On Thu, 4 Mar 2004, Ben Burton wrote: > Your yourself say you notice a lot of people exhibiting similar > behaviour, so it doesn't appear particularly strange, unusual or odd to me.
Having read a lot of Phillip K. Dick lately, that there are a lot of flakes out there doesn't seem odd to me. :-) > Colloquialisms are frequently both unkind and inaccurately applied, and > regardless of your intentions, your use of "flake" comes across as no > exception. Fine. suggest a better word. I was going to use paranoid but that probably has a precise technical meaning I don't know of so it would only obfuscate my point to use it. > Saying "you're a flake, but that's not meant unkindly" is > like saying "I'm not homophobic, I just don't want gays teaching my > children." > Ok put it this way. Unkindness wasn't the point of using the word. But I'm questioning a persons sanity so that's going to be unkind no matter how much you sugarcoat it. > > Vague fears of persecution are a sign of mental > > instability which can't be fixed by an operating system free or otherwise. > > Vague fears?? I don't think it would take either of us very long to > find examples of rude, dismissal and condescending behaviour in the BTS > or mailing lists. > The original poster said "I have never had a hostile experience with debian but I still feel really unconfident" That indicates the problem is with her not with Debian. Honestly out of all the flame wars we've had can you think of any where being a yucky girl was an issue? > Claiming someone who hesitates to jump into a social environment that is > sometimes friendly but sometimes hostile to be mentally unstable is not > really the most eloquent way to make your point. A little trepidation in a new environment is normal. When it becomes disabling then it is indeed mental illness. The sane need not and should not cater to it. As the father of an inquisitive and active 2 year old girl who already knows what Debian is, I'd hate for her to grow up thinking hacker society is out to get her. -- Jaldhar H. Vyas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> La Salle Debain - http://www.braincells.com/debian/