[CLUE-Talk] Iraq Stuph

[Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier]

On Mon, 2003-04-21 at 16:15, Angelo Bertolli wrote:
> Sorry to dip my fly in your ointment, but I'd like to mention that as a 
> new-comer to the mailing list, I find the Iraq talk a big deterrent.  
> It's not because I don't have an opinion, or am unsure about myself, but 
> rather I didn't expect to see this issue permeating every part of my 
> life.  I hear so much about it on the news and read about it so much on 
> the internet (when I want to) that I don't really need to get an extra 
> dose of it on a Linux channel.

Then hit "delete" and don't read it. I don't mean to be callous, but
there are a lot of topics brought up on the "Talk" list that have little
to nothing to do with Linux -- that's what "Talk" is for. 

If you see Iraq messages on the Clue-Tech list, then it's definitely out
of line. 

If you look through the mailing list archives, I'm sure you'll see a
number of posts that really don't have much if anything to do with
Linux. That's why we have this list. In fact, if you read the charter of
the list, you'll see:

"The CLUE talk list is open to any discussions of a non-technical nature
that may be of interest to LUG members. This includes, but is not
limited to, Linux advocacy, political activism, news bites, job postings
and hardware sales or exchanges." 

(http://clue.denver.co.us/mailman/listinfo/clue-talk)

> Also, personally I'd like to mention that I'm disappointed in the lack 
> of neutrality in some Open Source/GNU communities.  I don't think 
> individuals have to be neutral, but I think there is a time and a place 
> for everything. 

For a lot of folks, Linux/Free Software/Open Source consumes a lot of
their time and energy. It's a politically-charged environment to begin
with -- so you have to expect that other political issues will seep
through. 

And, like I said, a lot of folks spend the bulk of their time working on
Linux and such -- so that's where they're going to express their
political opinions as well. 

Finally -- and I know a lot of people don't like this opinion -- I
believe that the "time and place" for politics is almost always here and
now. Politics are important -- much more so than the socially accepted
topics of conversation like last night's TV, which team is going to win
whatever pro sport is in season and so on -- so what if the discussions
get a bit heated? I'd rather see a discussion of something important but
contentious than mindless blather about something trivial. Even if I
violently disagree with some folks' opinions, at least it's a topic that
matters. 

>  For example, I was disappointed to read about the 
> arguments on the GPG website.  I'm not trying to belittle the situation, 
> but I certainly hope that everyone can realize that their own opinions 
> and beliefs are their own, the political arena about Iraq has nothing to 
> do with Linux,  and that everyone has probably already made up their 
> mind on the Iraq issue anyway.

Well... I would agree that most people have already made up their mind,
but I can't agree that politics have nothing to do with Linux, even the
Iraq situation. 

Linux is very much a political movement as much as it is a technical one
-- it touches on issues like the DMCA, privacy issues, and many other
issues -- Since so many Linux developers are international, it also
touches on issues that relate to our foreign policy -- in short,
separating Linux and politics isn't going to happen. 

Take care,

Zonker
-- 
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier
jzb at dissociatedpress.net
Aim: zonkerjoe
http://www.dissociatedpress.net