Re: Elitism considered harmful (was: Debian flamewar)
Yeah, that was supposed to go directly to Ben... ;) On Fri, 2002-08-09 at 23:33, Ben Boulanger wrote: > Rather than dilute this thread worse, I thought I'd send you a personal > email on this letting you know that I completely agree with your > statements here. This was the heart of my objection to the microsoft > security issue and here it is again, not even one week later. I'm glad > I'm not the only person who's encountered this reaction. It seems like > many of the people I've voiced this opinion to simply disregard it as > 'typical of windows users'. > > Ben > > On Fri, 2002-08-09 at 23:22, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > On Fri, 9 Aug 2002, at 3:24pm, Ed Lawson wrote: > > > It is of course with some trepidation that I respond, but upon reading my > > > post I am unable to discern what language therein could lead a person to > > > reasonably conclude that I have espoused or acted in a manner which > > > suggests "Debian is God's Gift to Linux". Or even that it is better to > > > anything else. > > > > Well, first of all, let me say that I interpreted the phrase "Another > > reason to like Debian" to include "... as compared to other Linux > > distributions". I may well have been reading too much into that; you could > > have meant "... as compared to MS-Windows", or even without comparison. If > > so, I wish to apologize sincerely, for launching a rant in your general > > direction which you in no way deserved. > > > > That being said, for people wondering what type of crack I'm smoking: I'm > > not telling. ;-) However, the reason I wrote that rant was exactly the > > reason Paul Iadonisi gave in his reply to Ed's reply. A disproportionate > > number of Debian users carry an air of elitism which I consider harmful. > > They do themselves, the Debian community, the Linux community, and everyone > > else who might be interested in Linux, a disservice. In my mind, elitism is > > not much better than FUD. I have seen what that sort of distribution > > elitism does in other forums, and it is not pretty. > > > > Worse still, I have seen the negative reaction "general Linux elitism" > > gets in Microsoft forums, and it is quite possibly the biggest threat to the > > continued success of Linux in the mainstream world. Microsoft we can > > handle, given time. However, if we cause people to turn away due to an > > internal attitude problem, Microsoft has naught to worry about. > > > > "We have seen the enemy, and he is us." > > > > -- > > Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | > > | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | > > | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | > > > > > > > > ___ > > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss > > > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Elitism considered harmful (was: Debian flamewar)
Rather than dilute this thread worse, I thought I'd send you a personal email on this letting you know that I completely agree with your statements here. This was the heart of my objection to the microsoft security issue and here it is again, not even one week later. I'm glad I'm not the only person who's encountered this reaction. It seems like many of the people I've voiced this opinion to simply disregard it as 'typical of windows users'. Ben On Fri, 2002-08-09 at 23:22, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > On Fri, 9 Aug 2002, at 3:24pm, Ed Lawson wrote: > > It is of course with some trepidation that I respond, but upon reading my > > post I am unable to discern what language therein could lead a person to > > reasonably conclude that I have espoused or acted in a manner which > > suggests "Debian is God's Gift to Linux". Or even that it is better to > > anything else. > > Well, first of all, let me say that I interpreted the phrase "Another > reason to like Debian" to include "... as compared to other Linux > distributions". I may well have been reading too much into that; you could > have meant "... as compared to MS-Windows", or even without comparison. If > so, I wish to apologize sincerely, for launching a rant in your general > direction which you in no way deserved. > > That being said, for people wondering what type of crack I'm smoking: I'm > not telling. ;-) However, the reason I wrote that rant was exactly the > reason Paul Iadonisi gave in his reply to Ed's reply. A disproportionate > number of Debian users carry an air of elitism which I consider harmful. > They do themselves, the Debian community, the Linux community, and everyone > else who might be interested in Linux, a disservice. In my mind, elitism is > not much better than FUD. I have seen what that sort of distribution > elitism does in other forums, and it is not pretty. > > Worse still, I have seen the negative reaction "general Linux elitism" > gets in Microsoft forums, and it is quite possibly the biggest threat to the > continued success of Linux in the mainstream world. Microsoft we can > handle, given time. However, if we cause people to turn away due to an > internal attitude problem, Microsoft has naught to worry about. > > "We have seen the enemy, and he is us." > > -- > Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | > | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | > | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | > > > > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Elitism considered harmful (was: Debian flamewar)
On Fri, 9 Aug 2002, at 3:24pm, Ed Lawson wrote: > It is of course with some trepidation that I respond, but upon reading my > post I am unable to discern what language therein could lead a person to > reasonably conclude that I have espoused or acted in a manner which > suggests "Debian is God's Gift to Linux". Or even that it is better to > anything else. Well, first of all, let me say that I interpreted the phrase "Another reason to like Debian" to include "... as compared to other Linux distributions". I may well have been reading too much into that; you could have meant "... as compared to MS-Windows", or even without comparison. If so, I wish to apologize sincerely, for launching a rant in your general direction which you in no way deserved. That being said, for people wondering what type of crack I'm smoking: I'm not telling. ;-) However, the reason I wrote that rant was exactly the reason Paul Iadonisi gave in his reply to Ed's reply. A disproportionate number of Debian users carry an air of elitism which I consider harmful. They do themselves, the Debian community, the Linux community, and everyone else who might be interested in Linux, a disservice. In my mind, elitism is not much better than FUD. I have seen what that sort of distribution elitism does in other forums, and it is not pretty. Worse still, I have seen the negative reaction "general Linux elitism" gets in Microsoft forums, and it is quite possibly the biggest threat to the continued success of Linux in the mainstream world. Microsoft we can handle, given time. However, if we cause people to turn away due to an internal attitude problem, Microsoft has naught to worry about. "We have seen the enemy, and he is us." -- Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
