Re: Fwd: Re: [ox-en] Walther
- From: John Goerzen <jgoerzen complete.org>
- Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 11:22:06 -0600
On Wed, Feb 25, 2004 at 06:50:50PM [PHONE NUMBER REMOVED], Martin Hardie wrote:
the differnce is guys is that Debian and free software professes to be based
upon a community and a community that believes in sharing and respect and
thus must have the guts to move beyond the inane ... no discrimination
statement ... freedom rhetoric and stand up for and make political decisions
That *is* a political statement, and it sounds like you are arguing for
yourself the very strange position of being anti-racist yet
pro-discrimination and anti-free speech.
I support free speech. I disagree vehemently with the racists and their
rhetoric, but I also vehemently support their right to say it. Perhaps
one day someone will disagree vehemently with what I want to say, yet
support my ability to say it, too.
This is called tolerance, and it's a shame you don't have more of it.
And the operating system they use to do it is completely irrelevant.
Debian says "no discrimination" and WE MEAN IT. What good is a mail
reader if its license only allows you to legally express opinions that
the author agrees with? That's silly, and a crimp on people that are
saying unpopular but correct things.
Software is politics, IP is politics, free software is blatantly political in
its anti IP posiitons ... or pretends to be ... or is it just another way of
doing business and fuck the fallout.
You might notice that virtually every bit of software in Debian is
copyrighted and licensed. I am not sure where you are getting the "anti
IP" rhetoric from. It would be better to say "responsible IP".
We dont say you should stop him from using your software ... but you should
shun people with such views and who use the product of your community to
promote such views, you should shun them from your community.....
its is not about discrimination
Pardon me, but that is *exactly* what you are saying: "We should treat
people with certain views differently than other people." It doesn't
take a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary to work out that this is a
prime example of discrimination.
Note too that the Debian Free Software Guidelines -- from which the "no
discrimination" line originates -- apply to software licenses and not to
actions of the Project. In other words, we have committed ourselves to
distributing software that has no onerous restrictions, but we do not
compel any Debian user or developer to associate with someone whom they
find distasteful.
In the end, freedom of association is preserved for the individual.
People can make their own choices about whom they associate with, and
trying to lecture some ill-defined "community" with no real boss is an
exercise in futility.
-- John
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