[License-discuss] Language, appropriateness, and ideas

[Nigel T]

This list has seen a moderating voice "de-platformed" because someone
conflated the "scream bloody murder" idiom with actual violence.  I'm all
for civility but some folks use that as a weapon against others.

The whole "ethical software" concept is antithetical to open source because
it is, as other have pointed out, inherently discriminatory.  The fear of
being overly polite and tolerant of this discussion is that proponents will
attempt to wear away at resistance until everyone else tires and
incrementally we lose software freedom because of "ethics".

Any attempt to merge the two concepts is simply an attempt to subvert the
OSD for their purposes and not ours.  We need not tolerate that.

They will also attempt to, as in the case of ESR, successfully troll
opponents into "sharp language" that gets them muted.  If nothing else,
short of a ban from the mailing list, ESR isn't likely to cater to that
sort of behavior by fading away.

So no, this isn't a positive discussion at all and your gaslighting of the
objections to this "exploration of ideas" is exceedingly harmful and quite
predictable.

On Wed, Feb 26, 2020 at 7:46 PM VanL <van.lindberg at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Russell,
>
> Strong opinions can be expressed without sharp language.  That doesn't
> mean that we don't have strong opinions, or that we don't try to express
> them as cogently and persuasively as we can. My point - or at least one of
> my points - is that sharp language is usually less effective in being
> persuasive and cogent.
>
> Further, if we really believe in the importance of ideas, and the
> importance of speech to express those ideas, even ones we disagree with, we
> should act in a fashion that allows us the broadest exposure to those
> different ideas. Sharp language results in "de-platforming" of those who
> would express an otherwise radical idea.
>
> In short, being kind doesn't require agreement. But it does encourage more
> ideas and better debate.
>
> Thanks,
> Van
>
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>
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