On Sat, 25 Mar 2006 01:25, Jeff Waugh wrote: > This isn't censorship.
I'm surprised you don't think telling people what they can and can't say is censorship. Telling people what they can and can't say is censorship. It isn't censorship because you do or don't have a "good" motivation, it's censorship because it involves telling others what not to say. Doing it under the mantle of a Linux User's Group associates Linux with that censorship. And you are claiming you are doing this for the sake of the LUG. That caught my attention - is that attempted censorship really in line with Linux's intent? In the news here is a report of a student commiting suicide because she was hounded with txt messages from bullies - do you mean to suggest all the messages saying "don't say RTFM" aren't intended to have some effect? Telling people not to say something is, at least attempted, censorship. The word means what it means. I don't question the positivity of your desire to help newbies, and I can understand wanting to promote a particular atmosphere to foster that. You are claiming that you represent Linux, that you promote it (this is a LUG), and you are also using that as the basis for a claim that you can tell people what they can and can't say. You have your arguments, having to do with your ideas about how newbies should and shouldn't be supported. You say you are doing this because it helps promote Linux with newbies. I'm not so certain that the end justifies the means, here. I can think of many ways to deal with comforting newbies that don't include telling others what they can and can't say. Perhaps you can't, but I'm not sure that's really a good reason to tell other people how to represent themselves. Perhaps if you are uncomfortable with what someone else says it should be on you to do the extra work of balancing that to achieve the outcome you want. Then it's all voluntary, on your part and on the (hypothetical) newbie's if they want you to balance things for them. If you want something, maybe you should be the one that changes what he's doing? That's not what you are proposing, though. That's what I'm curious about. I like it when people back what they say, so I notice such things, and I think about them. I see Linux as being about removing limits, not imposing them. Linux is about volunteers., about the freedom to do things, try things, change things I don't see your choice as promoting Linux. I do see it being about imposing the consequences of your limits on others. I have no problem using RTFM in a conversation, even with a newbie, even with my parents (who I support remotely - my father didn't finish High School, and he's beginning to diagnose Linux problems on his own). I can handle RTFM, and explaining RTFM, in a way that makes people laugh, even when someone else has said it. You can't do that? Instead of telling others they can't say something? Are you sure? Regards, Bret
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