[Cialug] Wow.

[Stuart Thiessen]

On Aug 21, 2009, at 14:17 , Morris Dovey wrote:

> Jeff Davis wrote:
>> Todd Walton wrote:
>>> http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,541221,00.html?test=latestnews
>>>
>>> Never had it myself, but I hear it's a delicacy among the  
>>> Republican crowd...
>>>
>> It's rarely a good idea to post comments like that.
>> 1) You will (and have) offended people on the list.
>> 2) The list is archived, and 5 years from now you may be looking  
>> for a
>> job or something
>>    and Hiring Manager Patty googles your name, sees this, and thinks
>> "Not such a good fit in our company."
>
> I reluctantly agree, as some readers may be young and  
> impressionable, still lacking the experience and knowledge that  
> would allow them to exercise capable judgment and rational  
> discretion between intended humor and serious declamation.
>
> It is, of course, extraordinarily difficult to engage with nearly  
> any sizable group of people without rubbing /someone's/ fur the  
> wrong way on /some/ subject. The vi/emacs holy wars are a prime  
> historical example of the idiocy of blind polarization. Fortunately,  
> most of the participants survived, matured, and moved on to more  
> productive discourse.
>
> There /are/ those who go through life actively looking for things to  
> which they might take offense, and they'll probably always be with  
> us. Without doubt I would manage to offend /someone's/ sensibilities  
> with a simple statement that my preferred programming language for  
> the work I do is ISO/IEC Standard strictly-conforming C with POSIX  
> extension use carefully isolated in separate and clearly identified  
> TU's. <sigh>
>
> Five decades of software/silicon/mechanical development have  
> convinced me that if Patty's employers allow her to hire on any  
> basis other than the best-available expertise to get the work done,  
> then the candidate's interests will be better-served elsewhere. It's  
> that simple - and yes, it does require the exercise of a certain  
> amount of courage.
>
> Morris Dovey
> DeSoto Solar
> DeSoto, Iowa USA
> http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/
>
> <mrdovey.vcf>_______________________________________________
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> Cialug at cialug.org
> http://cialug.org/mailman/listinfo/cialug

No offense, Morris, but I disagree that it is a sign of immaturity to  
be disgusted by a slur to a group of people who quite obviously would  
not eat babies. I think the original post reflects the current trend  
of treating opponents with disrespect and insulting innuendo as a form  
of "humor". I find it crass, illogical, unnecessary, and unhelpful in  
encouraging intelligent discourse. You may say that I lack a sense of  
humor. On the contrary, I have a very healthy sense of humor. I simply  
have no use for insults or demeaning comments that only tear a person  
down.

For example, I have personally been rather disgusted at the level of  
communication by most people who post to political articles. Both  
sides are very immature and lacking in politeness, respect, and  
intelligent discussion. Instead comments similar to the original post  
here are exchanged and slur after slur are exchanged about the general  
intelligence of the opposition. Simultaneously, they proclaim how  
intelligent their own postings are. I sigh and move on to another  
page. This is true of both sides.

Originally, I was not planning to respond, but since others have  
commented, I felt I should at least have my say. I was hoping that  
this list would be above such nonsense, but I guess not. I would ask  
that similar postings in the future be avoided. It really doesn't  
contribute to the discussion in the political arena and it certainly  
is not germane to Linux or Linux-related topics.

No offense, Todd. I understand from your point of view why you might  
post it, but this is my personal opinion about it.

Thanks,

Stuart