[buug] Seek the Wisdom Of Our Elder Geeks

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Zeke Krahlin (ezekielk at goct.net):

> You are  being at least as ideological as I am. Stop pretending.

Fascinating, sir!  Please do tell us about my ideology, to whatever
level of detail you can manage:  I cannot recall having spoken to the
subject with you, here or anywhere else.  I'm quite sure I would have
remembered.


> Perish the thought. I'm amused that you'd even post that I'd be likely  
> to commit such an offense, rather than do so only with your  
> permission. 

Well, I'm personally _not_ amused -- since you merely announced
summarily that you were going to copy my writings, and didn't ask at
all.


> That does smak of intentional defamation. :(

Excuse me, but what the _hell_ are you talking about?  Nobody said
anything about 'defamation'.  


> Stallman has consistently described himself as "left wing". 

I've known Richard for well over a decade, and would have _guessed_ him
to be about as politically liberal as your average technology person
living in an apartment in downtown Cambridge, Massachusetts, but he
never talks about it, to the best of my recollection.

Anyway, the picture you paint of him as being motivated by 'anti-corporate' 
sentiments, etc., is delusional.  A huge number of his appearances have
been to corporate audiences, basically because that's one of the places
he can reach quite a number of major software users and developers all
at once.  Richard is motivated by a desire to advance the cause of
software freedom everywhere, not particularly by an onus against (or
for) some societal faction.  He's been really clear on this point, about
as clear as any human can possibly be.


> > That is _not_ what I said.  In fact, I said nothing at all about
> > 'ideological clash', which is your obsession, not mine.  Shall we
> > recap?
> 
> See what I get for posting before my first coffee! Your point is
> respected, just disagreed with. 

Then, why in Sam Hill did you misrepresent what I _said_?  You claimed
I'd asserted that 'the ideological clash between FS and OSS is trivial
at this point', which summary has absolutely nothing in common with what
I did say.

I have no problem whatsoever with your holding different views, or with
holding any views at all, but you seemed to have a big problem
understanding what you claim to disagree with, which -- I could be just
funny about this, but -- strikes me as a serious impediment to arriving
at well-informed views on anything.


> I do think *you* exaggerate my  political bias to the point of
> stereotype. 

Actually, I've said rather little about you personally.  I spoke to the
merits of your claim of fact.

Remember the distinction between speaker and claim?  It's one of the
ways we avoid descent into pointless and time-wasting interpersonal soap
opera.  Such as, I notice, tends to be indulged by people on the losing
side of arguments.  ;->
http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/lexicon.html#moenslaw-debate1


> They may be your friends, but you are speaking for them in some ways  
> antithetic to what they themselves have explicity stated.

I have not 'spoken for them' in any way whatsoever, and would appreciate
your not falsely so claiming.   I have merely accurately reported my 
impression of them, and its basis.



> You are quite incorrect in suggesting that posting your original  
> comment to my blog entry would cause pro-Zeke biased comments to  
> overtake yours. 

Er, I have not articulated this (rather bizarre) view, nor do I hold it.

Are you smoking the funny stuff, Zeke?  Not that I mind, but you seem to
be posting with a screw or two loose.



> But if you don't want to have your remarks connected with my article,  
> I can surely understand.

I said nothing about 'my remarks being connected with your article'.
Here is what I did say, one more time.  This time, kindly do bother to
_read_ it, and eschew the bullshit misrepresentations:

  I posted here (because I participate here); I did not post _there_
  (having _not_ decided to participate in your or, frankly, any other
  blog's comment feature).  It would not be polite on your part to copy
  what I wrote to elsewhere without my saying it's OK.

  So, don't do that.  It's really not nice.