Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 12:35:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Thomas Good <tomg@nrnet.org> To: Mitch Collinsworth <mkc@Graphics.Cornell.EDU> Cc: Kevin Bogac <k_bogac@yahoo.com>, Don Read <dread@calcasieu.com>, freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Question about the mascot - coda? Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.96.990811121031.28711A-100000@mailhost.nrnet.org> In-Reply-To: <199908111527.AA291705270@broccoli.graphics.cornell.edu>
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On Wed, 11 Aug 1999, Mitch Collinsworth wrote:
> So far the ONLY THING that has been suggested by those of us on the
> "anti-devil" side is that in addition to the current promotional
> materials which all prominently feature the "cute little devil", we
> would like to also have some available without his image. I.e. an
> increase in flexibility and tolerance for all. But judging solely
> from the (sometimes vitriolic) responses to date, there is not enough
> flexibility and tolerance here to allow for this.
Mitch -
First off let me say that walking our wits, even public-wise, is not
a bad thing. Nice to meet you.
I have responded to this thread twice as I see this not as a tangential
issue but as another facet of the larger issue of freedom of speech -
on the internet and elsewhere. Sorry if you see that as `vitriolic'.
When person1 tells person2 else how to package their ideas based on
person1's subjective notions of morality I find that offensive, if not
vitriolic.
The impulse to have sanitized promotional materials reminds one of
the Tipper Gore approach to music. Let's sticker every album that
contains `explicit' lyrics so that chain stores won't carry these artists.
This is an apparently innocuous means of constricting freedom of speech.
I recall Ice-T once said of Tipper's curious notions on freedom of speech:
`You have the right to remain silent.'
> Further, there have been NO posts to this thread saying that anyone
> has found the mascot so disturbing they have decided against FreeBSD,
> though I can imagine that it has happened somewhere. Probably those
Ah, you have a fertile imagination Mitch! Although you could be correct
pragmatism generally wins out. In fact those people who wish to advise
others on issues of `morality' seem to ignore their own advice when
convenient. This keeps Jessica Hahn on the tour circuit. ;-)
> What has been said, once again, is that a few of us who really believe
> in BSD have chosen not to display the promotional materials due to the
> unfortunate choice of mascot and the misunderstandings it can cause in
Unfortunate, *in your view*...I like the idea of a mischievous daemon
representing an operating system that relies on daemons. Which are
background processes not related to spiritual matters...and so far
removed from anyone's mythology (Christian or Greek) that it really
hardly seems a bona fide issue. And if you think that Judeo-Christian
mythology is somehow superior to the ancient Greeks I would ask you:
is it not true that we *all* mistake the map for the territory on
occasion?
> the BSD-challenged, though we would really love to do our part to
> promote the OS. Oh, and also that someone who is new on the block
> wants to know why the devil is our mascot. Yes, there are footnotes to
> obscure history to explain this to the offended, but how many of the
> offended do you suppose actually get that far?
This issue has been flogged to death - even in just the past year.
I responded because previously I've held my tongue. But I weary of
this. It is unlikely the FBSD team will develop sanitized stickers.
So why don't *you* ? Unix is, after all, the OS for do it yourselfers.
I'd even violate my own tenets and put one of your stickers on one
of my servers. Why not? It'll sit next to Chuckie, in support of
freedom of speech - for everyone.
> How about we stop putting words in other people's mouths and stick
> to the question of how best to promote FreeBSD to the world at large,
> a world with a variety of cultures?
Copy that. Be well, Mitch. BTW I saw (and liked) your post on the
invertebrate who spammed the list with `you sons of ...'.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Tom
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