Guillermo Belli shared some of his thoughts about the Spanish-speaking posts:
> Some days ago I posted a message in spanish about a linux news site called
> SoloLinux (www.SoloLinux.com) in case that someone would be interested about it.
> Then came a couple of messages in spanish from other users, and I realyzed I
> wasn't the only spanish speaker here, and I answered these messages trying to
> help 'em. I thnik this was the beginning of all this "trouble". Sorry if I did
> wrong.
>
> Guillermo
I am also guilty of some of the posts... Someone chided me for "this useless waste
of bandwith", but I believe that there are ethical and cultural issues to handle in
the "open software community", as well as technical issues.
Some believe that the Internet is the ultimate freedom of speech tool... you can
communicate your ideas to the world, and also learn about what many people around
the world have to say...
And that is mostly true... If you speak English....
The growth rate of the Internet (and its mighty son Linux) has skyrocketed. The
obvious advantages of sharing information with people thousands of kilometers away,
across continents and oceans, are enormous.
But they will be ultimately limited without the contributions of the
Non-English-Speaking world if we do not start looking at different languages as
"waste of bandwith"
Ok, maybe I was joking around on a couple of posts... Hey, forgive me!
This list needs some humor as any other and I don't believe this is a waste of
bandwith either... just look at all of the messages the "Microsoff Linux 98" thang
generated (very good joke, BTW).
Mandrake is the distribution I chose because of its ease of use, its
you-don't-nead-to-be-a-nerd approach, and also because of the multilanguage support.
I actually sent them a message volunteering to translate the Mandrake web-pages to
Spanish, along with a suggestion to change the flag language icons with something
more universal (Spanish is spoken in many, many countries).
Please lets end this. I agree that English is the most spoken language in this list
(and on the web in general) so I think everyone on this list should post their
messages in English so that everyone can read them.
But if someone has the time and inclination to post the message in English and in
another language, Why bother him/her? If you are a native English speaker and have
no inclination to learn another language, then I guess it's your loss.
But I think that having a choice is a powerful thing, and I believe this is one of
the beliefs of the Open-Software community, as well.
Jose Alberto Abreu
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
PD.- By the way... How do you write "Linux" in Mandarin Chinese, Steve?
I can send you a .gif file with "Linux" in Japanese (pronounced "Linuk-su")
PPD.- Thanks again Guillermo for the help file in Spanish you mentioned in your
post.
(Gracias compadre por la ayuda en Espaņol)
--
__________________________________________
"I happen to be very selective
about the reality I choose"
-Calvin, from Waterson's "Calvin & Hobbes"
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