Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 16:15:50 -0600 From: Brett <brett@ymmv.com> To: chat@FreeBSD.org, advocacy@FreeBSD.org Subject: What's Important (Emulation, Security Advisories, Life, and Fun) Message-ID: <4.3.2.7.2.20000714150103.04a3cc20@localhost>
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I'm writing this message from a booth smack dab in the middle of Laramie's annual Jubilee Days street fair, surrounded by rodeo clowns, laughing children, pretty girls, music (currently a harper and guitarist on either side), and happy people with painted faces. We even have Internet in the booth this year, with all of the BSDs' logos proudly displayed, and are inviting all and sundry to come, check their e-mail, and chat. All of which puts the postings of the past week in good perspective. People sometimes forget that the BSDs, like everything else that's important in life, are about PEOPLE. It's not how much code you write, or how many PRs you submit, or how many clever hacks you take credit for (this, like most other methods of "keeping score," does not measure the value of ideas or of people). What's really important is how much people's lives are improved as a result of the platform being there. [I step away from the keyboard so that a clown -- I think there's someone I know under that costume! -- can safely douse me with a Super Soaker. Oooh, I'm shivering now, but it felt good and I'm finally dry enough to continue writing.] Fighting about ideas, instead of discussing them, hurts that fun. It also stunts the growth of the platform by demoralizing everyone (except those who take a perverse joy in conflict). Attempting to drive away people who are trying to advance and evangelize the platform hurts not only the project but those who would have been reached. And allowing people-hostile agendas -- such as the poisonous spite of the FSF and Richard Stallman's almost unfathomable bitterness -- to undermine more friendly ones and do their hurtful damage is worst of all. Which is why the vitriol I've seen on the lists during the past week disturbed me so much. The people behind the BSDs are known for their fierce individualism and opinionated nature, but to attack an idea out of hostility for the person who advanced it, rather than on its own merits, crosses the line into destructive name calling and bickering. There is such a thing as tasteful repartee, but when it goes beyond blowing off steam and begins to be hurtful it's inappropriate and destructive. I've seen that line crossed several times this week, by people who I would hope would know better, and it saddens me. It is also disturbing that people are filtering postings by author, rather than according to interests, and boasting that they are doing so -- apparently taking pride in ad hominem filtering of ideas and content. This is not the way that things should be, people. Disagreement and healthy discussion are fine, but to attempt to squelch ideas with which one does not agree is not. Ego also appears to play a destructive role here when it should not. For example, my remarks about Linux emulation apparently put Jordan on the defensive. Having embraced it as a strategy, he seems to have taken it personally when it was pointed out (and not just by me; Dann Lunsford started the discussion) that this strategy has harmed platforms in the past and was in fact a key factor in the demise of OS/2. None of those remarks were intended as a personal attack on Jordan, and yet he took the matter very personally and responded with personal attacks directed at me. In fact, Jordan has a tendency to take any critical remark -- even if it's constructive criticism -- as either a personal affront or as a challenge to his position as nominal leader of the development effort. There is no call for this. What matters is, again, the benefits which people gain from the platform. Because emulation compromises the success of the platform and thus the good it can do, it is valid to critique emulation as a strategy. This is what matters, not personal pride, or ego, or NIH. These problems were even more obvious in the discussion regarding the subject lines of security advisories affected FreeBSD ports. My messages pointing out the problem were supported by many similar ones and many positive suggestions. But a few flamers -- again, either due to ego or ad hominem considerations -- turned what should have been a few messages and suggestions into an acerbic flame-fest. If there's any challenge for the BSDs -- not just FreeBSD, but all of them -- it's conquering these problems and making the projects inclusive and fun. Too many bright and talented people who are now cornerstones of the Linux world have been driven away from the BSDs by the unnecessary conflicts I've mentioned here. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I think that this can change and that the BSDs can achieve success commensurate with their technical merit and the ethical nature of their licensing. I'm doing my part; I've undertaken substantial financial risk and have engaged in efforts to promote the BSDs which go far beyond what people on these groups know about. I wouldn't make such an investment, or persist in the time-consuming discussions on these groups, if I were not optimistic about the likelihood of overcoming these problems. Go ahead and shoot at me if you will; nitpick about the style of my messages; attempt to drive me away with insults. All you'll do is prove that you care more about winning some petty battle than in advancing the platform and maximizing the good it does for everyone. And now, I'm going to take a much-needed break from writing and find myself some food. And maybe a Super Soaker. --Brett Glass To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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