[ale] as promised/threatened, an overly long post with probably nothing of real importance

[Aaron Ruscetta]

On 2011.05.06, Richard Bronosky <Richard at Bronosky.com> wrote:
>
> I fully agree with the idea of ALE being a pub. If any of you have ever
> spent time in a pub, you know there are certain conversations you can't have
> there. They are the same topics that always get out of hand here. You don't
> go to your local pub and start insulting people, calling them stupid, and
> denying their virtues our humanity. Teeth would be lost.

As one who _has_ spent many hours in a great number of pubs (short
for PUBLIC HOUSE, by the way),  I have heard and participated in
conversations on every topic under the sun in such establishments.
A Public House is a community gathering place, and thus the most
appropriate location for discussing politics, religion and anything else
that may touch or affect that community and the lives of the people
in it. Unless the pub is overrun by terrorist soccer hooligans, the
discourse is not likely to devolve to violence. Unless the pub is in
a some form of police state nation, censorship is not tolerated.

> My previous post on this thread was intended to illustrate how ludacris
> it would be to speak to someone in person the way people often do
> here.

I can't speak for everyone here, but in my case I try to exactly
match the manner of response to the manner of the discussion
and topics being responded to.  A public house has no pulpit,
so when extremism and indefensible positions and fraudulent
claims and denial of reality and self delusion and mysticism
are challenged they cannot run away and hide behind empty
accusations of blasphemy.

> I think that many people on this list are like me in that they don't attend
> the meetings because they don't want to witness one of these flame fests
> in person.

As moderator or co-moderator of the ALE Central meetings for
the past 8 years or so, I can assure you that nothing resembling
a "flame fest", or even a heated off topic discussion has ever
occurred -- even the Emacs or Vi discussions have maintained
a cordial tone!  Your concerns have no foundation in reality.

> I have a Mormon friend who quit attending when his religion was
> vitriolically attacked. He wasn't there to evangelize anything but FOSS.

Given that I have been to almost every meeting in the past decade
I'd have to suggest this is an entirely fictional anecdote.  This isn't the
F-O-[swaztika] network.  You can't just make stuff up and call it news.

However, it is possible that your friend took issue with comments
on the list, but if so, then I would suggest that the problem was in
their own choice to personalize opinions expressed about a group
that they freely choose to affiliate themselves with. If they felt the
opinions of their affiliate group were inaccurate, they had the
option of rebutting them.

> I think there is a great interest in spending time with like minded people.
> Let's please realize that we are not like minded in politics nor religion...
> and STFU.

Sorry, but as you claim to agree with the analogy, I'll reiterate
that this is a public house - a place for the whole community.
No one person gets to claim godly authority and scream
"blasphemy" in order to stifle the free exchange of ideas,
attack everyone's freedom of speech and blockade the
expression of divergent points of view.

peace
aaron