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Date:      Wed, 13 May 1998 21:44:50 -0700
From:      Don Morrison <dmorrisn@u.washington.edu>
To:        Amancio Hasty <hasty@rah.star-gate.com>
Cc:        Greg Lehey <grog@lemis.com>, "Jason C. Wells" <jcwells@u.washington.edu>, FreeBSD-advocacy <freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   Re: Are we a Political Action Committee ?
Message-ID:  <355A76C2.B843369C@u.washington.edu>
References:  <199805140255.TAA18952@rah.star-gate.com>

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Amancio Hasty wrote:
> 
> My view was personal and it did not involved the group . I did CC the group
> with the hope of inviting the State Attorney to respond not just to me
> but to  the group and to start a discussion. My email was signed by me
> and it did not represent the group's view that should have been
> obvious however I accept the gross interpretation and apologies for
> that.

The point is that because you CC'd the group, to the receiver of your
message, whether you were speaking as a spokesman for the group or
independantly is ambiguous.  It is highly likely that when he reads it
he will see the CC and deduce that you obviously must be an agent of
authority in our group because you assume that role by offering his
reply to be directed _to_ the group.  He will identify your particular
view _as_ the group's view whether that is your intention or not,
because he probably has no former frame of reference for our mainstream
viewpoints--he's probably never got a letter from someone saying that
they're a freebsd user.  All that we are asking is that anyone who has a
dissenting viewpoint who insists on voicing it, not voice it in a way
that might represent it as our group consensus.  If you must CC, please
state explicitly that this is your own personal/independent view
upfront.  Remember, this is FreeBSD _Inc._.

Not to give everyone a disgusting corporate feeling. :)

> To those who really detested what I did, advocacy  is an art irrespective
> of how it is implemented there will always be some that hate / love
> an approach so if you are easily excitable  or offended then perhaps
> this mailing list is not for you.

Well, since advocacy is simply defined as declaring that you favor
something, your statement is true.  However, what you accomplish through
it _is_ respective to how you implement it.  Your statement was
analogous to saying: If x then x. (x --> x)  You can't assume that your
methods will always have a positive outcome simply because you favor
them.  The question here is: what is our consensus about what are
appropriate methods.  If you don't agree with the list's consensus, then
maybe _you_ shouldn't be a part of the list.  And certainly not profess
to be an agent of it.

> In fairness , we are attempting to define ourselves so mistakes will
> be made along the way and I hope that we can correct them.

We are asking that you not make the mistake of defining us for us.  The
key word in your sentence is "we".

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