--- David Jackson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Terry Stockdale wrote:
> > <snip>
>
> Fine. You don't need to come. A nicer response
> would have been to
> ignore the invitation.
>
> I was going to attempt to address issues, and
> have a healthy debate
> about why you are wrong, but you have declared this
> thread closed, after
> you got in your last little snipe, so I'll just say
> this;
>
> I get spam all the time. It would be nice to
> have one place where I
> don't have to sift through irrelevant, unwanted
> advertisements.
>
> It's all too easy to dismiss someone as a
> "zealot", it's a lot
> harder to actually listen to what they might have to
> say and draw a
> judgement from that. It's a shame you took the low
> road.
David,
At one point in time, I would have agreed with your
viewpoint; although I wouldn't have picked a fight
with Terry as he is the nicest guy you could ever
meet.
I've mellowed out a bit since then and realized that
Linux is already competing with Microsoft Windows on
technological merit and doesn't need me to appeal to
someone's sense of morality or fairness. Wake up and
look around; Linux is doing just fine.
I think you need to mellow out as well. Let me use an
example: Say we are in a big room and everyone there
is participating in a discussion about Linux
primarily, but computer technology in general; and the
conversation turns to timeshifting and PVRs. Terry
then mentions that he will be giving a presentation
soon about that very topic, though it will be done
using Microsoft Windows instead of Linux. It would not
be good manners to then interject that his statement
was irrelevant to the conversation.
I've always thought of this mailing list as just a
big, on-going coversation, primarily focusing on
Linux, but certainly not restricting anyone from
mentioning other computer related topics or questions.
I also like to think of this mailing list as a place
where freedom is held to be an important value.
Freedom is a two-edged sword, by the way. If I value
the freedom to speak about and use Linux, I must also
respect the freedom of others _not_ to do so.
Insisting that this mailing list stays only on the
topic of Linux seems to run counter to the notion of
freedom to me, but again, you are free to illuminate
me otherwise. Sure, we may stray, but the usual
response is to simply not respond, as Terry suggested.
I think Solaris has always been a relevant topic here,
and it certainly was not (is not?) free software. Can
we mention Solaris? What about OSX? Is that offlimits
too? Java? What about BSD, since Microsoft uses that?
Perhaps we should come up with a list of acceptable
topics...
Can you see the absurdity of this perspective? Again,
I can sympathize with your viewpoint that we should
support free software, but each supports that effort
in his or her own manner (again, the two-edges of
freedom). Linux doesn't need policemen. It needs more
contributing coders to make it better, not more
enforcers to make it politically correct. Linux should
compete only on technological merit with Microsoft
Windows for dominance; anything else IMHO would be a
perversion of the very freedom that made it possible.
Please, if I am in error, I welcome your effort to
inform me. But let's keep it civil and polite. Written
conversation like this can (and has many times) be
misinterpreted as mean-spirited and personal. Let's
try to keep this on-going conversation enjoyable,
otherwise this community suffers.
John
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