Dave Wagner wrote: > "We could be offending people by holding a courteous discussion!". We could > also be offending people because were Mormon, does that stop us?
Actually, I want to thank you for stating your viewpoint, Dave. Getting no opposition to an email like that means there's something wrong with the world. :-) > My point is > that by debating, in a civil manner, issues that affect our craft, in this > case open source software (which is very broad), we can move closer to a > more common ground and in turn faster and more frequent advances in our > technology and knowledge. I agree 100%. The only question is whether this is the right place to do that. Even mild discussions of topics like Microsoft's behavior are going to look like contention to some. Is that what we want? That's an honest question. Maybe there's nothing wrong with that. > "Users of operating systems. No one should assume that users of a > particular OS have particular aptitudes." and "It's OK to say > that a lot of people who don't know a lot about computers run Windows." > Perhaps I'm not following that email properly but this sounds fairly > contradictory. I left those together to see who was paying attention. Yes, they are contradictory. :-) > I think the first statement is correct, stereotypes > should be > avoided, afterall, I reall dislike it when someone finds out I'm a Mormon > and asks me where my other wife is. Yep, stereotyping is probably the easiest way to create contention on a mailing list. > I really feel a need to understand why it seems the majority > of this list is so dismissive of apposing points of view (as far as > programming matters go). It's the same reason I stopped responding to this > list so many months ago and it's only being validated now. Hold on. When you asked what was wrong with Microsoft, you got a plentiful answer in the form of a link to Wikipedia. You rejected that answer with a blanket statement that the article might not be trustworthy. Even if you're correct, that's a dismissive approach to conversation, don't you think? The "cite your sources" card is only useful for getting people excited. > Nonetheless I think I am going to shrink off into the dark and just keep > reading this list hoping someday I may be of help to someone here. Here you're playing the "threatening to lurk" card. I'm playing the "surprising reversal" card, hoping it weakens your desire to disappear. Shane _______________________________________________ Ldsoss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.ldsoss.org/mailman/listinfo/ldsoss
