov wrote: > > > > This may sound strange but I have a question about logo. Why such a > > logo for BSD? What is the meaning of that logo? > > It's a reference to "daemons", a type of software that runs in the > background "listening" for connections. The term "daemon" has ancient > roots in Greek mythology and has nothing to do with more recent Christian > notions of "demons". In short, mythological "daemons" are basically just > supernatural beings of lower power and stature than the pantheon of Greek > gods, and computer "daemons" are helpful programs. > > > > > > I have always been thinking of trying FreeBSD but as a Christian I get > > deterred by its un-Christian logo. > > Good grief. Are you referring to the cartoon character? > > It's a cartoon character. It's not an attempt to lure your children to > join Satan's armies. There's no reason to be "deterred" from giving > FreeBSD a try just because of a friendly cartoon character. > > People who value their wool socks should not be deterred from using MS > products because of the stupid moth mascot used by MSN, and those who > dislike arctic climates shouldn't be deterred from using Linux-based > systems because Linux uses a penguin as its mascot. By the same token, > the notion that a red cartoon character with horns should deter a > Christian from using FreeBSD is kind of silly. > > I was a member of a military unit known as the Red Devils years ago. I > did not feel like I was being corrupted by Evil. Perhaps you would be > deterred from being my friend because of this, nonetheless. If that is > the case, though, I think I'm better off without you. > > While I normally prefer to take an inclusive approach to dealing with > people who run into obstacles in their approach to thinking about OSes, > there are cases where I simply feel the urge to throw my hands in the air > and giving up on someone. Such cases are those where it seems likely > that some kind of closed-minded idolatry (which is exactly what this is: > taking a cartoony mascot as some kind of Manifest Presence of a > supernatural, superhuman Force, Principle, or Being) is going on. Either > you will get over it, or you will not, and it is only a very faint hope > that pointing out the ludicrousness of your objection that compels me to > respond at all. > > If you're talking about the weird sex toy thing that has become the > new(er) official FreeBSD logo, however, it seems the FreeBSD project > simply can't please some people. I'm pretty sure that was made so > ambiguous and largely meaningless specifically because of fear of > negative reactions from those who cannot imagine going through life > without being offended -- and it still isn't working, if that's the > reason for your complaint. > > It may be "un-Christian", but if so it's "un-Christian" like a penguin or > a moth is "un-Christian", and not like a burning cross would be (and I'd > call that "anti-Christian" instead, anyway). > > > > > > Have you considered changing it to something else? Doesn't have to be > > an angel, but perhaps something neutral ;-) ? > > I hope the logo doesn't change because of silly requests from those who > cannot have religious beliefs without also being reasonable human beings. > > This whole thing reminds me of a conversation I had in the early '90s > where someone told me that a Nine Inch Nails song called "God's Money" > was blasphemous. Of course, there is no Nine Inch Nails song by that > name, and the song the person was talking about ("Head Like A Hole") > doesn't have the words "God's money" in it at all. The guy had misheard > something and leaped to an erroneous conclusion without bothering to > consider the possibility he was just a reactionary idiot. > > Someone's sure to call me intolerant or abrasive as a result of this > email, but frankly, I don't care. Guilty as charged: I am not tolerant > of intolerant, willfully ignorant fundamentalists, regardless of what > fundamentalism infects them. > > It's not like you couldn't look up the answer to your question about the > meaning of the cartoon mascot character on the Internet fairly easily > anyway, assuaging your fears of eternal damnation by choosing the wrong > OS. The desire to be outraged appears to be stronger than the desire to > educate oneself. > > When this is the way someone starts a "discussion" about wanting to use a > new OS, I tend to believe there is no genuine interest in using the OS in > question. > > -- > Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]
"abrasive" -- maybe. But this was a most enjoyable read. I don't suppose our Christian friend opposes hot cross buns or Christmas trees. Then again, some Christians do. -- Sterling (Chip) Camden | sterl...@camdensoftware.com | 2048D/3A978E4F http://camdensoftware.com | http://chipstips.com | http://chipsquips.com
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