[ale] [OT] why political posts on ALE blow up into garbage

[Jim Kinney]

On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 10:39 AM, Larry Johnson <
larryfeltonjohnson at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Pretty good interview, and not really all that off topic if we really want
> to understand advocacy, and advance free software (and free music as well
> ((*lisp quotes intended) another issue of mine)).  We all tend to shut out
> any ideas which contradict our predetermined beliefs.  In the OS sense I try
> to fight that within myself by doing two things on opposite ends of the
> spectrum.  One is installing whatever new OS Microsoft has released and
> giving it a bit of a chance (Vista lasted three weeks -- Windows 7 is
> actually usable. and I'm sporadically using a cheap laptop running it), the
> other is  installing and configuring operating systems which are only used
> by a small number of people (Minix 3 is my current project).
>
> I have turned into rather a closed-minded OpenSource bigot over the past
few years. If I can't peek under covers on all stuff running on systems I'm
responsible for, it won't get installed with two exceptions: as soon as I
can purge the scourge that is flash (the last hold out on closed, binary
applications) and nvidia (the last holdout on closed, binary drivers) maybe
my disposition will improve as I rid myself of the philosophical
contradiction.

A laptop came with windows7. It was run once to verify the system worked
then the drive was wiped and Fedora was installed. The code label was
gleefully peeled off and all the "made for weenies" stickers removed from
the case.

For me, using a keyboard attached to a closed, proprietary OS system is
philosophically like typing on the murdered corpse of beloved family member
that's crawling with maggots. (how's that for a visual?) It's hard to be
productive when I'm gagging and sobbing at the same time.

I have all but given up on OpenSource advocacy. If the sheeple really want
to stand around in poo up to their neck, let 'em.  I have work to do using
and running and developing for a free society.

-- 
-- 
James P. Kinney III
I would rather stumble along in freedom than walk effortlessly in chains.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.ale.org/pipermail/ale/attachments/20100714/d1ce3c22/attachment.html